After only recently re-joining boyhood club River Plate along with former Argentina teammates Javier Saviola and Lucho González, iconic playmaker Pablo Aimar has announced his retirement after being left out of Marcelo Gallardo’s Copa Libertadores squad.
The idol of none other than four-time Ballon d’Or winner and fellow Argentinian Lionel Messi, Aimar, affectionately known as El Payaso (The Clown), was well known for his phenomenal dribbling ability and incredible passing and vision. The Río Cuarto-born playmaker represented Argentina’s U17s and U20s, winning the FIFA U20 World Cup in 1997, and also represented the senior side at the 2002 and 2006 World Cup, netting eight times in 52 appearances.
El Payaso joined River Plate’s youth ranks at the age of 14 in 1993, and made his debut for Los Millonarios in 1996, the same year the club won its second Copa Libertadores. Aimar went on to form a lethal partnership with formidable young striker Javier Saviola at the Monumental, and the two young stars helped River to the 1997 Apertura, 1999 Apertura and 2000 Clausura titles before the two left for Europe. Saviola joined FC Barcelona while Aimar joined Champions League runner-up Valencia in 2001, and it was at Los Che that Aimar would enjoy the most successful spell of his career.
Aimar became a cult hero at the Mestalla, and was also subjected to high praise from the legendary Diego Maradona.
“Aimar is the only current player I’d pay to watch,” Maradona said.
That statement speaks volumes of El Payaso‘s sheer talent. He lit up the Mestalla for five years, catapulting Valencia to La Liga titles in 2002 and 2004 as well as the UEFA Cup and UEFA Supercup in 2004. Aimar became well known to English football fans during his time at Valencia, as he rounded off the astonishingly brilliant team move that ripped Liverpool apart in the 2002-03 Champions League.
The Argentinian wizard left Valencia for Real Zaragoza in 2006, but only spent two years at the club before leaving Zaragoza after its relegation from La Liga in 2007-08. Aimar moved to Portugal to join Benfica in 2008, where he would link up up with former River and Argemtina teammate Saviola a year later. The two struck up a formidable partnership once again, spearheading an impressive team also featuring the likes of Ángel Di María and Óscar Cardozo. Aimar had barely lost any of the scintillating form he displayed at Valencia, and played an integral role in Benfica’s 2010 Primeira Liga triumph as well as four consecutive Taça da Liga triumphs from 2009 to 2012.
Aimar was unlucky not to add another piece of European silverware to his collection when Benfica finished as runner-up to Chelsea in the 2012-13 UEFA Europa League. After five successful years at the Estádio da Luz, Aimar surprisingly left Europe for a spell in Malaysia in 2014, joining Johor Darul Takzim and helping the club win the Malaysian Premier League in his brief spell in Asia.
A dream homecoming to River Plate and the Estadio Monumental followed, however injuries would plague El Payaso‘s final months at River, leading the legendary playmaker to fall down the pecking order in Marcelo Gallardo’s squad. With the club on the verge of its first Libertadores final since 1996 when Aimar himself won the tournament as a mere 17-year-old, the Nuñez-based giants will no doubt pay a fitting tribute to one of the club’s favourite sons, and one of the most richly talented playmakers to have graced the game in the last two decades.
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