Javier Matías Pastore (born 20 June 1989) is an Argentine footballer who currently plays for Italian Serie A club Palermo. He is usually nicknamed "El Flaco" and, more occasionally, "Huesito".
Early life
Pastore started his youth career in Talleres, the team he supported as a youngster.
Club career
Talleres
Pastore slowly worked his way up to the first team. In 2007, he made his debut in the Argentine second division under the wing of manager Ricardo Gareca. In 2007, he only managed to play five games.
[edit]Huracán
During the 2008 season, he was loaned to Club Atlético Huracán of the Argentine Primera. Pastore made his professional debut for Huracán on 24 May 2008 in a 1--0 loss with River Plate. In the Clausura 2009 championship, he established himself as a regular first team player for the club under the management of Ángel Cappa. This was his breakthrough tournament, where his side narrowly missed out on the championship title. His performance against River Plate was particularly lauded where he opened the scoring with a 25-yard shot and then scored again with a piece of individual brilliance helping Huracán win 4--0 in the club's biggest win against River Plate in over 60 years.
He ended up as the team's top scorer with seven goals and three assists. Pastore and teammate Matías De Federico were integral to Huracán's title challenge that season.
Palermo
On 11 July 2009 Palermo formally announced the signing of Pastore for five years until 30 June 2014, with the transfer fee being about $8 million.[1][2] Before his move to Palermo, the player was also linked to number of other top European clubs, including Manchester United, FC Porto, AC Milan, and Chelsea.[3]
His debut was on 15 August in the Coppa Italia, while his debut in Serie A was eight days later. His breakthrough game was on 4 October against Juventus, when he assisted Edinson Cavani's goal in a 2--0 win, appearing in all the websites and national newspapers. He scored his first Serie A goal on 30 January 2010 in a 2--4 away defeat to Bari. In his first season at Palermo, Pastore proved himself as being a promising but inexperienced youngster, playing mostly as a second half substitute under head coaches Walter Zenga and, later, Delio Rossi. He then established himself as a regular under the tutelage of Rossi, playing usually in a role behind the regular striking duo of Fabrizio Miccoli and Edinson Cavani. Thanks to his performances, all praised by fans and pundits, Palermo finished off the season in 5th place, qualifying for the Europa League.
In the 2010--11 season, on 14 November, Pastore scored his first career hat-trick in a derby match against Catania.[4]
[edit]International career
Following a string of good performances in his first season at Italian Serie A level, Argentina head coach Diego Maradona called up Pastore for national squad duty against a Catalan representative team for an unofficial friendly game on 22 December 2009. Pastore made his debut as a second half substitute scoring a goal in the process. As the game was not a FIFA recognised representative game, Pastore did not receive a cap.
He was subsequently called up by Maradona again for a friendly game against Germany, but did not get onto the pitch. His official debut was against Canada on 25 May 2010. Pastore was included by Maradona in Argentina's 23-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[5] On 22 June, Pastore made his World Cup debut when he came on the pitch in the 77th minute against Greece, replacing Sergio Agüero. Argentina won the match 2--0.[6] On 27 June, he was again substituted on against Mexico in the 87th minute, this time replacing Maxi Rodríguez. Argentina won the match 3--1.
Honour
Serie A Young Footballer of the Year: 2010
