Walter Samuel

Walter Adrián Samuel (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈwalteɾ saˈmwel]; born Walter Adrián Luján; 23 March 1978) is an Argentine former professional footballer. Samuel has been regarded as one of the best centre-backs of his generation, and as one of football's toughest defenders, with former international teammate and Inter captain Javier Zanetti referring to him as the "hardest player" he has played with.

Samuel began his club career with domestic club Newell's Old Boys in 1996, later moving to Boca Juniors the following year. This was soon followed by a move to Europe in 2000, and spells with Italian club Roma, and Spanish club Real Madrid. In 2005, he returned to Italy, joining Inter, where he remained for nine seasons, winning five consecutive Serie A titles; he played a key role in the club's treble success in the 2009–10 season, partnering with Lúcio in defence under José Mourinho. At an international level, he has accumulated over 50 caps for the Argentina national team, representing his country at two FIFA World Cups, the 1999 Copa América, and the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, where he won a runners-up medal.

He was born Walter Luján, making his professional debut for Newell's and playing the World Youth Cup under that name. He later took the last name of his stepfather, Óscar Samuel. He has two sisters.

Samuel is married to Cecilia. They have two sons and a daughter.

Samuel started playing professionally in 1996 in Argentina for Newell's Old Boys, and a year later moved to Boca Juniors, where he played 103 matches and scored five goals in all competitions until 2000. In that year, Roma bought his contract for 40.265 billion Italian lire (about €20 million). He gained fame as one of the best defenders in the Italian league and gained a nickname to match, winning the Serie A title with Roma in 2001. His quality attracted interest from Spanish team Real Madrid.

Real Madrid paid €25 million for his transfer in 2004. Samuel failed to make an impact at Madrid. He was one of the three non-EU players of the team, along with Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos; they all obtained Spanish passports, however, in 2005.

In August 2005, he returned to the Serie A with a transfer to Inter Milan on a four-year contract for reported €16 million fee. He began his Inter adventure by winning the 2005 Supercoppa Italiana versus Juventus, entering in 63rd minute as Nerazzurri won at extra-time thanks to the winner of Verón. Later on 21 September, he made his league debut for his new side by starting in the 1–0 away win over Chievo. On 24 November, during a Champions League group stage match against Petržalka, Samuel played in a line-up of 11 foreign players on the pitch, with Luís Figo being the only european. He finished his first season at Inter by making 42 appearances in all competitions, with the team winning the championship following the relegation of Juventus due to match-fixing, and Coppa Italia by defeating Roma 4–2 on aggregate, with Samuel playing on both finals, thus completing an unforeseen domestic treble.

In the Derby della Madonnina on 23 December 2007, Samuel hurt himself whilst marking the Brazilian international Kaká, and a couple weeks later, he had reconstructive surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament. He was expected to be out until the end of the 2007–08 season. In actuality, he started training with the first team again in October of the 2008–09 season and promptly earned a first team place back under manager José Mourinho. He played his first match in more than nine months on 9 November by starting in the 1–0 home win over Udinese.

Samuel was one of the most important players under Mourinho in the 2009–10 season, partnering Lúcio in defence as they won the Serie A title, the Coppa Italia, and the UEFA Champions League, completing a historic treble. He scored his first goal of the season on 20 October in the third Champions League group stage match versus Dynamo Kyiv which prevented Inter from losing; he headed home a Wesley Sneijder cross to make it 2–2. This draw extended Inter winless run in the UEFA Champions League to eight matches.

Later on 9 January, Samuel scored a last-minute winner in the 4–3 win versus Siena by beating goalkeeper Gianluca Curci with a left-footed shot. His goal later resulted decisive as Inter won the title two points ahead of Roma. He played his 100th Serie A game for Inter later on 24 April in the 3–1 win over Atalanta. Samuel finished the season by making 42 appearances and scoring 4 goals; he was praised for his defensive performances against Barcelona and Bayern Munich on Inter's road to the Champions League title.

