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While the two great No.10s have made history with the Albiceleste, the nation has been blessed with a host of incredible talents over the years

With two World Cup wins and a further three final appearances, Argentina are up there amongst the elite of international football.

Not only that, but players like Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi and Gabriel Batistuta to name just three have become icons of the game, instantly recognisable the world ever. 

But who is the greatest of all? Here, Goal ranks the top 20 to have ever worn the famous Albiceleste jersey…

ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP/Getty Images20Hernan Crespo

Hernan Crespo was, at one point, the world's most expensive football player, a title that, among his compatriots, only Diego Maradona has held in the modern game.

A striker of impossible elegance and potency, he became a firm favourite thanks to his exploits with Parma, Lazio, Milan, Inter and Chelsea among others.

A veteran of three World Cups, Crespo also became the first man to score in the Champions League with five different teams, while helping Inter to three Scudetti in as many years from 2006 to 2009.

He is sometimes overlooked when putting together lists of football's best strikers but, at his most deadly, few could resist the Argentine when bearing down on goal.

AdvertisementGetty19Ricardo Bochini

You know you are not just another run of the mill player when someone of Diego Maradona's stature insists you are picked for a World Cup.

A living legend at Independiente, Ricardo Bochini was the archetype of the languid, supremely gifted Argentina No.10, playing his entire career at the Avellaneda club and helping them to four Primera titles, five Copas Libertadores and two Intercontinental Cup victories in what proved to be their most successful spell in history.

Bochini's time in the national team was understandably curtailed by the emergence of Maradona, who was nevertheless a great friend to his older team-mate.

“Come over, maestro, we've been waiting for you”, Argentina's captain famously said to him when he entered in the 1986 World Cup against Belgium for the last five minutes, his only experience of football's most-coveted trophy.

18Roberto Ayala

When it comes to Argentine football, the list of heroes is dominated by creative geniuses and prolific forwards. It is testament, then, to Roberto Ayala's supreme abilities that the former Valencia favourite is remembered among the nation's elite.

Ayala was a formidable defender in his day, playing 115 times for his nation in a career that spanned three World Cups.

He was also an integral part of Valencia's all-conquering team of the early 2000s, winning two La Liga titles as well as the UEFA Cup in Los Che's most successful spell since the 1940s.

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Gabriel Rossi17Sergio Aguero

While Sergio Aguero has often been criticised for struggling to replicate his club form on the international stage, there is no doubting his brilliance in front of the net.

Ever since he burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old wonderkid for Independiente great things have been expected from 'El Kun', and he has certainly delivered in England.

With two Premier League titles and more than 200 goals for Manchester City, fans at the Etihad Stadium at least have taken Aguero to their hearts as one of the club's all-time greats.

And, at 30, there is still plenty of time for the striker to show Argentina fans exactly what he can do at the highest level.

Chris Adams, the former England batsman, has been appointed manager of Cricket Ireland’s National Academy

ESPNcricinfo staff04-May-2016Chris Adams, the former England batsman, has been appointed manager of Cricket Ireland’s National Academy.Adams, 45, who played county cricket for Derbyshire and Sussex – helping bring regular silverware to the latter – and has since had coaching roles with Sri Lanka and Netherlands after a spell as Surrey coach will take up his role at the Shapoorji Pallonji National Academy in June. He replaces Australian Craig Hogan who is returning home.”I am really looking forward to starting in my new role,” Adams said. “It’s a fantastic opportunity to work with Ireland’s emerging talent, and I hope my experience and knowledge will help all the players and academy coaching staff achieve their potential.”The goal will most definitely be to ensure that Ireland head coach John Bracewell has the very best talent supply over the next few years, to ensure we remain on course to be competitive across all three forms of the game at the highest level.”The appointment of Adams was welcomed by Cricket Ireland Performance Director Richard Holdsworth who said: “We are very pleased to secure the services of Chris. We see him as an integral part of overseeing the development of our most talented young players and those on the fringes of the national team over the coming years.”We are now looking to develop our talent into world class players who are capable of performing against the best in the world in all three formats.”With Chris’ experience of coaching internationally, not to mention as a player in the Test arena with England, he will bring great understanding of what it takes to perform at the highest level.”Our one-day international fixture list is increasing all the time, and with more multi-day and T20 cricket in the pipeline, we need to ensure we have young players who are challenging the established senior players for places and ready to compete on the world stage.”

Aitana Bonmati has won the 2023 Ballon d'Or Feminin after a historic season for both club and country.

Ballon d'Or caps off outstanding campaign for BonmatiWon treble with Barca and lifted World Cup for SpainPutellas relinquishes crown after back-to-back winsGettyWHAT HAPPENED?

Bonmati was the runaway winner of this year's award after leading Barcelona to a famous treble as well as helping Spain overcome significant off-field strife and lift the World Cup. She received the trophy at a glitzy ceremony in Paris on Monday night.

AdvertisementTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Bonmati enjoyed her best-ever season for Barca, registering 15 goals and 18 assists as the Blaugrana won Liga F, the Champions League and the Spanish Super Cup. She also starred for Spain Down Under, playing a key role in La Roja's World Cup victory and being named player of the tournament.

GettyDID YOU KNOW?

After winning the 2021 and 2022 awards, Alexia Putellas has relinquished her crown as the best women's player in the world. An ACL injury suffered on the eve of Euro 2022 significantly limited her involvement throughout the season, with the midfielder only returning to play a bit-part role in the World Cup.

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WHAT NEXT?

Bonmati is well placed to defend her Ballon d'Or in 2024. Barcelona have made a flying start to the league season, winning their opening six games, and stand a good chance of lifting the Champions League again, having been placed in a very-winnable group alongside Eintracht Frankfurt, Rosengard and Benfica.

Sri Lanka women’s team manager ARM Aroos has resigned, following the board’s sanctioning of a formal inquiry against him in wake of a complaint made by captain Shashikala Siriwardene last week, accusing Aroos of extortion

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jul-2013Sri Lanka women’s team manager ARM Aroos has resigned from all his posts connected to the women’s game in the country, following the board’s sanctioning of a formal inquiry against him because of a complaint made by captain Shashikala Siriwardene last week, accusing Aroos of extortion.Retired senior superintendent of police, Hemachandra Dias, had conducted a preliminary inquiry into the matter, and recommended that the board conduct a formal inquiry into the allegations, at the SLC’s executive committee meeting on Tuesday. The executive committee subsequently appointed a panel to carry out the inquiry, and following that Aroos submitted his resignation. Apart from being team manager, Aroos was also a national women’s selector. He also stepped aside from his position as chairman of Sri Lanka’s umpires committee, relinquishing that duty until the inquiry is complete.The executive committee appointed Channa Weerakkody as team manager for the upcoming tour of Ireland, and named Srinath Silva the acting chairman of the umpires committee.

The Uttar Pradesh one-day squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy includes former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin’s son Mohammad Asaduddin

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Oct-2014The Uttar Pradesh one-day squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy includes former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin’s son Mohammad Asaduddin. The squad, which was announced on Friday, will be led by Piyush Chawla.Asaduddin, also known as Abbas, was reportedly picked after appearing for trials at the state team’s nets only last week. He is a left-hander, and was a part of the Hyderabad Under-22 squad in 2010. He is also believed to have appeared for trials for various IPL franchises without much success. The UP squad also includes 19-year-old left-arm chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav, who is yet to make a List A debut.The Vijay Hazare Trophy will be held between November 6 and November 25 and UP will begin the tournament with a Central Zone game against Railways in Nagpur on November 7.UP squad: Piyush Chawla (capt), Akshdeep Nath, Prashant Gupta, Praveen Kumar, RP Singh, Ali Murtaza, Mukul Dagar, Eklavya Dwivedi (wk), Amit Mishra, Parvinder Singh, Ankit Rajpoot, Tanmay Srivastava, Kuldeep Yadav, Umang Sharma, Mohammed Asaduddin, Imtiaz Ahmed, Dipendra Pandit, Israr Azim Khan

Sri Lanka Cricket is in the early stages of planning a upgrade to training facilities at the Premadasa Stadium, with indoor nets, a swimming pool and a dormitory for the cricket academy all being considered

Andrew Fidel Fernando07-Sep-2014Sri Lanka Cricket is in the early stages of planning a substantial upgrade to the training facilities at the Premadasa Stadium, with indoor nets, a swimming pool and a dormitory for the cricket academy all being considered, CEO Ashley de Silva has said. The project is presently in the design stage, and is expected to cost around 100 million rupees (approx. USD $770,000).”We hope to embark on preliminary work before the end of this year” de Silva told . “Hopefully we can put the plan together so that it will be ratified either in the next executive committee meeting or the one after that.”Players and coaches have felt that a swimming pool has been overdue for some time at the Premadasa Stadium, which is the primary site for the national team training ahead of any tour. At present, the team largely carries out its nets and gym sessions at the Premadasa stadium, and those who require swimming-pool training do so a few kilometres away at either Nondescripts Cricket Club or Sinhalese Cricket Club. On wet days, both the Sri Lanka team and touring sides normally head to the indoor nets at NCC.The Premadasa stadium is also the epicentre for SLC’s Max Cricket Academy, and a dormitory which will house around 30 players is part of the proposed upgrade. On-site living quarters are largely expected to benefit cricketers from outside Colombo, who have become increasingly central to the nation’s top teams. A dormitory will allow those players to attend training from a convenient location, and prevent the need for frequent trips to their home towns.SLC does not yet have a concrete timeline for the project, with the executive committee expected to decide the exact nature of the upgrade.

