Mascherano’s story started with the Las Millionaires- River Plate of Buenos Aires. Even before his club career could kick-off, Mascherano had already started his national side career. He got his first silverware for his country before winning anything with River. The show was so impressive that soon he was Europe-bound!

His story took a detour with Corinthians and West Ham before joining the Anfield where he made his name on the biggest of stages. His way through these clubs to Liverpool was a complicated one due to third-party ownership of players.

Masche would go on to make his own name in Anfield, teaming up in the middle of the park with legendary Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso. He might not have the same attacking flair or the creativity as the others, but his gritty performances as the holding midfielder soon won hearts. He even started the Champions League final against AC Milan in Athens, 2007. Even though Liverpool lost that to AC Milan (2-1), Mascherano was voted by the fans as their best man. He was always giving all he had. His partnership with Xabi Alonso, even thought short lived, was touted as one of the best midfield partnerships there is.

Diego Maradona saw Mascherano as a “monster of a player”. In his time as the Argentina-boss, Diego made young Mascherano the Captain of the Argentina National Team, controversially ignoring other senior members.

Just before taking the coaching job, Diego said on a TV show about the then current squad, “I say Mascherano and 10 more” [13]. Indeed, he saw Mascherano as the only one truly worthy of the Argentina jersey. You could say his gameplay had a sort of burning flame. There were doubts over he should wear the armband or not. Maradona may not have done a good job in coaching the Albiceleste, but in the coming years, it would become clear that Maradona was absolutely right about Mascherano!  

Mascherano himself greatly appreciated Diego as well. In a recent interview, he remembered Diego as the biggest Argentina Fan ever, “Maradona is Argentina”, he explained. With Diego, Mascherano took this responsibility of a leader and a captain, and probably he would always be remembered as such.

When the time came, Mascherano would graciously hand over his armband to Messi. Although, he remained a de-factor leader of the team, both on and off the pitch.

Mascherano joined Pep Guardiola’s historic Barca team and went on to become a legend for the FC Barcelona team that defined an era. Given that Barca had the most exquisite midfield trio in the world- Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets, Mascherano transformed himself from a defensive midfielder to a center back, and he thrived on that role. Javier went on to start the Champions League final against Manchester United ahead of club captain and legend Carlos Puyol! He would win another Champions league title with Luis Enrique. People may remember that team because of the trio of MSN (Messi-Suarez-Neymar), but Mascherano was a crucial piece. 

Mascherano had evolved as a player at Camp Nou- from a destroyer to a proper center back. He himself admitted that before coming to Barcelona, he was only focused on one aspect of the game and that’s destroying oppositions’ play.

He went on to win all the important title there is to win with the Barcelona team. In his seven and a half years with the Blaugranas, he would get his hands on 18 trophies. And, Mascherano, unlike Messi did not grow in La Masia, but he understood the process Barca undertakes to develop young players- quoting Mascherano, “The players who have come up through the system are the ones who pass on the culture of the club” [10]. May be this has influenced him later taking the role of head coach for the Argentina U-20 and U-23 national teams.

Mascherano was part of the generation that did not win anything important with the national team. He, along with his compatriots, would come agonizingly close but it was not meant to be. Many will argue that there was simply a lot of average players in that generation that overshadowed Messi, Maria, Higuain and Co. But if there was a single player who deserved to win anything with that shirt, it was Mascherano. Albiceleste fans will remember him as a true leader, a hard nut to crack and the one who gave it all.  He himself said “Everyone knows what I feel when I put this shirt on” [4]. We know it too!

He will continue to be reference point for the Albiceleste. Even in a recent interview, Di Maria mentioned how Paredes learned grit and what it means to represent the Selección from Masche.  

It was clear to many that he would become a football manager. After his ‘training period’ with the youngsters of Argentina, he just started out his proper club managerial stint at Inter Miami. He has mentioned about his idea of Principle Based Coaching i.e. situation specific principles and how to executive certain actions based on the situations the team is in. Some of his rules for the Argentina underage teams also showed how he respects values and tries to instill them in his players. We can only wish Mascherano the very best for this phase of his career. Let’s just hope that he will become a monster of a coach as well. As the late Alejandro Sabella said, he will be identified as a symbol, an emblem of Argentina National Team.