Samuel suffered a severe knee injury - a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, this time on his other knee - on 7 November 2010 fixture against Brescia. This forced him to miss the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup triumph in United Arab Emirates. He returned in action on 15 May of the following year by entering in the last minutes of a 1–1 away draw versus Napoli. After the match Samuel expressed his delighting for playing his first match in almost six months, stating: "I'm feeling good and I'm delighted at having been able to play the last few minutes of this match. I would like to thank the medical staff for the work they did after my injury, my family who has always stood by me, and all the fans." He finished the 2010–11 season by making 15 appearances in all competitions.

After nine seasons with Inter, on 23 July 2014, Samuel signed a one-year contract with Basel in the Swiss Super League. He joined the team for their 2014–15 season under head coach Paulo Sousa. After playing in one test game Samuel played his debut for his new club in the Swiss Cup away game on 23 August 2014 as Basel won 4–0 against CS Italien (GE). He played his domestic league debut for the club in the home game in the St. Jakob-Park on 31 August as Basel won 3–1 against Young Boys.

Basel entered the Champions League in the group stage. They reached the knockout phase on 9 December 2014, as they managed a 1–1 draw at Anfield against Liverpool. But they were knocked out of the competition by Porto in the round of 16. Samuel scored his first goal for his club in the last match of that season on 25 May 2015. It was a home game in the St. Jakob-Park and Basel won 4–3 against St. Gallen. At the end of the 2014–15 season, Basel won the championship for the sixth time in a row. In the 2014–15 Swiss Cup Basel reached the final. However, for the third time in a row they finished as runners-up. Basel played a total of 65 matches (36 Swiss League fixtures, 6 Swiss Cup, 8 Champions League and 15 test matches). Under manager Paulo Sousa, Samuel totaled 26 appearances, 13 League, 1 Cup, 4 Champions League, as well 8 in test games. He scored 2 goals in these matches.

In June 2015, Samuel prolonged his contract with Basel for another year. However, on 16 October he communicated his intention to retire at the end of the 2015–16 season, due to physical difficulties. He made his 100th UEFA club competition appearance playing in the closing match of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League group stage during the 1–0 away win in the INEA Stadion against Lech Poznań on 10 December 2015. Samuel played the final match of his career in a 1–0 home defeat against Grasshoppers, on 25 May 2016, at the age of 38. At the end of the 2015–16 Super League season, under new head coach Urs Fischer, Samuel won the championship for the second time.

During his two seasons with the club, Samuel played a total of 61 games for Basel scoring a total of four goals. 21 of these games were in the Swiss Super League, five in the Swiss Cup, 11 in the UEFA competitions (Champions League and Europa League) and 16 were friendly games. He scored two goals in the domestic league, one in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League against Saint-Étienne and the other was scored during the test games.

Samuel was part of Argentina under-20 team which emerged victorious in the 1997 edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup. He made his debut in the tournament in the opening Group E match versus Hungary which was won 3–0, and went on to play in the remaining two matches as Argentina topped their group.

Samuel played 56 matches for Argentina senior team between 1999 and 2010, scoring five goals. He played for his country in the 2002 and 2010 FIFA World Cup, the 1999 Copa América, as well as in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, in which Argentina were runners-up.

Regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation, Samuel was a large, quick, powerful, and aggressive centre-back, who excelled in the air, both defensively, and as a goal threat on set pieces. His defensive skills, which included an excellent positional sense, an ability to read the game, as well as tough, tight marking, and hard tackling, made him extremely effective at anticipating opponents. His strong, consistent, and uncompromising style of play earned him the nickname Il Muro ("The Wall"). Despite his ability as a defender, his career was also marked by several injuries that affected his fitness.

In August 2019, Samuel enrolled in the UEFA Pro Licence courses at Coverciano.

He is the assistant coach for Argentina and has held the position since 2019.

He was part of the Argentina managerial team who won the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar. He was also part of the managerial team at 2026 World Cup.

Primera División: 1998 Apertura, 1999 Clausura

Serie A: 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10

Supercoppa Italiana: 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010

FIFA FIFPro World XI Nominee 2005, 2009, 2010

IFFHS Argentina All Times Dream Team (Team C): 2021

Copa América: 2021, 2024; third place: 2019