Manchester United's new signing Gabriel Heinze is one of a small but growing breed in Argentine football.
There are those players who have broken into the international squad despite hardly being known by their own home public.
It is a consequence both of the explosion of the global transfer market in the second half of the 1990s, and of Argentina's economic crisis, which made it attractive for players to leave at an ever earlier age.
It meant that before the recent World Cup qualifier at home to Ecuador, Heinze's fifth cap and his first start in a competitive international, the Argentine press had to introduce the defender to their readers.
"I left Argentina after just eight games with Newells Old Boys," said Heinze at the time, "and I went to Valladolid, a small club in Spain.
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GABRIEL HEINZE FACTFILE
1978: Born Gabriel Omar Heinze in Crespo, Argentina on 19 March to a German
father and Italian mother
1996: Starts his career at Argentine club Newell's Old Boys
1997: Joins Spanish side Valladolid and is loaned to Sporting Lisbon in
Portugal for the 1998-99 season
2001: Moves to Paris St Germain
2004: PSG win the French Cup and finish second in the
league
11 June 2004: Signs a five-year deal with Manchester United, who pay £6.9m for him
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"So those who say I am an unknown in Argentina are quite right. But now I feel that the gamble I took is paying off, and I'm proud of what is happening with my career."
He has been highly praised for an excellent season with Paris Saint Germain.
"For me he's the best defender in France," says Fernando D'Amico, an Argentine who plays for Le Mans.
"He's a typical European style defender. He's a tough marker, he's quick, is a good striker of the ball and heads well in both penalty areas.
"A defect? When he plays at full-back he doesn't get up and down the pitch."
In the event, Heinze had some problems with the pace and power of Ecuador striker Carlos Tenório.
But the Argentine press concluded that he had stood up well against a difficult opponent, and he is likely to retain his place
for the trip to Brazil early next month.
The game, in Belo Horizonte, will provide an atmosphere that he doesn't see too often in the French football.
"It is an important league," he says, "but the only really hot games are those against Olympique Marseille."
If his move to Old Trafford goes through that is not a complaint he is likely to be making next season.
MMIX
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