Marcos Acuña

Marcos Javier Acuña (born 28 October 1991) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a left back for Argentine Primera División club River Plate and the Argentina national team.^[2]

Marcos Acuña

Acuña playing for Argentina at the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name	Marcos Javier Acuña[1]
Date of birth	(1991-10-28) 28 October 1991 (age 33)[1]
Place of birth	Zapala, Neuquén, Argentina
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Position(s)	Left back
Team information
Current team	River Plate
Number	24
Youth career
	Don Bosco de Zapala
2008–2010	Ferro Carril Oeste
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2014	Ferro Carril Oeste	113	(5)
2014–2017	Racing Club	78	(16)
2017–2020	Sporting CP	85	(7)
2020–2024	Sevilla	112	(6)
2024–	River Plate	2	(0)
International career‡
2016–	Argentina	61	(0)
Medal record Men's football Representing  Argentina FIFA World Cup Winner 2022 Qatar Copa América Winner 2021 Brazil Winner 2024 United States 2019 Brazil CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions Winner 2022 England
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:59, 1 September 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:12, 10 September 2024 (UTC)

Club career

Early career

Acuña began his athletic training at Club Don Bosco in his hometown. At that time he played as a left wing-back.^[3] His good performance got him noticed by scouts who invited him to perform tests at various clubs in Buenos Aires. Thus, at age 13 he tried out for but did not stay at Boca Juniors and San Lorenzo de Almagro.^{[citation needed]} Four years later he tried out for Quilmes, River Plate and Tigre before ultimately being taken by Ferro Carril Oeste. After a few seasons in Ferro's reserve team, he was promoted to the first team. He made his debut in 2009 in a match in the Primera B Nacional playing as a winger under coach José María Bianco. Already in the 2013–14 season he stood out for his ability to assist his peers, providing 12 assists, which caught the attention of major clubs. At Ferro, Acuña played a total of 117 matches, with 5 goals and 23 assists.^[4]

Racing Club

On 18 July 2014, Acuña moved to Racing Club for a net fee of 4,900,000 pesos for 50% of his rights, with the option to buy another 25% at $750,000. On 27 July 2014, he played his first game with the Academia in a match for the knockout phase of the 2013–14 Copa Argentina against San Martín de San Juan, in which he also scored the winning goal on a header to give Racing a 1–0 victory. Later that year he was part of Racing's championship team that won the 2014 Argentine Primera División, cutting a streak of 13 years without titles for the Avellaneda side, in which Acuña played 15 games and scored two goals.

Sporting CP

On 12 June 2017, Racing president Víctor Blanco confirmed that Acuña would be leaving the club for Sporting CP.^[5] He made his debut for the Portuguese team in a 2–0 away victory over Desportivo Aves. On 15 May 2018, Acuña and several of his teammates, including coaches, were injured following an attack by around 50 supporters of Sporting at the club's training ground after the team finished third in the league and missed out on the UEFA Champions League qualification.^[6][7] Despite the attack, he and the rest of the team agreed to play in the Portuguese Cup final scheduled for the following weekend,^[8] eventually losing to C.D. Aves.

Sevilla

On 14 September 2020, Acuña joined Spanish club Sevilla on a four-year deal.^[9] On 7 November 2021, Acuña scored his first league goal of the 2021–22 season in the el gran derbi where Sevilla won 2–0 against Real Betis.^[10] On 13 February 2021, he extended his contract with Sevilla until 2025.

During Sevilla's match at Getafe on 30 March 2024, Acuña was the victim of racist chanting from behind the coaches' benches. As a result of this chanting, Getafe were ordered to close sections of their stadium for 3 matches.^[11]

International career

On 15 November 2016, Acuña made his international debut with the Argentina national team in a World Cup Qualifier 2018 match against Colombia.^[12] He was part of Argentina's squad that won the 2021 Copa América.^[13]

Acuña represented Argentina in the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.^[14] He won the latter edition of the tournament, playing all games except for the semifinal against Croatia in which he was suspended.^{[15][16][17][18][19][20]}

In June 2024, Acuña was included in Lionel Scaloni's final 26-man Argentina squad for the 2024 Copa América.^[21]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 1 September 2024^[22]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		League cup[b]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Ferro Carril Oeste	2010–11	Primera B	7	0	0	0	–		–		–		7	0
	2011–12		31	2	1	0	–		–		–		32	2
	2012–13		36	1	1	0	–		–		–		37	1
	2013–14		39	2	2	0	–		–		–		41	2
	Total		113	5	4	0	–		–		–		117	5
Racing Club	2014	Argentine Primera División	16	2	2	1	–		–		–		18	3
	2015		27	4	3	0	–		9[c]	0	–		39	4
	2016		10	1	0	0	–		10[c]	1	–		20	2
	2016–17		25	9	4	1	–		3[d]	1	–		32	11
	Total		78	16	9	2	–		22	2	–		109	20
Sporting CP	2017–18	Primeira Liga	31	4	5	0	5	1	13[e]	1	–		54	6
	2018–19		30	1	5	0	4	0	6[f]	0	–		45	1
	2019–20		24	2	0	0	4	0	6[f]	0	1[g]	0	35	2
	Total		85	7	10	0	13	1	25	1	1	0	134	9
Sevilla	2020–21	La Liga	30	1	3	0	–		4[h]	0	0	0	37	1
	2021–22		31	1	2	0	–		8[i]	0	–		41	1
	2022–23		30	3	3	0	–		12[j]	0	–		45	3
	2023–24		21	1	1	0	–		3[h]	0	1[k]	0	26	1
	Total		112	6	9	0	–		27	0	1	0	149	6
River Plate	2024	Argentine Primera División	2	0	0	0	–		0	0	–		2	0
Career total			390	34	32	2	13	1	74	3	2	0	511	40

