Walter Adrián Samuel (; born Walter Adrián Luján; 23 March 1978) is an Argentine former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. Samuel has been regarded as one of the best centre-backs of his generation, and as one of football's toughest defenders, with former international teammate and Inter captain Javier Zanetti referring to him as the "hardest player" he has played with. Samuel began his club career with domestic club

Newell's Old Boys Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football. A ...

in 1996, later moving to

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

the following year. This was soon followed by a move to Europe in 2000, and spells with Italian club Roma, and Spanish club

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. In 2005, he returned to Italy, joining Inter, where he remained for nine seasons, winning five consecutive

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

titles; he played a key role in the club's treble success in the 2009–10 season, partnering with

Lúcio Lucimar Ferreira da Silva (born 8 May 1978), commonly known as Lúcio, is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. A tall and physically strong defender who excelled in the air, he is regard ...

in defence under

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix (; born 26 January 1963) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Süper Lig club Fenerba ...

. At an international level, he has accumulated over 50 caps for the Argentina national team, representing his country at two

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

s, the 1999 Copa América, and the

2005 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup association football, football tournament was the seventh FIFA Confederations Cup. It was held in Germany between 15 June and 29 June 2005, as a prelude to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The tournament was won by 2002 FI ...

, where he won a runners-up medal.

Early life and personal life

He was born Walter Luján, making his professional debut for Newell's and playing the World Youth Cup under that name. He later took the last name of his stepfather, Óscar Samuel. He has two sisters. Samuel is married to Cecilia. They have two sons and a daughter.

Club career

Early career

Samuel started playing professionally in 1996 in Argentina for

, and a year later moved to

, where he played 103 matches and scored five goals in all competitions until 2000. In that year, Roma bought his contract for 40.265 billion Italian lire (about €20 million). He gained fame as one of the best defenders in the Italian league and gained a nickname to match, winning the Serie A title with Roma in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

. His quality attracted interest from Spanish team

. Real Madrid paid €25 million for his transfer in 2004. Samuel failed to make an impact at Madrid. He was one of the three non-EU players of the team, along with Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos; they all obtained Spanish passports, however, in 2005.

Inter Milan

In August 2005, he returned to the

with a transfer to

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

on a four-year contract for reported €16 million fee. He began his Inter adventure by winning the 2005 Supercoppa Italiana versus

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

, entering in 63rd minute as ''Nerazzurri'' won at extra-time thanks to the winner of Verón. Later on 21 September, he made his league debut for his new side by starting in the 1–0 away win over Chievo. On 24 November, during a Champions League

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

match against

Petržalka Petržalka (; ; ) is the largest borough of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Situated on the right bank of the river Danube, the area shares a land border with Austria, and is home to around 100,000 people. Names and etymology The German name ...

, Samuel played in a line-up of 11 foreign players on the pitch, with

Luís Figo Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo (; born 4 November 1972) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a winger for Sporting CP, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Inter Milan. He won 127 caps for the Portugal national team, a one-t ...

being the only

europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an. He finished his first season at Inter by making 42 appearances in all competitions, with the team winning the championship following the relegation of Juventus due to match-fixing, and

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

by defeating Roma 4–2 on aggregate, with Samuel playing on both finals, thus completing an unforeseen domestic treble. In the

Derby della Madonnina The Derby della Madonnina (; named after the ''Madonnina'' statue on top of the Milan Cathedral), also known as the Derby di Milano (), is a derby football match between the two prominent Milanese clubs, Inter Milan and AC Milan. In the past, ...

on 23 December 2007, Samuel hurt himself whilst marking the Brazilian international

Kaká Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (; born 22 April 1982), commonly known as Kaká () or Ricardo Kaká, is a Brazilian former professional Association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. In his prime at A.C. Milan, AC Mil ...

