A THREAD ON ESTEBAN CAMBIASSO

Cambiasso started football with Argentinos Juniors (same academy that produced Maradona & Riquelme) before joining Real Madrid Castilla at the aged of 15, alongside his elder brother Nicolás, who served as a GK

Louis van Gaal had wanted him at Ajax, who were CL champions then but he opted for Real because of the Argentine culture, which was very different from the Dutch culture. Argentinos Jrs later took Real to court and were compensated with about $2m for their transfers

He was part of U-20 that won WC in 97, the youngest squad member. He spent two seasons with the Castilla before returning to his homeland, joining Independiente. After 3 years, he moved to River Plate. There he won the 2002 clausura, playing in an offensive role

That River team had Maxi Lopez, Ortega, Cavenaghi, D'Alessandro, Lobo Ledesma, Demichelis, Carrizo and was coached by Ruben Sosa. He was fantastic and scored 12 goals in 37 games. Real Madrid noticed his development and recalled him back for the 2002/03

He helped Real won La Liga, Intercontinental & UEFA Super cup under Del Bosque, forming an excellent partnership with Makelele. But Perez was interested in building the galaticos and Cuchu wasn't a fancy name. So opted not to renewed his contract and left after his second year

Inter, who had previously tried to signed him during the negotiation for Ronaldo, pounced on this. Don Stefano Vassallo, a Genoese priest, who was researching the Cambiasso family tree, alongside Don Guglielmo Cambiasso, Argentine priest & Cuchu's cousin who was studying in Italy

Found out that Cuchu's great grandfather, Francesco, was an Italian who left for Argentina with his family in the 19th century and was in fact born as 'Cambiaso' but due to an error in the documents it was changed to 'Cambiasso'

This discovery was very important in Cuchu's signing with Inter. Because of EU space in Italy. When Moratti filed this documents to Lega Calcio and Cambiasso was registered as an EU player, his transfer to Inter was immediately completed

At Inter, Cuchu became an undisputed starter. He was one of the best players in Italy in his first season. A regular in his 10 years during his time here. Cambiasso have only one red card at Inter and it came after 9 years at the club

He scored one of the greatest goals in WC history in 06. Completing a 25 pass move against Serbia. Cambiasso have won all the titles available in Italy and was key member of the Inter team that won treble in 2010. Often regarded as 'the coach on the pitch'

He was notably omitted from 2010 WC list together with Zanetti by Maradona. This cost the team's elimination as they lacked solidity in those roles. Cuchu returned after Maradona was sacked and played the 2011 Copa America in Argentina. He retired after tournament

Cuchu endured difficult years with Inter after 2010 and when his contract expired in 2014 Inter management refused to extend it despite him agreeing to a pay cut. He was one of the few consistent player during that time. He joined Leicester City and was renamed as Magic

Cuchu left England after a successful year, rejecting Leicester contract offer to join Olympiacos. He retired there after 2 years. He is the 3rd Argentine with the most titles as a player (25)

Fun fact: No team have been recorded to have paid transfer fees for Cambiasso and he has wore shirt number 19 throughout his professional club career

Cuchu have a coaching badge and served as an assistant for Pekerman at 2018 WC

Cambiasso is one of the most underrated player of all time. He is a complete midfielder, very consistent, highly discipline, loyal and very hardworking. He is one of the best players ever to grace the shirt of the Nerazzurri, his time at Leicester City proved age is just a number