Hampshire’s reward for a thrilling run chase at Trent Bridge is a semi-final against Lancashire on NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day.

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Aug-2014Hampshire’s reward for a thrilling run chase at Trent Bridge is a semi-final against Lancashire on NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day.James Vince made his T20 best score of 93 not out to steer Hampshire to a memorable victory over Nottinghamshire to qualify for their fifth Finals Day in succession.Vince, the Hampshire captain, was pleased to avoid Surrey in the semi-finals having been hammered by them in their only meeting in the qualification stage.Hampshire were T20 champions in 2010 and 2012 and another shot at glory awaits if they can get past Lancashire, who set the pace in this year’s competition but needed to hold their nerve to reach their fifth Finals Day with a one-run win over Glamorgan.In four previous Finals Day appearances, Lancashire have only made the final once, losing to Somerset in 2005.The other semi-final sees Warwickshire, who caused an upset in beating Essex at Chelmsford in their quarter-final, play Surrey, easy victors over Worcestershire to make it to Edgbaston on August 23 – a record sixth Finals Day.Varun Chopra’s golden run of form saw the Bears through to their first Finals Day since the inaugural competition in 2003 and they now have a chance to lift their first title on their home ground.

The 19-year-old helped inspire Boca to the Copa Libertadores final and is ready to take the plunge into European football

Manchester City pulled off one of the steals of the 21st century when they signed Julian Alvarez in January 2022. The striker was only just making a name for himself in Argentina when City struck a deal with River Plate for just £14 million ($17m), and 18 months later he had lifted every trophy imaginable, a World Cup winner with the Albiceleste and a crucial part of City's treble-winning team.

While Brazil has become a highly-competitive hunting ground for European clubs searching for young talent in the last few years, Argentina continues to be overlooked in comparison, meaning teams can get real value for money. And nearly two years after unearthing Alvarez, City are one of several clubs casting their eye over the next superstar to come out of Argentina.

Valentin Barco, 19, has emerged as one of the top players for Boca Juniors and, like Alvarez, has built his reputation in the Copa Libertadores, South America's answer to the Champions League. Barco helped the Xeneize reach the 2023 final, where they were narrowly beaten in extra-time by Fluminense at the Maracana, but is being tipped for far bigger things in the future.

In his first full year in the Buenos Aires' giants first team, the teenager has stood out in a side of veterans including Edinson Cavani, Marcos Rojo and Sergio Romero. He broke into the team as a marauding left-back but soon evolved into an attacking playmaker, showing versatility that will stand him in good stead when he eventually takes the next logical step and heads to Europe…

Boca Juniors oficialWhere it all began

Barco grew up in the town of 25 de Mayo in Buenos Aires province and shone for local side Club Atletico Sportivo as a striker. He attracted the attention of Boca's scouts and was signed by the club at the age of nine by highly-respected scout Ramon Maddoni, who discovered Carlos Tevez, Juan Roman Riquelme, Esteban Cambiasso and Fernando Redondo, among others.

Barco, though, decided to remain with his family and each day would embark on a 450-kilometre roundtrip each day from his hometown to Boca's La Candela training base in the capital. "I'd go to school in the morning and train in the afternoon and it was a three or four hour journey. I'd get home at 10 or 11 at night," he recalled.

"I'm so grateful to my family, they made huge sacrifices for me since a young age and that's why I matured quicker than normal. What they did was very difficult, they gave up everything for me. Their dream was to see me make my debut at the Bombonera and they said that once I'd done that, they could die happily."

Barco made his Boca debut in 2021 at the age of 16 against Union, becoming the fourth-youngest player in the club's history.

AdvertisementMarcelo Endelli/Getty ImagesThe big break

Barco consolidated his place in Jorge Almiron's side at the start of 2023, and he showed his quality and maturity in a Copa Libertadores group game at home to Deportivo Pereira. With their side trailing 1-0, Boca's vociferous fans were booing their side, who could barely string a pass together.

The one exception was Barco, who led the way in every statistical department, taking more touches, making more tackles, attempting more dribbles and drawing more fouls than any of his team-mates. Boca levelled in the 89th minute before Barco set up the winning goal deep in added-time with a pin-point cross for Alan Varela, who hailed his teenage team-mate as "a phenomenon".

Barco struck his first goal for Boca in another Libertadores game against Monagas, while he was the star of the show in 2-1 league win over Newell's Old Boys, scoring the first goal before setting up the second with a dinked cross for team-mate Cristian Medina.

Getty ImagesHow it's going

In the space of little more than six months, Barco went from being an impressionable teenager to Boca's most influential player and one of the spearheads of their charge to the Copa Libertadores final.

