Top facts about Javier Mascherano, the recently retired Little Chief

Javier Mascherano is an Argentine retired professional football player who represented various clubs, such as River Plate,

, West Ham United, Liverpool, Barcelona, Hebei China Fortune, and Estudio 2018 in his career.

Of these clubs, he played the most for Barcelona. He played for this team from 2010 to 2018 and featured in 203 matches. He also played 147 international matches and captained his national team (at the insistence of Argentine football legend Diego Maradona) utterly successfully and led his side to the quarter-final stages of both the FIFA World Cup and Copa America.

He Had the Highest Pass Completion Rate of the World Cup as well. He was primarily recognized for his talent and playing skills and was widely considered as one of the best soccer players. His incredible leadership skills, his ability to mark players, make strategies, organize team members, and read the game were uniquely admirable.

He was a deep-lying central midfielder, who was highly praised by his peers for his ability to effortlessly block and destroy the opposition’s attacking plays. Besides he was lauded for his tendency of not trying to go too forward despite having phenomenal shot-making and counter-attacking passing skills.

We have come up with such fascinating

top facts about Javier Mascherano

, if you are eager to know more about him, just make sure to stick around until the end. It is to be hoped you enjoy reading as much as we did.

Top facts about Javier Mascherano that you might want to know

Here you would go through an engaging ride through some of the most impressive top facts about Javier Mascherano. He is an Argentinan retired professional soccer player who played in the position of a defensive midfielder or centre-back.

Javier Mascherano facts in brief

Bio

• Full name

  : Javier Alejandro Mascherano

• Nickname

  : The Little Chief

General information

• Date of Birth

  : 8 June 1984

• Birth Place

  : San Lorenzo, Argentina

• Nationality

  : Argentine

• Religion

  : Christianity

• Zodiac Sign

  : Gemini

• Age

  : 36 Years

Personal Information 

• Father

  : Oscar Mascherano

• Mother

  : Teodolinda Chiche Tagliaro Mascherano

• Brother

  : Sebastian Mascherano

• Marital Status

  : Married

• Wife

  : Fernanda Mascherano

• Marriage Year

  : 2008

• Children

  : Lola Mascherano (Daughter), Alma Mascherano (Daughter), Bruno Mascherano (son)

• Net Worth

  : $40 million

• Best Friend

  : Lionel Messi

• Hobbies

  : Playing football, Listening to music, Video games, Watching TV series, Gardening and Swimming

Physical Status

• Height

  : 1.74 m

• Weight

  : 73 kg

• Eye Color

  : Dark Brown

• Hair Color

  : Black

Football information

• Occupation

  : Retired footballer

• Playing Position

  : Defender/ Midfielder

• Current Club Team

  : Retired in 2020

• Current National Team

  : Retired in 2018

• Foot

  : Right

• Jersey Number

  : 14

Favourites

• Favourite Team

  : Barcelona FC

• Favourite Website

  : Twitter

• Favourite Actor

  : Leonardo DiCaprio

• Favourite Actress

  : Angelina Jolie

• Favourite Singer

  : Lali Espósito

• Favourite Food

  : Italian foods recipes, Cured meats, Spicy food Recipes, Fast foods, English foods

• Favourite Drinks

  : Mango Fresh Juice

• Favourite Super Hero

  : Superman, Spiderman

• Favourite Sports

  : Soccer, football, American football, Volleyball

• Favourite Musician

  : Lali Espósito

• Favourite Politician

  : Carlos Menem

• Favourite Cellphone

  : Iphone/Apple

• Favourite Colour

  : Red

• Favourite Flower

  : Red Rose

• Favourite Time of Day

  : Evening, Morning

• Favourite Animal

  : Lion, Tiger

• Favourite Digit

  : 14

• Favourite Pet

  : Dog

Favourite Footballers

: Ronaldinho, Maradona,

Javier Mascherano childhood

Javier Alejandro Mascherano was born on 8th June 1984 in San Lorenzo, Sante Fe, Argentina to his father Oscar Mascherano and his mother Teodolinda Chiche Tagliaro. About 

Javier Mascherano childhood

 it is indicated that at the very early age of four, he began training soccer in the club San Lorenzo Cerámica.

