At only 14 years and 29 days, Mateo Apolonio, of Deportivo Riestra, has become the youngest player to debut in the First Division of Argentine football by surpassing the record he established Sergio ‘Kun’ Agüero with Independiente in 2003 when it premiered at 15 years and 33 days in 2003.
The young promise of the Nueva Pompeya entity, a neighborhood in the city of Buenos Aires, entered the field this Thursday, with six minutes left before the end of the Argentine Cup match against Newell’s Old Boys, which ended 1-0 for the rosarinos.
From the ninth division to the elite
Apolonio militates currently in the lower categories of ‘Malevo’, which plays in the ninth division, the lowest of the categories in the South American country, where he serves as captain.
In the few minutes played, the player occupied the midfielder position on the left side of the field and, although he did not touch the ball at any time, he was very intense in the duel.
“Since January he had been training with us and went down to play at his category. He was given the opportunity and now to help him continue growing. He has great punch, it is normal that he was a little nervous,” he commented on the debut the coach of Deportivo Riestra, Cristian Fabbiani.
Read also
In a video published by his club on social networks, Apolonio revealed what he felt when he was called by the team to enter as a first division player.
“I was in the living room of my house and my mother called me. My father was crying on the phone and I didn’t understand anything. He told me: ‘You were summoned for the First Division,'” said the young man.
The rival coach warns of the “danger”
The Uruguayan coach of the ‘leper’ team, Mauricio Larriera, He stated at the end of the match that his players should mark him “with the same force with which a 38-year-old player is marked” and stated that, as a father, it seems like a “danger” because Apolonio is in a stage of development. .
Even so, it is evident that nothing can erase his name from the history of Argentine football since, in addition to shattering the ‘Kun’ record with Independiente, he relegated the mark he achieved to third place Diego Armando Maradona with Argentinos Juniors in 1976 at the age of 16.
rsr/nk/sab
