Alongside fellow Huracan team mate Javier Pastore, the talk of Argentinean football right now is forward Matias De Federico . He has been compared to the brilliant Barcelona attacker Lionel Messi due to their similar playing styles and height, De Federico is also only slightly taller than Messi at 5.61ft.
The 19-year-old is being scouted by the elite clubs in European football despite just two years of top flight football in Argentina. It has been reported that Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has followed his development, so the comparison with Messi is unavoidable, even though it may just be paper talk.
Last March Huracan rejected an offer from Brazilian giants Botafogo for one million dollars because the offer was too low. On a future transfer, De Federico is more interested in offers from England or Spain, and has been quoted as saying: “I like to watch the English Premier League, it is very fast and I think that it would suit my speed well. I also like the Spanish league a lot."
De Federico was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in January 1989. He has spent his entire career at Huracan and made his debut in January 2007 in the Argentinean Second Division and his official debut in the First Division came six months later.
Recently, in the Clausura tournament, De Federico has secured himself a starting berth in the Huracan side for the first time in his career. Huracan have been incredible in the Clausura and with one game to go lead the table by one point from final day opponents Velez Sarsfield.
De Federico, Javier Pastore and Mario Bolatti have been in excellent form, leading Huracan to some great performances. As a result De Federico was called up by Maradona to play a friendly match against Panama on May 20, 2009 in a match Argentina won 3-1 with a side made up exclusively of home-based players. De Federico marked his debut with a fantastic goal.
The predominantly right-sided forward, who like Messi can cut inside on his left foot, is very fast and when on the ball is unpredictable. He will provide more assists than goals but he is a really dangerous player and has few weaknesses. Due to his height, his aerial game is somewhat poor but he can improve this facet of his game.
Team mates describe De Federico as a great person off the pitch, but on it he can be a little selfish and his decision making is still raw. He does though have great vision of the game and can cross well from wide positions as well as from dead ball situations.
The Argentinean media have praised De Federico in recent months and his tally of six goals and 10 assists in just 20 games of the Clausura suggests Maradona may have yet another diminutive attacking schemer to add to his World Cup squad in 2010.
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Below are individual ratings of De Federico based on the opinion of local football experts and decided in comparison with the quality of the Argentinean league.
Acceleration: 8
Pace: 8
Stamina: 8
Strength: 7
Short Passes: 7
One Touch Play: 7
Long Passes: 6
Concentration: 6
Crossing: 6
Dribbling: 10
Finishing: 6
Heading (Attack): 4
Heading (Defence): 4
Long Shots: 7
Positioning: 8
Tackling: 4
Technique: 9
Decision Making: 6
Determination: 8
Creativity: 9
Off the Ball: 8
Tactical Awareness: 7