1. Includes Copa Argentina, Taça de Portugal, Copa del Rey
2. Includes Taça da Liga
3. Appearances in Copa Libertadores
4. Appearances in Copa Sudamericana
5. Seven appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, six appearances in UEFA Europa League
6. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
7. Appearance in Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
8. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
9. Five appearances in UEFA Champions League, three appearances in UEFA Europa League
10. Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, eight appearances in UEFA Europa League
11. Appearance in UEFA Super Cup

International

As of match played 10 September 2024^[23]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Argentina	2016	1	0
	2017	7	0
	2018	8	0
	2019	11	0
	2020	1	0
	2021	11	0
	2022	10	0
	2023	7	0
	2024	5	0
Total		61	0

Honours

Racing Club

• Argentine Primera División: 2014

Sporting CP

• Taça de Portugal: 2018–19^[24]
• Taça da Liga: 2017–18, 2018–19^[25]

Sevilla

• UEFA Europa League: 2022–23^[26]

Argentina

• FIFA World Cup: 2022^[27]
• Copa América: 2021,^[28] 2024^[29]
• CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions: 2022^[30]

Individual

• Argentine Primera División top assist provider: 2016–17
• La Liga Team of the Season: 2021–22^[31]
• UEFA Europa League Team of the Season: 2022–23^[32]

References

1. "FIFA World Cup Russia 2018: List of Players: Argentina" (PDF). FIFA. 15 July 2018. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2019.
2. "Acuña". Sevilla FC. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
3. Redacción (11 July 2021). "Marcos Acuña, el zapalino que hizo historia con la camiseta de la selección". Diario Río Negro (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 August 2021.
4. Uria, Maximiliano (18 September 2020). "Don Bosco, el humilde club de Zapala que se hizo 'millonario' gracias a la venta del Huevo Acuña al Sevilla". www.clarin.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 August 2021.
5. "Racing pierde una pieza clave: Marcos Acuña se va a Sporting Lisboa por ocho millones de euros - LA NACION". La Nación (in Spanish). ISSN 0325-0946. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
6. "Jesus e jogadores agredidos na Academia" [Jesus and players attacked at Academy]. A Bola (in Portuguese). 15 May 2018. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
7. Kiley, Ben (15 May 2018). "Sporting Lisbon players attacked at training ground after failing to secure Champions League spot". Sports Joe. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
8. "Sporting Lisbon to play cup final". 16 May 2018.
9. "Marcos Acuña signs on a four-year deal". sevillafc.es. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
10. Nemer, Roy. "Marcos Acuña scores for Sevilla in 2-0 win vs. Real Betis | Mundo Albiceleste". Retrieved 9 November 2021.
11. Pineda, Rafael. "El Comité de Disciplina ordena el cierre parcial del estadio del Getafe por los insultos racistas a Marcos Acuña". El Pais. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
12. AS, Diario (26 August 2021). "Marcos Acuña (Marcos Javier Acuña)". AS.com. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
13. "Estadísticas del Partido - CONMEBOL". www.conmebol.com (in European Spanish). 12 March 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
14. Edwards, Daniel (14 May 2018). "Argentina World Cup squad: Mauro Icardi included in 35-man provisional roster". goal.com. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
15. "ARGENTINA (4) 3 - 3 (2) FRANCE". FIFA.
16. "Montiel and Acuna suspended for Croatia". www.besoccer.com. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
17. "ARGENTINA 2 - 1 AUSTRALIA". FIFA.
18. "POLAND 0 - 2 ARGENTINA". FIFA.
19. "ARGENTINA 2 - 0 MEXICO". FIFA.
20. "ARGENTINA 1 - 2 SAUDI ARABIA". FIFA.
21. "Lionel Scaloni dio a conocer la lista de la Selección argentina para la Copa América 2024". Todo Noticias. 15 June 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
22. "M. Acuña". Soccerway. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
23. "Marcos Acuña". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
24. Nogueira, Carlos (26 May 2019). "Leão rei dos penáltis leva para casa o segundo troféu da época" [Penalty-king lion takes home second trophy of the season]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Lisbon. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
25. "Penalties smile on Sporting again as Lions retain Taça da Liga crown". PortuGOAL.net. 26 January 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
26. Fitzpatrick, Peter (31 May 2023). "🚨 Sevilla defeat Roma on penalties to win seventh Europa League title". OneFootball. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
27. Murray, Scott (18 December 2022). "Argentina beat France on penalties after thrilling World Cup final – live reaction". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
28. Graham, Bryan Armen (11 July 2021). "Argentina 1-0 Brazil: Copa América final – live!". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
29. "Argentina defeats Colombia to Become The Champion of CONMEBOL Copa América 2024™". Copa América. 15 July 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
30. "Italy 0–3 Argentina: Messi and Di Maria shine in impressive Finalissima win". BBC Sport. 1 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
31. "LaLiga Santader Team of the Season". EA. 19 May 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
32. "2022/23 UEFA Europa League Team of the Season". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 4 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.

External links

• Profile at the Sevilla FC website