Mauro Emanuel Icardi Rivero is an Argentine footballer who plays for Internazionale as
a striker.
Club career Early career
Icardi was born in Rosario, Argentina and moved to Spain's Canary Islands when he was
6.
He began his football career with Vecindario in Gran Canaria, and scored over 500 goals
in their youth categories.
In 2008, he was disputed over by Barcelona and Real Madrid, after offers from Valencia,
Sevilla, Espanyol, Deportivo La Coruña, Arsenal and Liverpool.
Barcelona won the race for Icardi, and signed with him until 2013.
Barcelona Icardi joined the Catalan club at the start
of 2008–09 season and was included on the U-17 team.
He was promoted to the U-19 team the following season before joining Sampdoria on loan in
January 2011.
Icardi later stated that leaving Barcelona was not a bad decision, convinced that his
decision to move on was the right one.
Sampdoria On 11 January 2011, Sampdoria confirmed Icardi
had signed with the club on loan until the end of the season.
After a successful six-month loan for Samp, scoring 13 goals in 19 games with Primavera
team, the Italian side utilised the option to buy Icardi for €400,000 in July 2011,
signing a three-year deal.
On 12 May 2012, he made his first-team debut, against Juve Stabia, after coming off the
bench to replace Bruno Fornaroli on the 75th minute of the match.
Ten minutes later, Icardi scored his first professional goal to win the match 2–1 for
Sampdoria.
On 6 January 2013, he scored two goals against Juventus in Sampdoria's 2–1 upset at Juventus
Stadium.
On 27 January 2013, he scored four goals in a six goal thrashing of fellow strugglers
Pescara, lifting the Genoese side clear of the Serie A relegation zone.
Internazionale In late April, it was announced that Icardi
would become an Internazionale player before the beginning of the 2013–14 season.
The deal was also later confirmed by Sampdoria board.
He scored his first goal for Inter in their 1–1 pre-season friendly draw with German
Bundesliga club Hamburger SV, netting after less than two minutes in the field and being
assisted by Fredy Guarín.
On 25 August Icardi made his Inter official debut, coming on as a second-half substitute
in a 2–0 home success over Genoa, hitting the crossbar late in the game; he scored his
first league goal for the Nerazzurri on 14 September, netting the first of a 1–1 home
draw against Juventus, after coming on as a substitute in the 73rd minute.
Due to injury, Icardi missed most of the games of the first part of the season, only returning
to first-team matches in February.
He also netted twice in a match against Bologna and Sampdoria in the beginning of April, taking
his tally up to eight.
He scored a hat-trick in a 7–0 win over Sassuolo on 14 September 2014.
International career In August 2012, Icardi made his debut for
the Argentina under-20 in a match against Germany.
In February 2013, Icardi stated his wish to play for the Argentina senior team, saying,
"I'm Argentine, I feel Argentine, and I've always dreamed of wearing the shirt of my
nation.
To actually do that would be the maximum for me."
On 15 October 2013 he played his first game for the main squad, coming on as an 82nd-minute
substitute for Augusto Fernández in a 2–3 FIFA World Cup qualifier loss away to Uruguay.
Personal life Icardi is married to Argentine media personality
Wanda Nara.
Nara was married to Icardi's former Sampdoria teammate Maxi López but the couple split
after her relationship with Icardi was exposed.
She and López began divorce proceedings in December 2013.
Nara and Icardi subsequently married on 27 May 2014, not long after the divorce was finalised,
at a small ceremony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
During the April 2014 Serie A match between Sampdoria and Inter, López notably refused
to shake Icardi's hand, leading the press to dub the game "Wanda derby".
Career statistics As of 14 September 2014.
References
External links Official website
Profile on Zero Zero