Born on this day is former Sunderland defender and scorer of the best own goal of all time, Santiago Vergini. The Argentine was signed by Gus Poyet and is one of the most confusing footballers to ever wear the red and white stripes.
Vergini made his first start in a 4-1 defeat away to Arsenal, where he inexplicably sold Mannone short with a terrible back pass that gifted Giroud a second goal. A few matches later, the “defender” was lucky to stay on the pitch in a 2-1 loss at Anfield. He brought down Luis Suarez and was clearly the last man, but referee Kevin Friend only showed Vergini a yellow.
Things just happened to him that would usually never happen on a football pitch. His lackadaisical style of play was baffling, especially for a centre half, and Vergini never seemed to know what was going on around him. It was even more bizarre that he was brought in on loan in January to sort out a leaky defence. It goes without saying that he did the exact opposite in the majority of his appearances.
Gus Poyet kept his faith in the Argentina international, and moved him to right back following a suspension for Phil Bardsley. To everyone’s surprise, Vergini actually looked comfortable at right back and was extremely tidy on the ball. He managed to keep Bardsley out of the side for the remainder of the season and was crucial in the “Great Escape” of 2014.
And then, there was THAT own goal. It was the first goal in the infamous 8-0 drubbing by Southampton, where we scored an impressive three own goals. The ball was bobbling about, and seemingly with his eyes closed on the edge of the box, Vergini took a wild swipe at the ball in an apparent attempt to clear the ball. The defender beat his own goalkeeper with amazing technique and precision, finding the bottom corner with aplomb.
The end was near for Poyet and his South American mates at Sunderland. In came Dick Advocaat, who was simply unable to accommodate the defender when we needed to grind out results for survival. The Dutchman sent Vergini on loan to Getafe at the start of the following season. When Advocaat was replaced by Sam Allardyce, Big Sam was never going to fancy the exotic, ball-playing defender because of his inability to do the basics. Vergini may as well have joined Gus through the exit door because he never really got a look in, and was allowed to leave permanently in the Summer of 2016.
Vergini is now back in his home country of Argentina, although he is now without a club in his mid-thirties. It boggles the mind that he once played in the same team as Angel Di Maria, Sergio Aguero and even Lionel Messi, in a friendly against Croatia...
