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

The list for the Argentine National Team for the upcoming FIFA date has been released, during which they will play friendlies against Venezuela and Puerto Rico. Lionel Scaloni surprised everyone by including several names that fans did not expect. One of them is Lautaro Rivero, who is currently living a dream at River and has a past filled with hard work and effort on the streets that deserves to be told.

The left-footed center-back, for whom River Plate activated the buy-back clause a few months ago so he could play in the Club World Cup, had a tough childhood. He had to sell alfajores on the street until just a few years before making his debut in the First Division, in order to bring some money home.

Raised alongside his five siblings, his beginnings in football were at Los Halcones club, just a few blocks from his home in his native Moreno. He also played in the neighborhood’s vacant lots with his friends. Later, he had stints at Villa Luro Norte and La Victoria before joining River Plate at the age of 14. “We are very humble and hard-working; 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 siblings doing well. Thanks to them, I am here, fighting every day. I had many difficult things to overcome, and I give my all for them,” he said in an interview with River’s official website in 2022.

He started as a left midfielder, but his good build and profile (a 1.85m left-footer) saw him moved back to the center of defense. There, he began to stand out, to the point of wearing the captain’s armband in many youth categories. In 2021, he was promoted to the Reserve team, 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 official squad list for the Copa Libertadores. Despite being considered by the coach, the number and quality of players in that position in the professional squad kept him sidelined. For this reason, he decided to move to Central Córdoba in search of opportunities.

Rivero made his First Division debut on June 2 of last year, in Central Córdoba’s 4-2 defeat to Talleres, when Lucas González Vélez was still the coach. With the Colombian on the bench, he started almost every match, but when Omar De Felippe arrived, he was relegated, to the point of being left out of the squad for several games, 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 partner, one of the few survivors from the championship-winning squad.

In 2025, he stood out as one of the best center-backs in Argentine football, with outstanding performances such as the one at the Maracanã against Flamengo, where he became one of the team’s key players in Central Córdoba’s historic 2-1 victory.

He left Central Córdoba with 30 matches under his belt, in which he scored two goals (against Barracas Central and Belgrano) and provided one assist. He also played the full 90 minutes in all six of the team’s Copa Libertadores matches.

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