Javier Saviola's Second Chance

When in football memories we turn to the beginning of the 2000s, the same names appear in the head of almost every fan: Ronaldinho, Shevchenko, Nedved, Adriano, Roberto Carlos, Kaka Each of them decorated an action called a football match, and made watching games for fans not only brighter, but also memorable, intense. Another name that should not be missed in this regard is Javier Saviola, who was considered the future genius of football, and at least in the lines of computer games lived up to all expectations, turning into a master on all legs. Saviola was also called the Rabbit, and his entire career as an athlete looks quite interesting

A child prodigy and an idol of his time

During the period we are talking about, Javier Saviola was indeed the idol of millions of football fans. His speed and dribbling style were the reasons that allowed Saviola to quickly gain respect and love among the fans. Saviola began his professional football career at River Plate in 1998, and a year later Javier managed to declare himself loudly. In particular, the young talent won the Argentinean Apertura Top Scorer title, the Argentinean Player of the Year and became the Apertura Champion alongside River Plate.

Javier Saviola's Second Chance

All this allowed the 18-year-old to that moment, the Argentine won the title of South American Footballer of the Year, which is traditionally determined by El Pais. Unofficially, the player who is recognized as the best is called the King of American Football, and this award is given to players who play in South American clubs. In 1999, Saviola was ahead of Francisco Arce of Palmeiras and Juan Roman Riquelme of Boca Juniors in the fight for the prestigious prize.

The new Maradona

At that time, Saviola could perhaps be compared with the current Kylian Mbappe. He was a great and brilliant 1win giriş young footballer, in whose bright future absolutely all serious specialists believed. Suffice it to say that even today it is Javier who is the youngest owner of the title of footballer of the year in South America from El Pais. It is not surprising that after a loud and bright start to his professional career in his homeland, Saviola began to compare the young talent with the former idol of the nation, and named Javier the new Maradona. The tournament, which was held in the homeland of Javier, became a triumph for the blue and white and the striker himself. The Argentines reached the final, where they defeated the Ghana U-20 team with a score of 3: 0, and Saviola also won two individual prizes, becoming the best player in the championship and his top scorer with 11 goals scored. Voyage to Barcelona: hopes and collapse success attracted the attention of many famous football clubs to Saviola. Barcelona proved to be the most convincing in the negotiations with the River Plate, which in the summer of 2001 gave fantastic 35.9 million euros for Saviola at that time. It was a significant investment in the future of the Catalan team, long before another Argentine who was truly destined to become a Blaugranas legend, Lionel Messi, began to shine in their ranks. Saviola's debut season in Barcelona turned out to be quite smooth. Javier scored 17 goals in 36 matches in La Liga, which allowed him to enter the top five scorers of the tournament at the end of the 2001/02 season. However, then everything went wrong at all, as it should have been. Saviola's performance decreased, as did the team's results. The Catalans finished only sixth in La Liga 2002/03, and Frank Rijkaard was named the team's new head coach.

Javier Saviola's Second Chance

The Dutch specialist preferred to use not promising Saviola, but his compatriot Patrick Kluivert, who was Rijkaard's No. 1 striker in the team. As a result, everything came to the fact that the 2004/05 and 2005/06 seasons Rabbit spent in other teams on loan in Monaco and Seville. Saviola returned to Barcelona on the eve of the 2006/07 season, but, despite leaving the Kluivert team, again failed to beat Rijkaard and win a place in the squad. At that time, Javier's contract was just coming to an end, and at some point the club made it clear that it was not interested in renewing it. Angered by this decision, Saviola accepted the invitation of Real Madrid, whose footballer he turned out to be in the summer of 2007.

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