Lautaro Rivero: from street vendor to surprise Argentina call-up | OneFootball

The list for the Argentina National Team for the upcoming FIFA date has been released, where they will play friendly matches against Venezuela and Puerto Rico, and Lionel Scaloni surprised everyone by including several names that were not on the fans' minds. One of them is Lautaro Rivero, who is currently having a dream run at River and has a past of effort and hard work on the streets that deserves to be told.

The left-footed defender, for whom the Millonario executed the repurchase clause a few months ago so that he could play in the Club World Cup, had a tough childhood, which led him to sell alfajores on the street until a few years before making his debut in the First Division to bring some money home.

Raised with his five siblings, his beginnings in football were at Los Halcones club, which was a few blocks from his house in his native Moreno. In addition, he played in the neighborhood fields with his friends. He then had stints at Villa Luro Norte and La Victoria, before arriving at the Millonario at the age of 14. "We are very humble and hardworking; the first thing I want is for my family to be better and to have everything they deserve. I want to see my mom, my dad and my brothers well. Thanks to them I am here, fighting day by day. I had many difficult things to overcome and for them I am fully committed," he said in an interview with River's official website in 2022.

He started as a left midfielder, but his good size and profile (left-footed, 1.85m) moved him back to the center of the defense. There he began to stand out, to the point that he wore the captain's armband in many of the lower categories. In 2021 he was promoted to Reserve, where he began a period of adaptation alternating with appearances in the Fourth Division. At the end of 2023, when he was about to become a free agent, he signed his first professional contract.

The following year, already established as a pillar of the defense in the Third Division, Martín Demichelis included him in the good faith list for the Copa Libertadores. Despite being considered by the coach, the quantity and quality of the players in the professional squad in that position kept him sidelined. Therefore, he decided to move to Central Córdoba in search of opportunities.

Rivero made his First Division debut on June 2 of last year, in Ferroviario's 4-2 defeat to Talleres, when Lucas González Vélez was still the coach. With the Colombian on the bench, he was a starter in almost all the matches, but when Omar De Felippe arrived, he was relegated, to the point that he was left out of the call-up for several matches, including the Copa Argentina final against Estudiantes.

The departures of Sebastián Valdez to Independiente and Jonathan Rak to Barracas Central opened the door for the young man from Moreno, who established himself as Lucas Abascia's sidekick, one of the few survivors of the championship squad.

In 2025, he stood out as one of the best central defenders in Argentine football, with formidable performances like the one at Maracaná against Flamengo, where he emerged as one of the team's stars in Central Córdoba's historic 2-1 victory.

He left Ferroviario with 30 matches under his belt, in which he scored two goals (Barracas Central and Belgrano) and provided one assist. In addition, he played the full 90 minutes in the six matches of the Santiago team in the Copa Libertadores.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.