43 Facts About Javier Mascherano

Javier Alejandro Mascherano is an Argentine professional football coach and former player.

Javier Mascherano moved to Brazilian side Corinthians in 2005, winning the Brazilian Serie A in his first season.

Javier Mascherano then moved to Europe, signing for Premier League side West Ham United, but his brief time at the club was blighted by unusual contract terms with Global Soccer Agencies.

Javier Mascherano made 147 appearances for the Argentina national team and is the second most capped player in the country's history.

Javier Mascherano twice won a gold medal at the Summer Olympics, in 2004 and 2008, becoming the first male footballer to achieve this double feat since Hungarian defender Dezso Novak in 1968.

Between 2008 and 2011, Javier Mascherano served as the captain of Argentina.

Javier Mascherano returned to Argentina to be operated on by the national team doctor and recuperate.

In total, Javier Mascherano was out of action for six months, only returning on 5 March 2006.

Hours before the northern summer 2006 transfer window closed Javier Mascherano joined West Ham United for an undisclosed fee, along with teammate Carlos Tevez.

Javier Mascherano holds an Italian passport due to his ancestry from Sicily.

Javier Mascherano is analysing and thinking about the game in each moment.

Hastily establishing himself as a starter at the club, Javier Mascherano played in the Champions League Final that year against Milan.

Javier Mascherano was voted Liverpool's man of the match by the fans on the official Liverpool website.

Javier Mascherano scored his first Premier League and Liverpool goal on 15 March 2008, with a 20-yard strike against Reading.

On 27 July 2010, after returning from a break after the 2010 World Cup, Javier Mascherano informed new Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson that he wanted to leave the club.

Javier Mascherano was held in high esteem by the Liverpool fans, who gave him his own song,.

Javier Mascherano was initially booked for a late tackle on Paul Scholes, and later dismissed for running towards referee Steve Bennett to protest a yellow card shown to Fernando Torres.

Javier Mascherano had to be pushed from the field of play by Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso.

Rafael Benitez was forced to leave the dugout and plead with Javier Mascherano to leave the field, and he was escorted down the tunnel by Peter Crouch.

Javier Mascherano admitted the improper conduct charge levelled at him, but appealed against the further two-to-three-match suspension.

Javier Mascherano was voted Man of the Match by the fans on Liverpool's official website.

Javier Mascherano had a mixed season at the Camp Nou, spending the first half of the season mainly coming off the bench but for the latter part playing out of position in a centre-back role.

On 28 May 2011, Javier Mascherano started alongside Gerard Pique in the 2011 Champions League final against Manchester United at the Wembley Stadium.

On 26 July 2012, Javier Mascherano signed a contract extension with Barcelona, keeping him with the Catalan giants until 2016.

On 27 July 2016, Javier Mascherano signed a new contract with Barcelona, which would keep him at the club until 2019.

On 26 April 2017, Javier Mascherano scored his first and only goal for Barcelona, a penalty kick in a La Liga match against Osasuna.

On 23 January 2018, Barcelona announced that Javier Mascherano would leave the club after seven and a half seasons.

Javier Mascherano scored his first goal for the club in a Chinese FA Cup match against Shandong Luneng Taishan on 2 May 2018.

On 23 November 2019, it was announced that Javier Mascherano would be joining Argentine club Estudiantes in January 2020 on a free transfer.

On 15 November 2020, Javier Mascherano announced his retirement as a professional footballer.

Javier Mascherano was however suspended for the third place play-off.

In January 2004, Javier Mascherano joined up with Argentina U23 for the South American Pre-Olimpico tournament in Chile.

Argentina lost to Brazil on penalties in the final, but Javier Mascherano impressed enough to be voted Argentina's player of the tournament by his teammates.

On 8 June 2008, Javier Mascherano received his first red card for the national team after receiving two yellow cards in a match against the United States.

Later that year, Javier Mascherano was selected to represent Argentina under-23 squad at 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing as an overage player.

Javier Mascherano only missed the last match of the group stage against Greece.

Javier Mascherano captained Argentina during the 2011 Copa America on home soil, but the team were defeated by Uruguay at the quarter-final stage.

Javier Mascherano asserted himself vocally, especially during the knockout rounds, where the media described him as Argentina's best player after Messi's prolific scoring stagnated after the group stage.

In stoppage time, Javier Mascherano tore his anus making a goal-saving slide tackle on Arjen Robben.

Javier Mascherano recorded the most tackles of any player at the tournament and the third-most passes, playing in every minute of Argentina's campaign.

In May 2018, Javier Mascherano was named in Jorge Sampaoli's final 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

In December 2021, Javier Mascherano was named manager of the Argentina under-20 team, taking over the side in early January.

Javier Mascherano was sentenced to one year in prison for evasion of tax payments.