Juan Pablo Sorín was born in Buenos Aires, on May 5, 1976.
At nine he entered the Argentinos Juniors youth set up and nine years later made his first team debut for the "Bichos Colorados" (The Red Ants). In 1994-95 he played 20 league games and scored 1 goal but Argentinos Juniors were struggling and were no longer the team that had triumphed in the Coppa Libertadores ten years earlier.
In 1995-96 he came to Europe and joined Juventus. The manager was Marcello Lippi and Sorin only played 2 league games, 2 in Coppa Italia and one in Champions League. The Bianconeri won the Champions League beating Ajax on penalties in Rome and the Italian Supercoppa (Parma 1-0) but finished 2nd in Serie A. His teammates included Angelo Peruzzi, Attilio Lombardo, Vladimir Jugovic and Fabrizio Ravanelli, all future Lazio players.
In 1996-97 he returned to Argentina and joined River Plate. He stayed four seasons with the "Millonarios" and played 78 league games with 11 goals. "La Banda" won 4 league titles and his manager was Ramón Díaz. They reached the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores twice and won it in 1996. The "Banda" also won the South-American Supercup in 1997.
In 2000 he joined Cruzeiro in Brazil where he stayed two seasons, playing 29 league games and scoring 3 goals. The "Raposa" (The Fox) won two Copa Sul- Minas and one Copa do Brasil.
In 2002 he returned to Europe and joined Lazio on loan. The manager was Roberto Mancini and Lazio had a good season finishing 4th (CL). Sorin however only played 6 league games and left in January for Barcelona on loan.
In Cataluña he played more, 15 league games and scored 1 goal (Celta Vigo), under managers Louis Van Gaal, Antonio de la Cruz and then Radomir Antić. The "Blaugrana" finished a disappointing 6th. In the squad were former Lazio, Gaizka Mendieta and future Lazio, Óscar López.
In 2003 he moved to Paris and joined P.S.G on loan. This was before the "Parisiens" became one of the richest clubs in the world but they won the Coupe de France (Châteauroux 1-0) and finished 2nd in Ligue 1 (behind Olympique Lyonnais). The manager was Bosnian Vahid Halilhodžić and Sorin played 21 league games with 1 goal.
In 2004 he returned to Cruzeiro but only played 6 league games before returning to Europe. He joined Villareal and the "Submarino Amarillo" (The Yellow Submarine) had a good season finishing 3rd in the Liga and reaching the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup (AZ Alkmaar 2-3 on aggregate). The manager was Manuel Pellegrini and Sorin played 21 league games with 4 goals.
In 2005-06 he stayed on in south-east Spain and Villareal finished 6th but reached a historic Champions League semi-final, losing to Arsenal 0-1 on aggregate. Sorin played 20 league games with 3 goals.
In 2006 Sorin left Spain and moved to Germany and SV Hamburger in the Bundesliga. The Hanseatic club had former Lazio player Thomas Doll as a manager and then, from February, Dutchman Huub Stevens and finished 7th. Sorin played 19 league games and scored 4 goals (Enegie Cottbus, Mainz and Alemania Aachen x2).
The following year he stayed with the "Dinasaurier" (Dinosaurs) but played less, only 5 league games. Hamburg finished 4th and won the Intertoto Cup (then reached last 16 in UEFA Cup). Some interesting teammates included Vincent Kompany, Jérôme Boateng, Nigel de Jong, Rafael Van der Vaart, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, Paulo Guerrero and Ivica Olić.
In 2008 Sorin then returned to Brazil and Cruzeiro but in two years only played one league game before retiring at 33.
Sorin had a good international career, winning 75 caps for Argentina and scoring 11 goals (Venezuela, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, Germany, Japan, Brazil, Colombia, Uraguay, Angola). He played in two World Cups, 2002 and 2006 and two Copa de America. He won an U20 World Cup in 1995, the Pan-American games in 1995, a silver medal at the 2004 Copa America and a silver medal in the 2005 Confederations Cup.
Sorin was a left full-back but was versatile and could also play further forward due to his technical skills. He is 1.73 and 68 kilos so not a particularly physical player but he was extremely dynamic. He was considered a bit undisciplined tactically often preferring to attack rather than defend. He played 256 club games and played for prestigious clubs such as Argentinos Juniors (Maradona's first club) River Plate, Juventus, Cruzeiro, Lazio, Barcelona, P.S.G, Villareal and SV Hamburger.
At Lazio he only stayed a few months and did not really leave a mark. He made a negative debut in a home defeat to Chievo and never imposed himself after that, only playing here and there. At Lazio he was weak defensively in his brief spell and was usually left out in favour of César or Beppe Favalli in a defence that included Jaap Stam, Sinisa Mihajlovic, Beppe Pancaro, Massimo Oddo, Paolo Negro and Ciccio Colonnese, tough competition. Sorin at Lazio could be summed up as a big name but a big disappointment although in a brief period.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup |
2002-03 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 |
Sources
Comments