Pablo Aimar

Pablo Aimar

Personal information
Full name	Pablo César Aimar Giordano
Date of birth	November 3, 1979 (1979-11-03)
Place of birth	Río Cuarto, Argentina
Height	1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current club	Benfica
Number	10
Youth career
1995–1997	River Plate
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1997–2000	River Plate	82	(21)
2001–2006	Valencia	162	(27)
2006–2008	Zaragoza	53	(5)
2008–	Benfica	83	(11)
National team
1999–2009	Argentina	52	(8)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 28 November 2011. † Appearances (Goals).

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Aimar and the second or maternal family name is Giordano.

Pablo César Aimar Giordano (born 3 November 1979) is a Argentine professional footballer who plays for Sport Lisboa e Benfica in the Portuguese first division. An attacking midfielder with a vast array of skills, he also holds a Spanish passport.

He amassed La Liga totals of 215 games and 32 goals over the course of eight seasons, mainly with Valencia. He also played several years in Portugal with Benfica.

Aimar gained more than 50 caps for Argentina during one full decade, representing the nation in two World Cups and as many Copa América tournaments.

Club career

River Plate / Valencia

Born in Río Cuarto, Córdoba, Aimar began his ascent to stardom with Club Atlético River Plate, whose first team he joined for the 1997–98 season, after rejecting a place at medical school, and with whom he quickly established himself as one of the best young players in Argentina.

Valencia CF of Spain signed Aimar in January 2001, at a price of €24 million. The purchase proved justified, as Aimar helped lead the team to a first-place finish in La Liga in 2001–02 (with 33 matches and four goals), as well as to a runners-up finish in the previous seasons's UEFA Champions League, being defeated by FC Bayern Munich. Aimar also won the 2004 UEFA Cup, appearing in eight (scoreless) matches during the campaign; this included the final against Olympique de Marseille, where he replaced Francisco Rufete with 30 minutes to go.

On 12 April 2006, Aimar was hospitalized after being diagnosed with acute viral meningitis, but made a quick recovery and returned to play for his team. During his career with the Che, he was also often troubled with injuries.

Zaragoza

During the summer of 2006, Aimar joined fellow top flight club Real Zaragoza for €12 million. He made his league debut on 27 August, in a 2–3 away loss against Deportivo de La Coruña, and scored two goals in his first four games.

The Aragonese side were relegated at the end of 2007–08, with the playmaker appearing in 22 games without scoring, while also often hindered with injuries. During that campaign, he teamed up with former Valencia teammate Roberto Ayala.

Benfica

On 17 July 2008, after a period of intense negotiations, Aimar signed a four-year contract with Portuguese side S.L. Benfica for a fee of €6.5 million. After a difficult first half of the season, he managed to overcome his constant injuries and finished it in good shape.

In 2009–10, Aimar was in better physical conditions, and displayed a good offensive chemistry with countryman Javier Saviola, newly signed, as Benfica had the best offensive record of the competition, eventually winning the league after a five-year wait.

International career

Aimar first represented Argentina at youth levels. Along with future senior team stars Esteban Cambiasso and Juan Román Riquelme, he won the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship, and went on to gain over 50 full caps since his debut in 1999. He played in the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups.

In the 2002 World Cup, for which he was picked ahead of Riquelme, he appeared against England, subbing in for Juan Sebastián Verón in the 0–1 loss, which led coach Marcelo Bielsa to start him against Sweden, at the latter's expense.

Aimar scored the last goal of the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, during Argentina's 4–1 loss in the final to champions Brazil, also appearing with the national side in the 2007 Copa América (losing in the final to the same team, this time 0–3).

After several months in the sidelines, Aimar received another international callup in October 2009, for decisive 2010 World Cup qualifiers against Peru and Uruguay. In the match against the former, he repaid the faith placed in him by coach Diego Maradona, assisting Gonzalo Higuaín for Argentina's opener, with a sublime through ball, in an eventual 2–1 win.

International goals

As of 10 August 2009. Argentina's goal tally first

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	16 August 2000	Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina	Paraguay	1–1	1–1	2002 World Cup qualification
2.	27 March 2002	Geneva, Switzerland	Cameroon	2–1	2–2	Friendly
3.	30 April 2003	June 11 Stadium, Tripoli, Libya	Libya	3–1	3–1	Friendly
4.	6 September 2003	River Plate Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina	Chile	2–0	2–2	2006 World Cup qualification
5.	9 September 2003	Estadio Olímpico, Caracas, Venezuela	Venezuela	1–0	3–0	2006 World Cup qualification
6.	15 November 2003	River Plate Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina	Bolivia	3–0	3–0	2006 World Cup qualification
7.	29 June 2005	Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany	Brazil	1–4	1–4	2005 FIFA Confederations Cup
8.	28 June 2007	Estadio José Pachencho Romero, Maracaibo, Venezuela	United States	3–1	4–1	2007 Copa América

Statistics

Club

As of 23 January 2012

Club	Season	League		Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
River Plate	1996–97	1	0
	1997–98	16	4
	1998–99	18	2
	1999–00	32	13
	2000–01	15	2			5	1			20	3
	Total	82	21			5	1			87	22
Valencia	2000–01	10	2	–		–		–		10	2
	2001–02	33	4			6	2	–		35	6
	2002–03	31	8			11	3	–		42	11
	2003–04	25	4			8	0	–		33	4
	2004–05	31	4			6	2	–		36	6
	2005–06	32	5	2	0	1	0	–		35	5
	Total	162	27	2	0	32	7	–		196	34
Zaragoza	2006–07	31	5	1	0	–		–		32	5
	2007–08	22	0	2	0	1	0	–		25	0
	Total	53	5	3	0	1	0	–		57	5
Benfica	2008–09	22	1	2	0	1	0	4	1	29	2
	2009–10	25	4	1	0	11	1	4	0	41	5
	2010–11	23	5	6	1	12	1	5	0	46	7
	2011-12	14	2	2	0	9	1	1	0	26	3
	Total	84	12	11	1	33	3	14	1	143	17
Career Total		381	65	16	1	71	11	14	1	483	78

International

Argentina national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1999	2	0
2000	5	1
2001	7	0
2002	6	1
2003	9	4
2004	2	0
2005	6	1
2006	6	0
2007	7	1
2008	0	0
2009	1	0
Total	51	8

Honours

Club

• River Plate:
  • Primera División: 1996 Apertura, 1997 Apertura, 1999 Apertura, 2000 Clausura
  • Copa Libertadores: 1996
  • Supercopa Sudamericana: 1997

• Valencia:
  • La Liga: 2001–02, 2003–04
  • UEFA Cup: 2003–04
  • UEFA Super Cup: 2004
  • UEFA Champions League: Runner-up 2000–01

• Benfica:
  • Primeira Liga: 2009–10
  • Taça da Liga: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11

Country

• Argentina:
  • FIFA U-20 World Cup: 1997

Personal

Aimar's younger brother, Andrés, is also a professional footballer and a midfielder. He represented several teams in his country - starting his career at River Plate - also playing for a few months in Israel.

External links

• BDFutbol profile
• Stats and profile at Zerozero
• Stats at ForaDeJogo (Portuguese)
• PortuGOAL profile
• Pablo Aimar at National-Football-Teams.com
• FootballDatabase profile and stats