Nicolas Pareja

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Nicolás Martín Pareja (born 19 January 1984 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine footballer who plays as a central defender for Sevilla FC on loan fromSpartak Moscow.

Pareja was bought for €2 million by Anderlecht in 2006 as a replacement for Vincent Kompany. Despite some injury problems, Pareja became a reliableforce in the central defence of Anderlecht, alongside Roland Juhasz. He won the Belgian Jupiler League with Anderlecht in 2007. His performances resulted in a call up for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing where Argentina won the tournament with Pareja in the central defense.

His outstanding play at the tournament resulted in interest from the big European leagues, as Espanyol and Tottenham Hotspur were reported to have put an offer for Pareja at Anderlecht. Espanyol won the struggle for Pareja, as Anderlecht and Anderlecht agreed a fee of €4.5 million for the player. He has been called up to the national team by Diego Maradona for a friendly against Russia as well as for World Cup Qualifiers against Brazil and Paraguay.

In August 2010, he joined Russian giants Spartak Moscow.

 

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