, and a couple weeks later, he had reconstructive surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament. He was expected to be out until the end of the 2007–08 season. In actuality, he started training with the first team again in October of the 2008–09 season and promptly earned a first team place back under manager

. He played his first match in more than nine months on 9 November by starting in the 1–0 home win over Udinese. Samuel was one of the most important players under Mourinho in the 2009–10 season, partnering

in defence as they won the Serie A title, the Coppa Italia, and the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

, completing a historic treble. He scored his first goal of the season on 20 October in the third Champions League

match versus

Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...

which prevented Inter from losing; he headed home a

Wesley Sneijder Wesley Sneijder (; born 9 June 1984) is a Dutch former professional footballer. Noted for his playmaking ability, he was considered one of the best midfielders in the world during his prime. A product of the Ajax Youth Academy, Sneijder started ...

cross to make it 2–2. This draw extended Inter winless run in the UEFA Champions League to eight matches. Later on 9 January, Samuel scored a last-minute winner in the 4–3 win versus

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

by beating goalkeeper Gianluca Curci with a left-footed shot. His goal later resulted decisive as Inter won the title two points ahead of Roma. He played his 100th Serie A game for Inter later on 24 April in the 3–1 win over

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

. Samuel finished the season by making 42 appearances and scoring 4 goals; he was praised for his defensive performances against

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and Bayern Munich on Inter's road to the Champions League title. Samuel suffered a severe knee injury - a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, this time on his other knee - on 7 November 2010 fixture against

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

. This forced him to miss the

2010 FIFA Club World Cup The 2010 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2010 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was a football tournament that was played from 8 to 18 December 2010. It was the seventh FIFA Club World Cup and was ho ...

triumph in

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. He returned in action on 15 May of the following year by entering in the last minutes of a 1–1 away draw versus

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

. After the match Samuel expressed his delighting for playing his first match in almost six months, stating: "I'm feeling good and I'm delighted at having been able to play the last few minutes of this match. I would like to thank the medical staff for the work they did after my injury, my family who has always stood by me, and all the fans." He finished the 2010–11 season by making 15 appearances in all competitions. On 5 February 2012, Samuel played his 500th match as a professional in the 4–0 defeat at Roma. At the end of the season, he signed a new one-year contract with the club, lengthening his Inter career up to eight seasons. Later on 7 October, he scored inside three minutes in the

derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

versus

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

which resulted the winning goal, meaning that Samuel has won all 10 derbies that he has played. In June 2013, Samuel extended his contract for another

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

, in what would be his final season. He scored his first goal of the season on 9 February 2014, a header which resulted the winner in the match against

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town is best known for being the centre of the Ita ...

for the first win of 2014. Samuel wore the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

armband for the first time on 15 February 2014 in the 2–1 win at

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

due to Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso being on bench. His final goal for the club came in the 4–0 win at Sampdoria in April 2014. Samuel left the club at the end of 2013–14 season, having made 236 appearances and winning 13 trophies in nine years. His last appearance for the club occurred on 10 May 2014 in the 4–1 home win over

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

which gave the team a spot in

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

next season.

Basel

After nine seasons with Inter, on 23 July 2014, Samuel signed a one-year contract with

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

in the

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

. He joined the team for their 2014–15 season under head coach Paulo Sousa. After playing in one test game Samuel played his debut for his new club in the

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup competition that has been organised annually since 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Cup final is usually the most important game of the year with a high attendance. The co ...

away game on 23 August 2014 as Basel won 4–0 against CS Italien ( GE). He played his domestic league debut for the club in the home game in the St. Jakob-Park on 31 August as Basel won 3–1 against Young Boys. Basel entered the Champions League in the

. They reached the

knockout phase A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

on 9 December 2014, as they managed a 1–1 draw at

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. But they were knocked out of the competition by

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

in the

round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

. Samuel scored his first goal for his club in the last match of that season on 25 May 2015. It was a home game in the St. Jakob-Park and Basel won 4–3 against St. Gallen. At the end of the 2014–15 season, Basel won the championship for the sixth time in a row. In the 2014–15 Swiss Cup Basel reached the final. However, for the third time in a row they finished as runners-up. Basel played a total of 65 matches (36 Swiss League fixtures, 6 Swiss Cup, 8 Champions League and 15 test matches). Under manager Paulo Sousa, Samuel totaled 26 appearances, 13 League, 1 Cup, 4 Champions League, as well 8 in test games. He scored 2 goals in these matches. In June 2015, Samuel prolonged his contract with Basel for another year. However, on 16 October he communicated his intention to retire at the end of the 2015–16 season, due to physical difficulties. He made his 100th UEFA club competition appearance playing in the closing match of the

