Esequiel Omar Barco (born 29 March 1999) is an Argentine 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 ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

and winger for

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

team

Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based or formerly based in Moscow, Russia: * FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club * HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team * Spartak GM Moscow, a semi-professional rugby club * ...

. Born in

Villa Gobernador Gálvez Villa Gobernador Gálvez is a city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina, located on the western ravine of the Paraná River, within the metropolitan area of Greater Rosario. It had 74,509 inhabitants per the . It is separated from Rosario, to th ...

, Barco began his career with Independiente. He was promoted to the first team and made his debut during the 2016–17 season. Barco played two seasons with Independiente before signing with American side

Atlanta United Atlanta United FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Atlanta. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won o ...

in 2018. At the international level, Barco has represented Argentina at the under-20's.

Club career

Independiente

Born in

, Santa Fe, Barco joined Independiente's youth setup in 2015 from AA Jorge Bernardo Griffa. Promoted to the first team by manager

Gabriel Milito Gabriel Alejandro Milito (born 7 September 1980) is an Argentine football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. He is the current head coach of Liga MX club Guadalajara. Milito began and concluded his professional career at Ind ...

in July 2016, he signed his first professional contract later that month. Barco made his first team – and Primera División – debut on 28 August 2016, coming on as a second-half substitute for

Jesús Méndez Jesús David José Méndez (born 1 August 1984) is an Argentine football midfielder who currently plays for Independiente Rivadavia. Career Méndez made his league debut for River Plate in a 2–1 away win at Atlético Rafaela on 3 March 2004. ...

in a 1–0 away win against

Belgrano Belgrano may refer to: People * Joaquín Belgrano (1773–1848), an Argentine patriot * José Denis Belgrano (1844–1917), Spanish painter * Joseph Belgrano (1762–1823), Argentine military officer and politician, brother of Manuel * Manuel Be ...

. He scored his first professional goal on 11 September, netting the last in a 2–0 home defeat of Godoy Cruz. Barco finished his first senior season with four goals in 30 league appearances. As a starter during the

2017 Copa Sudamericana The 2017 Copa CONMEBOL Sudamericana was the 16th edition of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana (also referred to as the ''Copa Sudamericana'', or ), South America's secondary club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. Argentinian club Independiente ...

, he scored the equalizer in the second leg of the Final against

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

through a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

Atlanta United

On 19 January 2018, Barco joined

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

as a designated player. The transfer fee paid by Atlanta United was reported to be $15 million, an MLS record. Barco made his debut for Atlanta United on 15 April 2018 in a 2–2 draw against

New York City FC New York City Football Club (often referred to as NYCFC) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in New York City. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern C ...

, coming on as a 70th-minute substitute for

Kevin Kratz Kevin Kratz (born 21 January 1987) is a German professional football manager and former player who is the current director of coaching at Roswell Soccer Club. Playing career Europe After spending three seasons with Bayer 04 Leverkusen's reserv ...

. He scored his first goal for the club on 5 May 2018 against the Chicago Fire. He scored the opening goal as Atlanta United won 2–1. Barco was on the bench for Atlanta United during

MLS Cup 2018 MLS Cup 2018 was the 23rd edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS), which took place on December 8, 2018. It was the final match of the 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs and was contested by Atlanta United FC and the ...

against the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

. He came on as a substitute in the first minute of second-half stoppage time as Atlanta United won 2–0. Barco then won his second trophy with Atlanta United when the club won 3–2 over América in the

Campeones Cup The Campeones Cup is an annual North American association football match contested between the winners of the previous MLS Cup from Major League Soccer and the winners of the Campeón de Campeones from Liga MX. The competition was established by ...

, coming on as a late second-half substitute. A couple of weeks later, on 27 August, Barco was a starter in the

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

final against

Minnesota United Minnesota United Football Club, often shortened to MNUFC, is an American professional soccer club based in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Th ...

, helping his side win 2–1.

River Plate

On 30 January 2022, Barco joined

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

side River Plate on loan with an option to make the move permanent at the end of 2022 or 2023. On 10 February 2023 it was announced that Barco's loan to River Plate would become permanent on 1 January 2024.

Spartak Moscow

On 25 July 2024, Barco signed a three-year contract with

in Russia.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Independiente *

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Atlanta United *

MLS Cup MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

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 ...

River Plate *

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

* Trofeo de Campeones:

Supercopa Argentina The Supercopa Argentina (English: Argentine Super Cup) is an official national association football cup of Argentina organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). The annual football match was played for the first time in 2012, being con ...

Individual *

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual Association football, soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from another league. MLS initially ado ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barco, Esequiel 1999 births Living people Footballers from Santa Fe Province Argentine men's footballers Argentina men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders Club Atlético Independiente footballers Atlanta United FC players Club Atlético River Plate footballers FC Spartak Moscow players Argentine Primera División players Major League Soccer players Russian Premier League players Designated Players (MLS) Olympic footballers for Argentina Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Copa Sudamericana–winning players Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Russia 21st-century Argentine sportsmen