He began as a left-back, but as Almiron started to realise the true extent of his talent, he moulded him into an attacking midfield playmaker. Although he has continued to wear the number 19, Barco has taken on the prestigious role of Boca's No.10, following in the footsteps of Diego Maradona and Riquelme. He has two goals and eight assists in all competitions.

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Getty Biggest strengths

Barco is following in the fine Argentine tradition of dribbling, meaning he is frequently fouled. He is remarkably adept with both feet, as comfortable crossing with his left as he is shooting with his right. And he has developed his passing game, leading to him being used more as an attacking midfielder than a full-back, even if he prefers the latter.

"I feel comfortable in both roles and I'll play whether the coach or team needs me," he told . "A lot of people see me as a midfielder as my main quality is attacking play, but I love to play at left-back because I have the whole pitch in front of me."

The teenager also has proved to have nerves of steel in clutch moments, calmly converting decisive penalties in shootout wins over Nacional in the Libertadores and Talleres de Cordoba in the Copa Argentina.

Virat Kohli, in his second match as captain, smacked an 83-ball 102 to power India to a tall score against West Indies, but he said more than his innings, India earning a bonus point was more satisfying

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jul-2013Virat Kohli, in his second match as captain, smacked an 83-ball 102 to power India to a tall score against West Indies, but he said that earning a bonus point was more satisfying than his innings.India were in a difficult position in the tri-series before the start of the match because they had lost their first two games – the second against Sri Lanka being one of their heaviest defeats – and needed to win this match to keep their chances afloat. India’s much-vaunted batting line-up had struggled for fluency at Sabina Park, but at Queen’s Park Oval the openers responded with a 123-run opening stand to set an ideal platform. Kohli, despite limited support from other middle-order batsmen, ensured it wasn’t wasted.”We got a good start. It’s a bit of a tricky situation if you go in after a good start,” Kohli said. “You don’t know whether to play yourself in or go after the bowlers. To get a hundred in my second game as captain, I am pretty happy. I was getting good starts, but hitting that one shot straight to the fielder, so I was waiting for this big innings. But more than the hundred, I am happy we won with a bonus point.”Darren Sammy credited Kohli for lifting India’s score beyond 300, but said that West Indies’ bowlers could have bowled better. The fast bowlers were expensive and even Sunil Narine wasn’t able to control the flow of runs, giving away 35 in his five overs.”We have to give credit to Kohli and the Indians for the way they played. We did not bowl as well as we know we can,” Sammy said. “That is one area where we went wrong today. India played really well. They knew they had to come hard at us, to get a win and stay in the tournament, and they did just that.”Chasing 312, West Indies lost Chris Gayle early to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who struck again in his next over to dismiss Darren Bravo. A rain disruption added to West Indies’ woes as the target was readjusted to 274 off 39 overs, but none of the West Indian batsmen stayed long enough to put up a challenge.”The way Kohli played just goes to show what can happen when a set batsman stays in to the end of the innings,” Sammy said. “We had two very good innings in Jamaica when Chris [Gayle] got a hundred against Sri Lanka and [Johnson] Charles got 90 against India to win those two matches for us, but we did not get any real big partnerships going today.”West Indies are still placed at the top of the table with nine points and need to win their next match against Sri Lanka to confirm their entry into the final.”We are still very much in the tournament. Today we lost but there is need to panic,” Sammy said. “We are still at the top of the points table and we have all to play for when we face Sri Lanka on Sunday. We still believe we can win this tournament. We will regroup and look to bounce back when we meet Sri Lanka on Sunday and look to move into the final.”

Sri Lanka have put their hand up as an alternate venue for this year’s Asia Cup and the World Twenty20, instead of Bangladesh, the scheduled hosts

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jan-2014Sri Lanka have offered to host this year’s Asia Cup and the World Twenty20 as an alternative to Bangladesh, the scheduled hosts.Bangladesh’s right to host both events is in danger following violence caused by political strikes and blockades in the country. In December, the West Indies Under-19 team pulled out of their tour and returned home after an explosion near the team hotel in Chittagong.As a result, there is some early anxiety over the year’s first international fixture in the country, a bilateral series against Sri Lanka this month, which starts on January 27. The Asia Cup is to be held between February 24 and March 7, with the World T20 starting nine days later.Sri Lanka Cricket said that while it is ready to host the two events at short notice, their own tour to Bangladesh hinges on security advice.”We are ready to host the Asia Cup if the ACC wants another venue,” SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga told . “We have the grounds and the necessary infrastructure to host an event like that at short notice. We are also ready to host the World Twenty20 if we are asked.”An Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting in Colombo on Saturday will discuss the security situation in Bangladesh, with the BCB having prepared a detailed security report for the regional body.The Pakistan Cricket Board, meanwhile, has also said it will seek its government’s directive regarding a trip to Bangladesh, after a protest group tried to march towards the Pakistan High Commission late last month.