Fernando Gago

Fernando Rubén Gago "El Pintita"(born April 10 1986 in Ciudadela, Buenos Aires, Gran Buenos Aires) is an Argentina football (soccer) midfielder, who plays for La Liga club Real Madrid.

Club career

Boca Juniors

Gago, who came from the youth divisions of Boca Juniors, made his professional debut with Boca in the 1–0 victory over Quilmes Atlético Club, on December 5 2004. Despite his youth, he quickly became an essential part of the Boca Juniors' midfield, and is considered a quality player, often compared with fellow countryman Fernando Redondo. His solid performance attracted Spanish powerhouses Real Madrid, and FC Barcelona.

Real Madrid

Gago made his debut for Real Madrid in the 2-0 La Liga defeat against Deportivo La Coruna on January 7, 2007.

This promised to be an exciting start for the extremely talented midfielder, however due to the poor performance of the entire Real Madrid outfit, Gago's apparent talent was not withstanding, and, after being at fault for the opening goal by breaking from the rest of the defensive wall at a free-kick, he was substituted for Ronaldo. However, a week later, against Real Zaragoza at Santiago Bernabeu, Gago's performance lifted along with that of his team mates. His defensive game picked up considerably as he fought hard in midfield, while also demonstrating vision by delivering several through balls to the attackers. Real Madrid defeated Real Zaragoza 1-0, with a goal from Ruud van Nistelrooy, created by fellow new signing Gonzalo Higuaín.

On May 20 2007, With the score tied at 2-2 against Recreativo de Huelva, Real Madrid looked set to return the lead back to rivals Barcelona until Fernando Gago gave a last minute assist to Roberto Carlos (footballer) who scored at the end of the match and the squad left Huelva with just three "finals" left to play. Real managed to beat Recreativo 3-2 at the Nuevo Colombino and went on to win the league that year as well.

In his second season at the club, Gago displayed his true ability with a series of top class performances in the centre of Madrid's La Liga winning midfield. He managed to claim a first team spot in place of Mahamadou Diarra and was a key figure in the clubs second successive league title.

Club career statistics

Personal life

Gago, Sergio Agüero and Lionel Messi had all been teammates as children back in Argentina. Together, the three of them won the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands. Presently all three of them, now in their twenties, are based in Spanish clubs (Agüero at Atlético Madrid and Messi at FC Barcelona).

Fernando Gago is also a literature and art enthusiast. The first thing he did after landing in Spain was visit the Prado Museum.. He earned the nickname El Pintita ("pintar" in Spanish means "to draw") ever since Ramón Maddoni scolded him for playing with his hair. Also, his Boca Juniors teammates would call him so because his youth squad coach would scold him "stop drawing and run!"

Titles