Lautaro Acosta

Sevilla On 29 May 2008, aged 20, Acosta signed for La Liga team Sevilla FC on a five-year contract, for a reported fee of €7 million subject to a medical. Shortly after his arrival in Andalusia, he suffered a serious injury and never fully recovered, his best output consisting of ten league games in 2010–11 (267 minutes, only two starts).

On 4 February 2009, Acosta scored his first – and only – goal for Sevilla, in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals, a 2–1 home win against Athletic Bilbao but an eventual 4–2 aggregate loss. In July 2011 he was loaned to fellow top-division side Racing de Santander, joining compatriots Ariel Nahuelpan and Héctor Cúper (manager); he started and netted on his official debut for the Cantabrians, but in a 4–3 away defeat to Valencia CF.

Return home Acosta returned to his country in 2012, going on to represent Boca Juniors and his former club Lanús. He was a key attacking element in five of the six titles won after his return, including the 2016 national championship. In October 2014, whilst at the service of the latter, he was kidnapped, threatened at gunpoint, assaulted and robbed after being led to his home.

International career In 2007, Acosta was picked to join the Argentina under-20 squad to compete in the 2007 South American U-20 Championship in Paraguay. He headed the only goal in the last game against Uruguay, to secure the national team's qualification for both the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2008 Summer Olympics. He was selected by the full side for a Copa América Centenario provisional squad, but did not make the final cut.

Acosta received his first senior call-up by coach Jorge Sampaoli on 27 August 2017, for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Venezuela. He earned his first cap against the former four days later, coming on as a substitute for Marcos Acuña at the hour-mark of an eventual 0–0 away draw.

Career statistics

Honours Lanús Argentine Primera División: 2007 Apertura, 2016

Supercopa Argentina: 2016 Summer Olympic Games: 2008