Sergio Kun Agüero is the guest star of the MARCA/Ballesteros Forum
“I have a contract until 2014 and I’m going to stay here until 2014”
Sergio Kun Agüero was the star of the MARCA/Ballesteros Forum held on Thursday afternoon at the Lazaro Galdiano Foundation. The ‘rojiblanco’ player was accompanied by the President of Atlético de Madrid, Enrique Cerezo, and several executives and former Atleti players.
Agüero appeared calm, happy to be with an interested group of people who welcomed him to chants of “Kun, Kun, Kun”, which he normally hears at the Vicente Calderón. Journalist Olga Viza was in charge of directing the event and fielding the questions from the fans.
To start, he explained how he came to be known as “Kun”. “There was a cartoon character that I really liked called ‘Kum Kum’, but I told people to call me ‘Kun’. Whatever he did on the television I did in real life. If he broke a plate, then I broke a plate.” Olga Viza then reminded him that a Russian coach said that watching Kun play was like going to the Prado Museum in Madrid because he’s a work of art and the crown jewel of Atlético de Madrid.
Agüero asserted that he has 524,748 followers on Twitter and that he’s going to give away three kits when he reaches 600,000. Kun admitted that the question that most bothers him is regarding “what I’m going to do with my future when I’m interviewed. I don’t want to speak about the future right now, just the present. I’ve always said that the day I want to leave I’ll let the Club know and I’ll go. I understand why they ask but I always say the same thing, which is that I try to do the best for Atlético, I have a contract until 2014 and I’m going to stay here until 2014.”
The diminutive striker was asked who he preferred as an attacking partner, Diego Forlán or Diego Costa? His response was clear: “With Diego (laughs to the applause of the audience). Both of them are very good players. I’ve felt very good with Diego Forlán since I arrived and now I’m playing with Diego Costa and we also play well together. Both are crucial to the team and contribute a lot. I’m happy to have them both in the squad,” he said.
Concerning the end of the current league, Agüero highlighted that “I hope that we win all four remaining games. I think that we’re on the right path, we’re trying to do as well as possible and to win all four, which would be fundamental to us qualifying for Europe, which is the most important thing.”
Kun was asked about his best and worst game at Atlético de Madrid, responding that his best was “against Barcelona at the Calderón, and we won 4-2 in my second year here. The truth is that I felt really good, played well and was very happy. I knew that Barcelona was a tough opponent, so I was very pleased. I’ve also played good games in Bilbao. As far as the worst one, or the one in which I left the most upset, was the final of the Copa del Rey last year. It was a very tough time for us. We tried to play as well as we could but things didn’t go our way. But I’ll also point out that seeing our fans continue to cheer us on 40 minutes after having lost was amazing. It seemed as if we had been the ones who had won,” he assured.
He made it very clear that he still has plenty of affection for Independiente, his first club. “Independiente marked my career from the time I began there at the age of nine. I’m an Independiente supporter and I hope to retire there.” However, when asked about possibly becoming the President of that club one day, he said that “it would be complicated. Better for me to retire there calmly, but President... I’ll speak to Enrique Cerezo about it,” he quipped.
Touching on his current manager, Quique Sánchez Flores, he said that “I’m learning a lot. I’m happy because he’s a good coach. It hurts that he might leave, but the manager is always the one who pays in football and that happens in all teams. Quique has taught me a lot, as have other managers, such as Aguirre. But that’s football and someone else will come, or he’ll stay and they won’t, but that will be decided on by the Club.”
He stated that one of the reasons that he signed for Atlético in the first place was because of the colors. “I was at Independiente and a month and half before I signed people were talking about Atlético. The truth is that I didn’t know whether I should come to European football when I was 17 and leave my family and friends behind. In the end I decided to come to Atlético because it was one of the grand clubs in Spain and in the world and I also liked the colors. I felt as I did at Independiente, as if I were at home. The truth is that I’ve always been very appreciative of the Club,” he said.
Additionally, the Atlético ‘10’ had words of understanding for team-mate Diego Forlán, stating that “he’s not in a good moment. I always see Forlán as doing fine, and get along well with him. Everyone has their good times, as he’s had, and bad ones, and right now Forlán isn’t in a good moment. We have to help him because he’s given us so much and we need him more than ever. We’re always talking and laughing and he knows that he has to play as well as he can, because he’s a player who really contributes a lot to us.”
Agüero also talked about the Argentina National team. The Copa America is just around the corner and he mentioned that he had spoken with the national team head coach, Batista, “a couple of weeks ago, and he told me that I’d be amongst the 30 players called in for the Copa America. Then its gets whittled down to 22. I have to finish this season as well as I can and then he’ll see whether or not I’m ready to play in the tournament. Every player likes to play with their national team and I’ve always wanted to, but what matters is what the coaches think, not the players.”
When it was time to choose between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, he didn’t hesitate: “Messi. I’ve always liked how he plays and, for me, he’s the best player in the world right now. He’s my friend, but you have to acknowledge that he’s the best. I congratulated him the other day, as I did Gabi Milito and Mascherano. I was happy because they’re Argentines. I also spoke with Di María, Higuaín and Gago. But this is football and one team wins and the other loses.”
Kun was asked about the Atlético de Madrid supporters, to which he replied “I’ll never find fans as faithful as the ones here.”