As the player’s mother once said in one of her interviews, the underlying majority of children who were allowed to play in the club were five or six years old. Therefore Javier actually had to cope with older kids.

At the age of ten, Mascherano joined another town club, Barrio Villa. In as much as The French midfielder Claude Makélélé was the boy’s icon as he was learning how to play professional football, he tried to imitate Makélélé’s style as much as he could.

All of those efforts turned out to be useful as the scouts of Renato Cesarini used to visit Barrio’s games and one of them was that much touched with the 14-year-old player’s aptitudes that offered him to enter the club’s youth academy.

With his parent permission, he eventually agreed to join them. The following year, he was included in the River Plate youth team and started his career in 1999 where he spent his time for 4 years there before signing a professional career with them in 2003.

As a youngster, he reportedly was a hyperactive kid who was savouring the true meaning of playing football. He finally succeeded to earn himself a place at the prestigious River Plate sports club.

Besides in September 2001, for the first time, he appeared in Argentina national team and played for them as they secured fourth place in the 2001 FIFA U-17 World Championship.

Javier Mascherano professional career

He came through the youth levels of River Plate and signed his first professional contract in 2003.

Mascherano had made his full international debut before even playing a single game for River Plate. After he performed so brilliantly in the U-20 World Cup, River Plate Coach, Basile, made his mind to promote him to the first team.

This decision paid off as he became a crucial component in River Plate’s 2003–04 Clausura championship victory. After showcasing his talents through a successful start in his club career at River Plate, he attracted the eyes of several top clubs in the world.

However, these transfers did not appear to be fruitful in as much as River Plate was not that much satisfied with any of the offers these clubs made until the miserable season of 2004–05 that they were unable to achieve much success and therefore after making 71 appearances, Mascherano was acquired by Brazilian club Corinthians for $15 million.

After joining Corinthians in the mid-season, he played in only 9 matches followed by a long injury spell but still, the team was capable to win the 2005 Série A championship. He totally appeared 33 times for the club before moving to English Club

for £13.14 m.

He played 7 matches and after a dispute with Liverpool, West Ham was compelled to let him go on free in February 2007 as a special request was made by Liverpool to bring him to Anfield.

His indispensable role made them reach the Champions League Final that season, although at the end of the day they lost 2-1 to

. While Mascherano had his own song, he had a special place in the fans' affection at Liverpool.

Yet, on 23 March 2008, in his first game at Old Trafford against

, Mascherano was sent off after receiving two subsequent yellow cards.

His reluctancy to leave the pitch made them escort him out. For his improper conduct, the Football Association suspended him for three games and slapped a fine of £15,000 on him.

Then he got contracted a four year deal with Barcelona for 24 million Euros and made his debut for Barcelona on 11 September 2010. In spite of having won multiple titles with the club, Mascherano put away his first goal for them only on 26 April 2017 in a La Liga game against

.

Mascherano won numerous awards like 2 Champions League, 5 La Liga, 4 Spanish Super Cup as well as 2 FIFA Club World Cup competitions during his stint with Barcelona.

Although he had signed a new contract with Barcelona in 2016 that was to last till 2019, he got contracted with the Chinese club, Hebei China Fortune, on 24 January 2018 for €5.5 million. He netted his first goal for the club in a Chinese FA Cup match against Shandong Luneng Taishan on 2 May 2018.

Then on 23 November 2019, it was revealed that he joined Argentine club Estudiantes in January 2020 on a free transfer. He made his official debut in a league match against San Lorenzo on 25 January 2020, which ended in a 1–1 draw. On 15 November 2020, he eventually announced his retirement from professional football.

International

Surprisingly, he made his International debut before making his club debut. On 16th July 2003, he made his debut in a friendly against Uruguay.

He scored his first international goal came in July 2007 during the

competition and with netting two goals he was adjudged as the best Argentine player in the tournament.

He was also part of the Argentinian football team, which successfully defended the gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Thus, he became the first male footballer since 1968 to twice win a gold medal at the Summer Olympics.

After Argentine legend Diego Maradona became head coach of the national team in November 2008, in an announcement he expressed the first thing he wanted to do was to appoint Mascherano the captain of the squad.

