Gabriel Mercado

Gabriel Iván Mercado (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡaˈβɾjel meɾˈkaðo]; born 18 March 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for Qatari club Al-Rayyan. Mainly a right back, he could also play as a central defender.

Gabriel Mercado
Mercado with Argentina at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Gabriel Iván Mercado[1]
Date of birth (1987-03-18) 18 March 1987[1]
Place of birth Puerto Madryn, Argentina
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 Al-Rayyan
Number 25
Youth career
Racing Club
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2010 Racing Club 96 (1)
2010–2012 Estudiantes LP 66 (10)
2012–2016 River Plate 94 (5)
2016–2019 Sevilla 78 (5)
2019– Al-Rayyan 27 (3)
National team‡
2007 Argentina U20 11 (0)
2010– Argentina 25 (4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 November 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22 March 2019

He began his career with Racing Club and Estudiantes before joining River Plate in 2012, going on to win six domestic and international tournaments including the 2015 Copa Libertadores. In 2016, he joined Sevilla for €2.5 million.

Mercado made his international debut for Argentina in 2010, and was part of their squad that came runners-up at the Copa América Centenario, and also took part at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Early career

Born in Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Mercado made his professional debut for Racing Club on 21 February 2007 in a 0–1 home defeat to San Lorenzo. He went to establish himself as a regular member of the Racing first team.

In July 2010, Mercado joined Estudiantes de La Plata for $800,000 and 50% of his rights.[3] He won the Apertura in his debut season, and stayed at the club until 2012.

In July 2012, he signed for River Plate.

Sevilla

On 4 August 2016, La Liga side Sevilla FC signed Mercado from River Plate on a three-year deal for a reported fee of €2.5 million, with River retaining 20% of a subsequent transfer fee. He was signed by compatriot manager Jorge Sampaoli to replace former captain Coke.[4]

He scored his first goal for the team on 20 September, deflecting Samir Nasri's free kick for the only score in a home Seville derby win over Real Betis.[5]

Al-Rayyan

On 11 June 2019, Al-Rayyan SC announced via their social media that they had signed Mercado.[6]

International career

Youth career

Mercado represented the Argentina Under-20 team at the 2007 South American Youth Championship in Paraguay and at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada.

Senior career

Mercado made his full international debut for the Argentina national team after being called up to join Diego Maradona's squad of Argentina-based players who beat Jamaica 2–1 on 10 February 2010.

Mercado was first-choice in his position for Argentina in the 2016 Copa América Centenario squad, playing in the final against Chile for the full 120-minutes, a 4–2 loss on penalties.[4]

In May 2018, Mercado was named in Argentina's preliminary 35-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia;[7] later that month, he was included in Jorge Sampaoli's final 23-man squad for the tournament.[8] In the round of 16 match against France on 30 June, Mercado scored in a 4–3 defeat, which saw Argentina eliminated from the competition.[9]

Career statistics

International
As of match played 22 March 2019[10]
Argentina
YearAppsGoals
201010
201100
201200
201300
201400
201510
2016102
201751
201871
201910
Total254

International goals

Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1
24 March 2016Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Santiago, Chile Chile
2–1
2–1
2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2
29 March 2016Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Córdoba, Argentina Bolivia
1–0
2–0
3
9 June 2017Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia Brazil
1–0
1–0
2017 Superclásico de las Américas
4
30 June 2018Kazan Arena, Kazan, Russia France
2–1
3–4
2018 FIFA World Cup

Honours

Estudiantes

River Plate

Argentina

References
  1. "FIFA World Cup Russia 2018: List of players: Argentina" (PDF). FIFA. 15 July 2018. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 December 2019.
  2. GABRIEL IVÁN MERCADO
  3. "Mercado, nuevo jugador de Estudiantes". ESPN Deportes (in Spanish). 6 July 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
  4. "Sevilla sign Argentina right-back Gabriel Mercado to help replace Coke". ESPN FC. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  5. "Gabriel Mercado leads Sevilla past Betis; Málaga beat Eibar for first win". ESPN FC. 20 September 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  6. "Argentina defender Gabriel MERCADO leaves Sevilla, joins Qatari club". 11 June 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  7. "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - 23-man & preliminary lists & when will they be announced?". Goal.com. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  8. "Argentina World Cup squad: Paulo Dybala included but Mauro Icardi misses out on 23-man group for Russia". The Independent. 21 May 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  9. Emlyn Begley (30 June 2018). "France 4-3 Argentina". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  10. "Gabriel Mercado". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
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