To wrap things up, Olga Viza asked him a final question, whether or not he’d still be at Atlético de Madrid next season. Agüero was categorical: “I’m under contract until 2014 and I’m going to stay here until 2014.”
Agüero appeared calm, happy to be with an interested group of people who welcomed him to chants of “Kun, Kun, Kun”, which he normally hears at the Vicente Calderón. Journalist Olga Viza was in charge of directing the event and fielding the questions from the fans.
To start, he explained how he came to be known as “Kun”. “There was a cartoon character that I really liked called ‘Kum Kum’, but I told people to call me ‘Kun’. Whatever he did on the television I did in real life. If he broke a plate, then I broke a plate.” Olga Viza then reminded him that a Russian coach said that watching Kun play was like going to the Prado Museum in Madrid because he’s a work of art and the crown jewel of Atlético de Madrid.
Agüero asserted that he has 524,748 followers on Twitter and that he’s going to give away three kits when he reaches 600,000. Kun admitted that the question that most bothers him is regarding “what I’m going to do with my future when I’m interviewed. I don’t want to speak about the future right now, just the present. I’ve always said that the day I want to leave I’ll let the Club know and I’ll go. I understand why they ask but I always say the same thing, which is that I try to do the best for Atlético, I have a contract until 2014 and I’m going to stay here until 2014.”
The diminutive striker was asked who he preferred as an attacking partner, Diego Forlán or Diego Costa? His response was clear: “With Diego (laughs to the applause of the audience). Both of them are very good players. I’ve felt very good with Diego Forlán since I arrived and now I’m playing with Diego Costa and we also play well together. Both are crucial to the team and contribute a lot. I’m happy to have them both in the squad,” he said.
Concerning the end of the current league, Agüero highlighted that “I hope that we win all four remaining games. I think that we’re on the right path, we’re trying to do as well as possible and to win all four, which would be fundamental to us qualifying for Europe, which is the most important thing.”
Kun was asked about his best and worst game at Atlético de Madrid, responding that his best was “against Barcelona at the Calderón, and we won 4-2 in my second year here. The truth is that I felt really good, played well and was very happy. I knew that Barcelona was a tough opponent, so I was very pleased. I’ve also played good games in Bilbao. As far as the worst one, or the one in which I left the most upset, was the final of the Copa del Rey last year. It was a very tough time for us. We tried to play as well as we could but things didn’t go our way. But I’ll also point out that seeing our fans continue to cheer us on 40 minutes after having lost was amazing. It seemed as if we had been the ones who had won,” he assured.
He made it very clear that he still has plenty of affection for Independiente, his first club. “Independiente marked my career from the time I began there at the age of nine. I’m an Independiente supporter and I hope to retire there.” However, when asked about possibly becoming the President of that club one day, he said that “it would be complicated. Better for me to retire there calmly, but President... I’ll speak to Enrique Cerezo about it,” he quipped.
Touching on his current manager, Quique Sánchez Flores, he said that “I’m learning a lot. I’m happy because he’s a good coach. It hurts that he might leave, but the manager is always the one who pays in football and that happens in all teams. Quique has taught me a lot, as have other managers, such as Aguirre. But that’s football and someone else will come, or he’ll stay and they won’t, but that will be decided on by the Club.”
He stated that one of the reasons that he signed for Atlético in the first place was because of the colors. “I was at Independiente and a month and half before I signed people were talking about Atlético. The truth is that I didn’t know whether I should come to European football when I was 17 and leave my family and friends behind. In the end I decided to come to Atlético because it was one of the grand clubs in Spain and in the world and I also liked the colors. I felt as I did at Independiente, as if I were at home. The truth is that I’ve always been very appreciative of the Club,” he said.
Additionally, the Atlético ‘10’ had words of understanding for team-mate Diego Forlán, stating that “he’s not in a good moment. I always see Forlán as doing fine, and get along well with him. Everyone has their good times, as he’s had, and bad ones, and right now Forlán isn’t in a good moment. We have to help him because he’s given us so much and we need him more than ever. We’re always talking and laughing and he knows that he has to play as well as he can, because he’s a player who really contributes a lot to us.”
Agüero also talked about the Argentina National team. The Copa America is just around the corner and he mentioned that he had spoken with the national team head coach, Batista, “a couple of weeks ago, and he told me that I’d be amongst the 30 players called in for the Copa America. Then its gets whittled down to 22. I have to finish this season as well as I can and then he’ll see whether or not I’m ready to play in the tournament. Every player likes to play with their national team and I’ve always wanted to, but what matters is what the coaches think, not the players.”
When it was time to choose between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, he didn’t hesitate: “Messi. I’ve always liked how he plays and, for me, he’s the best player in the world right now. He’s my friend, but you have to acknowledge that he’s the best. I congratulated him the other day, as I did Gabi Milito and Mascherano. I was happy because they’re Argentines. I also spoke with Di María, Higuaín and Gago. But this is football and one team wins and the other loses.”
Kun was asked about the Atlético de Madrid supporters, to which he replied “I’ll never find fans as faithful as the ones here.”
To wrap things up, Olga Viza asked him a final question, whether or not he’d still be at Atlético de Madrid next season. Agüero was categorical: “I’m under contract until 2014 and I’m going to stay here until 2014.”