Mascherano captained his team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and 2011 Copa America, although they were eliminated in the quarter-final stage at both the tournaments. In August 2011, he became the vice-captain after being replaced by Lionel Messi as the captain of the national squad.

He made his 100th international appearance at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in a group stage match against Iran. Mascherano made 147 appearances for the Argentina national team and is the most capped player in the country's history.

All in all from his debut in 2003 until his retirement in 2018, he represented the nation at five Copa América tournaments, finishing runner-up in 2004, 2007, 2015, and 2016, and four FIFA World Cups, reaching the 2014 final. 

Javier Mascherano potentials

Among the top facts about Javier Mascherano, the indication of his fascinating potentials would be notable. The Little Chief is an all-rounder, with intelligent tactics who possessed an outstanding intelligent capacity to study the match along with arranging his team.

That is to say, despite his versatility, he had an incredible leadership quality, coupled with the abilities to make precise passes and mark tough opponents.

Besides, in spite of his relatively small physical stature he is particularly recognized for his strong style of hard-tackling the play as well as his tremendous energy and good positional sense.

Therefore it goes without saying that his magnificent performances for his country at major competitions (Copa America and FIFA World Cup) had resulted in him being voted as the best player in the squad by his teammates occasionally.

Javier Mascherano personal life

Considering top facts about Javier Mascherano and more specifically dealing with his personal life affairs, he has the reputation of a family-oriented man.

Mascherano had been acquainted with his wife Fernanda Mascherano, as he had a relationship with her for a long time since he was 15.

Javier Mascherano wife

has married him in the year 2008 and they have remained together until now.

The couple together is blessed with three children including two daughters; Lola (born in 2006) and Alma (born in 2009) and a son Bruno (born in 2017).

It seems that much of his career decisions are made by his family, and are even based on favouring their well being as he often puts their interest into priority; for instance, one can point out to his leaving

and going to China as well.

Javier Mascherano net worth

In regard to

top facts about Javier Mascherano

, it is no wonder to suggest that as a professional footballer his earnings do come from his contracts with the clubs.

Just for instance in 2005, he moved to Brazilian side Corinthians for $15 million. In 2007, he joined Liverpool for £18.6 million. In 2010, he got contracted with Barcelona for €24 million as it was later promoted to July 2012.

His deal was also updated in June of 2014 at a buyout of €100 million. His salary in 2017 with

reportedly was to be £130,000-a-week with an annual salary of £6.5 million. His weekly earning in 2013 was around £95,000.

In 2018, he signed with Chinese Super League side Hebei China Fortune for €5.5 million. Taking all of his fortunes into account,

Javier Mascherano net worth

is estimated to be $40 million as of 2021.

Apart from his salaries, he also possesses several car models of the brand Audi. He was gifted Audi A7 Sportback by Audi and it is one of his well-known cars. Some of his other cars are Ferrari, Mercedes etc.

Javier Mascherano body Measurement

Delving just a bit further into top

facts about Javier Mascherano

, we would take his body measurement into consideration. He stands at a height of 1.74m i.e. 5 feet and 9 inches tall.

He has a bodyweight of 73kg. As a footballer, he has an excellent athletic body build with dark brown eye colour and dark hair colour. His sexual orientation is also straight.

Javier Mascherano social media

Regarding the top facts about Javier Mascherano, it is pertinent to note that he has several social network accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. He often posts photos from practice and games.

Other soccer stars, for instance, Lionel Messi,

, Ángel Di María, sometimes have postured in his pictures. In

Javier Mascherano social media

accounts you can also find some photos of his personal life and family every now and then.

Javier Mascherano quotes

If you are willing to stir the ballooning of motivation in your spirit or you are eager to get even more familiar with Javier Mascherano attitudes at the same time, what better than to read his own uplifting sayings. Here are some of the most inspiring quotes of Javier Mascherano in line with his mindset toward football and life itself.

"Great players are very good technically, but they also have a huge amount of character because, without it, you will never get to see that great technique because it vanishes under pressure."

"In football, 80% of the game is played in your head; the other 20% is physical and tactical."

"I don't go out to enjoy myself: I enjoy myself when I'm learning in training, but I don't enjoy the 90 minutes I spend out on the pitch during a game."

"This is football: one day you win, one day you lose, and there's a very fine line between them."

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