BIOGRAPHY AND CAREER
Esteban Matías Cambiasso Deleau born 18 August 1980, is an Argentine football defensive midfielder who plays for Serie A club Internazionale.
During his professional career, Cambiasso has won 22 official titles (as of the end of 2010), being the Argentine footballer with most honours in history.
Cambiasso started his professional career with Argentinos Juniors in 1995, moving to Real Madrid B in 1996. In 1998, he moved back to Argentina where he played for three years with Independiente and one with River Plate. During this time, he earned his nickname "Egg in a bun." With some good experience under his belt, he returned to Real Madrid in 2002. He helped Los Blancos win the UEFA Super Cup in 2002, La Liga, the Intercontinental Cup in 2002, and the Spanish SuperCup in 2003.
In July 2004, Cambiasso signed with Internazionale after his contract with Real Madrid expired in June 2004. He helped Internazionale win the Italian Cup in his first season with the club, playing regularly as a defensive midfielder, partnered in the middle of Inter's midfield with fellow Argentinian Juan Sebastián Verón. In Italy, he became known as one of the outstanding players of the 2004–05 season, along with AC Milan's Kaká.
During the return match for the final of the 2006 Coppa Italia, Cambiasso scored an impressive goal, the first of the match, for the 3–1 victory over Roma. On 30 September 2006, he scored twice in the opening game of the season, with Inter defeating Fiorentina 3–2. On 7 November 2007, he along with Zlatan Ibrahimović scored a brace a piece to defeat CSKA Moscow 4–2 in the UEFA Champions League. On 23 March 2009, it was announced that Inter and Cambiasso had come to terms about a contract renewal which now expires in 2014.
He was very important in the 2010 Champions League win as well, scoring the second goal of a 2-1 victory over Chelsea in the San Siro, a result which ultimately saw Inter go on to win the tournament.
Cambiasso first represented Argentina in the youth squads, along with national teammates Juan Román Riquelme, Pablo Aimar, Wálter Samuel and others. He was in the squads for the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship, where he scored the first goal in the final even though he was the youngest player on the squad, and captained the team during the 1999 edition.
Cambiasso made his senior national debut in 2000 for Argentina. On 15 May 2006, he was named in the Argentinian national team for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and on 16 June, he capped a spectacular 24 pass Argentine interplay with a finish to score the second goal in a 6–0 victory over Serbia and Montenegro. In the quarter-finals match against Germany on 30 June 2006, the match went into penalties, where Cambiasso had his penalty kick saved, resulting in Argentina losing 4–2 and Germany progressing to the semi-final.
Since Maradona took over as Argentina coach, Cambiasso was only called-up once to the national team for a friendly game on 14 November 2009 against Spain, despite continuing to play a vital role for Inter and affirming his status as one of Europe's best central midfielders. On 12 May 2010, Cambiasso was controversially left out of the 30 man provisional 2010 World Cup squad for Argentina.
On August 20 2010, Argentina National Team Coach Sergio Batista recalled Esteban Cambiasso to the Argentina National Team for an upcoming friendly against newly-crowned World champions Spain. Argentina handed Spain their first defeat since becoming world champions two months ago, earning a resounding 4-1 win in a friendly at the Monumental Stadium.
Personal information
Full name: Esteban Matías Cambiasso Deleau
Date of birth: 18 August 1980
Place of birth: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height: 1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position: Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current club: Internazionale
Number: 19
Youth career
0000–1996 Argentinos Juniors
1996–1998 Real Madrid
Senior career*
1998–2001 Independiente 102 (14)
2001–2002 River Plate 37 (12)
2002–2004 Real Madrid 42 (0)
2004– Internazionale 205 (28)
National team‡
2000– Argentina 49 (4)