2015–16 UEFA Europa League group stage The 2015–16 UEFA Europa League group stage was played from 17 September to 10 December 2015. A total of 48 teams competed in the group stage to decide 24 of the 32 places in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League knockout phase, knockout phase of the ...

during the 1–0 away win in the INEA Stadion against

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation's highest division. ...

on 10 December 2015. Samuel played the final match of his career in a 1–0 home defeat against

Grasshoppers Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

, on 25 May 2016, at the age of 38. At the end of the 2015–16 Super League season, under new head coach Urs Fischer, Samuel won the championship for the second time. During his two seasons with the club, Samuel played a total of 61 games for Basel scoring a total of four goals. 21 of these games were in the

, five in the

, 11 in the UEFA competitions (Champions League and Europa League) and 16 were friendly games. He scored two goals in the domestic league, one in the

2015–16 UEFA Europa League The 2015–16 UEFA Europa League was the 45th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the seventh season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played between Liverpoo ...

against

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

and the other was scored during the test games.

International career

Samuel was part of Argentina U20 which emerged victorious in the 1997 edition of

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

. He made his debut in the tournament in the opening

Group E Group E may refer to: * E-Group: E-Groups are unique architectural complexes found among a number of ancient Maya settlements * Group E (vase painting), a group of Attic vase painters of the black-figure style, active between 560 and 540 BC. * On ...

match versus

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

which was won 3–0, and went on to play in the remaining two matches as Argentina topped their group. Samuel has played 56 matches for

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

between 1999 and 2010, scoring five goals. He played for his country in the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

and the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

, as well as in the 1999 Copa América, and in the

, in which Argentina won a runners-up medal.

Style of play

Regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation, Samuel was a large, quick, powerful, and aggressive

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, who excelled in the air, both defensively, and as a goal threat on set pieces. His defensive skills, which included an excellent positional sense, an ability to read the game, as well as tough, tight marking, and hard tackling, made him extremely effective at anticipating opponents. His strong, consistent, and uncompromising style of play earned him the nickname ''Il Muro'' ("The Wall"). Despite his ability as a defender, his career was also marked by several injuries that affected his fitness.

After football

In August 2019, Samuel enrolled in the

UEFA Pro Licence The UEFA coaching licences are documents testifying credentials of manager (association football), managers/ coach (sport), coaches among members of UEFA. The governing body for association football, football in Europe mandates several licences, e ...

courses at Coverciano. He is the assistant coach for

and has held the position since 2019. He was recently part of the Argentina managerial team who won the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Samuel goal.''

Honours

Boca Juniors * Primera División: 1998 Apertura, 1999 Clausura *

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

AS Roma *

: 2000–01 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

Inter Milan * Serie A: 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10 *

: 2005–06, 2009–10, 2010–11 * Supercoppa Italiana:

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

: 2009–10 FC Basel *

: 2014–15, 2015–16 Argentina U20 *

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

Toulon Tournament The Maurice Revello Tournament (officially French: the ''Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello''), previously known as the Toulon Tournament, is a Association football, football tournament, which traditionally features invit ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Argentina *

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBO ...

runner-up:

Individual *South American Team of the Year: 1999 * ESM Team of the Year: 2001–02, 2003–04 * Serie A Defender of the Year: 2010 * FIFA FIFPro World XI Nominee 2005, 2009, 2010 *

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

Argentina All Times Dream Team (Team C): 2021

Managerial

Argentina (as assistant manager) *

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

; third place:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions The Finalissima or officially CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions, formerly known as European/South American Nations Cup and also called Artemio Franchi Cup, is an intercontinental football match organised by CONMEBOL and UEFA and contested by th ...

References

External links

Profile on the Swiss Football League homepage
*
Samuel's profile at footballdatabase.comGuardian statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samuel, Walter 1978 births Living people Footballers from Córdoba Province, Argentina Argentine men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Newell's Old Boys footballers Boca Juniors footballers AS Roma players Real Madrid CF players Inter Milan players FC Basel players Argentine Primera División players Serie A players La Liga players Swiss Super League players UEFA Champions League–winning players Argentina men's youth international footballers Argentina men's under-20 international footballers Argentina men's international footballers 1999 Copa América players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Copa Libertadores–winning players Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Argentine emigrants to Spain Naturalised citizens of Spain 21st-century Argentine sportsmen