Ángel Correa


Ángel Martín Correa Martínez, known as Ángel Correa, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward and winger for Spanish club Atlético Madrid and the Argentina national team.
Starting his professional career at the age of 18 in 2013 with Argentine football club San Lorenzo de Almagro, he has won with the club the Torneo Inicial in 2013 and Copa Libertadores in 2014.
Correa has been selected with the U-20 Argentina National team, in 2015 his selection as team captain helped Argentina win the South American Tournament, where he was named the Best Player of the Tournament. Since 2015 he has been a regular selection for the Argentina Senior Squad.

Club career

San Lorenzo

Born in Rosario, Santa Fe Province, Correa joined San Lorenzo's youth setup in 2007, aged 12, after a trial period. In the summer of 2012, he was due to join Portuguese club Benfica on a free transfer, but the deal later collapsed.
Correa signed a four-year professional deal with the Ciclón on 23 September 2012, and was promoted to the first-team in January 2013. On 31 March he played his first match as a professional, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 0–1 loss at Newell's Old Boys.
On 11 May, Correa scored his first professional goal, netting the last of a 3–0 home success against Boca Juniors. He finished the campaign with 13 appearances, scoring four goals.

Atlético Madrid

On 27 May 2014, after scoring six goals in 2013–14, Correa had agreed a deal with La Liga holders Atlético Madrid for a reported fee of €7.5 million. He signed a five-year contract with the Madrid side, joining the club after the 2014 Copa Libertadores.
In June 2014, however, Correa was sidelined for six months due to a heart tumour. After undergoing surgery on 18 June in New York, he started a light training in August, and officially joined the club on 13 December.
On 22 August 2015, Correa finally made his Atleti debut, replacing Óliver Torres in a 1–0 home league match win against UD Las Palmas. He scored his first goal for the club on 19 September, netting the first in a 2–0 away win against SD Eibar; he also assisted Fernando Torres in the second goal.
On 6 November 2019, Correa marked his 200th appearance for Atlético, starting in a 1–2 away loss against Bayer Leverkusen.

International career

South American U-20 Championship selection

6 of January 2015, Humberto Grondona, the Under-20 Argentina Selection Technical Director, submitted a list of 32 Argentine players including Correa, invited to train to make the final roster for the South American Under-20s Championship. After four days of training Grondona announced the final 23-man roster that featured Correa as the captain of the Under-20 Argentine side.
14 of January, Correa made his debut for the U-20 Argentina selection playing against Ecuador in the first game of the group stage. He scored a goal and twice assisted to Giovanni Simeone for a 5-2 win.
18 of January, the third game of the group stage Correa scored a goal during a 6-2 win against Peru, helping Argentina advance out of the group stage.
26 of January, Argentina once again facing Peru in the playoff elimination stage of the tournament, Correa scored again during this matchup, helping Argentina advanced to the final with a 2-0 win.
7 of February, Argentina was set to play against the tournament host Uruguay in the final for the U-20 South America Cup. Throughout this tough matchup the game was a stalemate at 1-1, until Correa scored at the 81st minute to put Argentina up for 2-1 win for the U-20 South America Championship, and Correa earning honors for the Best Player of the Tournament.

U-20 World Cup selection

13 of May 2015, Humberto Grondona confirmed the list of 21 football players including Correa to represent Argentina in the U-20 World Cup hosted by New Zealand.
21 of May, in their second last friendly before the U-20 World Cup competition, facing off against Tahiti where Correa scored a header from a corner set for a 3-1 loss.
30 of May, Argentina opening match for the U-20 World Cup group stage was against Panama, Correa scored both goals for Argentina for a 2-2 draw, Argentina only earned two points in the group stage meaning they failed to advance into the knockout round.

Argentina Senior National Team selections

On 4 September in the following year, Correa made his full squad debut, coming on as a late substitute for Ezequiel Lavezzi in a 7–0 friendly home routing of Bolivia. He scored the last goal of the match.

Style of play

Correa has been compared to compatriot Sergio Agüero, due to his similar height. However, his playing style is more similar to Carlos Tevez, in a more attacking positional role. He holds good skill, pace and low centre of gravity, aside from a good technique and first touch.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.4 September 2015BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, United States7–07–0Friendly
2.26 March 2019Stade Ibn Batouta, Tangier, Morocco1–01–0Friendly

Honours

San Lorenzo
Atlético Madrid
Argentina U20