Bald and Bearded Maestro of Green Fields: Who is Juan Sebastian Veron?

Juan Sebastian Veron was one of the best midfielders in the world when he had successful seasons at Sampdoria, Parma, and Lazio in the late 1990s.

The Argentinian player, who has excellent technique and vision, determination, and a solid physique, had a complicated role behind the striker. Veron helped Parma win the Coppa Italia and the UEFA Cup in 1998/99 and led Lazio to the title the following season.

Born in Buenos Aires in 1975, Juan Sebastián lived in Colombia until the age of five because of his father, who continued his career in Colombia.

Veron, who played in the youth clubs of Estudiantes de La Plata, stepped onto the field professionally in 1994 when he was 19 years old.

Juan Sebastián Verón (born 9 March 1975) is an Argentine former professional footballer and current chairman of Estudiantes de La Plata, where he had served as Director of Sports. In 2004, Verón was included in the FIFA 100 list of the 125 greatest living footballers, selected by Pelé as part of FIFA's centenary celebrations. Verón has both Argentine and Italian citizenship. His nickname is "La Brujita" (The Little Witch), a nod to his father Juan Ramón who was known as "La Bruja" (The Witch) and was also a championship winning player with Estudiantes.

He was transferred to Boca Juniors in 1996 from his return club, Estudiantes. After this, European roads were opened to him, which would allow us to get to know him better.

His first stop in Europe was Italy and Sampdoria.

His performance in Sampdoria took him to Parma, one of the best teams of its time and whose name is still mentioned in football circles. He experienced UEFA Cup and Italian Cup victories with Parma.

And his next step was to Lazio, which was a legend in the early 2000s. He was a very valuable member of a great team.

He won a UEFA Super Cup, an Italian championship, an Italian Super Cup, and an Italian Cup with this magnificent squad.

It would be a shame if he didn't go through the Premier League. Veron also left Lazio for Manchester United. But here, Sir Alex Ferguson's game plan and his star did not quite make peace. But he won a Premier League title in 2003.

Afterwards, he went to Chelsea as one of the first transfers of Chelsea's new owner Abramovich.

After his not-so-successful adventure in England, his stop would of course be Italy, where he was accustomed to success. This time, his stop was Inter, a different place. Here, too, Italy won the championship. If you are aware, he won cups and trophies with everyone he went to in Italy, except Sampdoria.

He ended his European career in 2006 and returned to Estudiantes, where he started playing football. He won one Libertadores Cup and two Argentine championships. And he retired from football in 2012.

He returned to football a year later. He quit football again in 2014, but he couldn't stand it and returned in January 2017. He said goodbye to football completely at the end of that season.

He always shined like a star on the field with his white bandage under his right knee, his bald head, and his beard.

While his father Juan Ramón's nickname was La Bruja, the Witch, Verón's nickname was La Brujita, the Little Witch. Despite his nickname, he was always great on the field.

He fit nearly 650 matches, 75 goals, and 80 assists into his career. He was named Footballer of the Year in Argentina twice.

Verón was named to the FIFA 100 list of the 125 best-living footballers created by Pelé in 2004.

Juan Sebastián Verón is still one of the footballers for whom the highest transfer fee was paid in total, with 121 million Euros.

Veron, who moved to the management level after retiring from football, has been serving as the club president of Estudiantes since 2014.