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Sergio Escudero
エスクデロ競飛王
Personal information
Full name	Sergio Ariel Escudero
Date of birth	1 September 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth	Granada, Spain
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder, striker
Team information
Current team	North Geelong Warriors FC
Youth career
1996–2000	Vélez Sársfield
2001–2002	Kashiwa Reysol
2004–2005	Urawa Red Diamonds
Senior career*
Years	Team
2005–2012	Urawa Red Diamonds
2012	→ FC Seoul (loan)
2013–2015	FC Seoul
2015	Jiangsu Sainty
2016–2019	Kyoto Sanga
2018	→ Ulsan Hyundai (loan)
2020–2021	Tochigi SC
2021–2022	Chiangmai United
2022–2023	Atlético Marte
2023	Banyule City SC
2024-Present	North Geelong Warriors FC
International career
2008	Japan U23
Medal record
Urawa Reds
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 24 January 2023

Sergio Escudero (エスクデロ競飛王, Esukudero Seruhio; Spanish pronunciation: [ˈseɾxjo eskuˈðeɾo]; born 1 September 1988) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or striker for Victoria Premier League 1 club North Geelong Warriors FC.

Born in Spain, he has represented the Japan U23 national team internationally. He is the son of Argentine-Japanese footballer Sergio Ariel Escudero.

Career

When Escudero was three years old, he moved to Japan because of his father's work and joined the local club team. After living in Japan for five years, he moved to Argentina and Escudero began his career with the Vélez Sársfield youth team, where his father, also named Sergio Ariel Escudero and uncle Osvaldo Salvador Escudero have played. Then he was called up to the U-15 Argentina national team training camp.

In 2001, Escudero returned to Japan and joined Kashiwa Reysol junior youth team in Chiba and later moved to Urawa Red Diamonds junior youth team in Saitama.^[1] He scored many goals in youth level league matches and contracted with Urawa Reds in 2005. Playing as a forward, Escudero made his debut as a professional on 15 April 2005, against Albirex Niigata at the age of 16 years, 8 months and 21 days and he became the second youngest J. League Division 1 player after Takayuki Morimoto. In 2006, German outfit VfB Stuttgart were interested in him but Urawa refused to release him.^[2]

On 11 June 2007, he obtained his Japanese citizenship and therefore he had a chance to play for the Japan U-20 team at 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada. However he failed to make it to the tournament since the squad was submitted before he became a Japanese citizen. In May 2008, he joined the U-23 national team which played at the 2008 Toulon Tournament and scored a goal against Ivory Coast.^[3]^[4]

On 17 July 2012, Escudero joined South Korean outfit FC Seoul on a six-month loan deal. He received number 26 and scored his debut goal on 21 July. He scored four goals and provided three assists in the end of the season. His loan was made permanent in December.^[5] He scored the opening goal and assisted Dejan Damjanovic's 2–2 equalizer in the 2013 AFC Champions League Final match against China powerhouse Guangzhou Evergrande on 26 October 2013. His impressive performance made him Man of the Match.^[6]

On 25 February 2015, Escudero signed a two-year contract with Chinese Super League side Jiangsu Guoxin-Sainty.^[7]

On 1 August 2022, Escudero joined a Primera División club C.D. Atlético Marte.

Personal life

The son of former Argentine-Japanese footballer of the same name, he was born to Argentine parents of Spanish descent in Spain, and thus held dual Argentine and Spanish citizenship.^{[citation needed]} In 2007, he acquired Japanese citizenship automatically as a result of his father's naturalization. Escudero is a cousin of Damián Escudero and nephew of Osvaldo Escudero.

Career statistics

As of end of 2018 season^[8]^[9]

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		ACL		Super Cup		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Urawa Red Diamonds	2005	J1 League	5	0	0	0	2	0	—		—		7	0
	2006		1	0	0	0	3	1	—		0	0	4	1
	2007		1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2008		13	0	2	1	1	0	1	0	—		17	1
	2009		23	3	0	0	7	1	—		—		30	4
	2010		17	3	2	1	3	0	—		—		22	4
	2011		20	1	0	0	6	1	—		—		26	2
	2012		1	0	—	—	0	0	—		—		1	0
	Total		81	7	4	2	22	3	1	0	0	0	108	12
FC Seoul	2012	K League 1	20	4	0	0	—		—		—		20	4
	2013		34	4	3	0	—		12	2	—		49	6
	2014		32	6	5	1	—		11	2	—		48	9
	2015		0	0	0	0	—		1	1	—		1	1
	Total		86	14	8	1	—		24	5	—		118	20
Jiangsu Sainty	2015	Chinese Super League	29	6	5	0	—		—		—		34	6
Kyoto Sanga	2016	J2 League	38	5	2	1	—		—		—		40	6
	2017		21	0	1	0	—		—		—		22	0
	2018		15	0	0	0	—		—		—		15	0
	Total		74	5	3	1	—		—		—		77	6
Career total			270	32	20	4	22	3	25	5	0	0	337	44