Ezequiel Ponce

Ezequiel Ponce
Ponce with AEK Athens in August 2018
Personal information
Full name Ezequiel Ponce
Date of birth (1997-03-29) 29 March 1997
Place of birth Rosario, Argentina
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Forward
Club information
Current team
 AEK Athens (on loan from Roma)
Number 22
Youth career
Newell's Old Boys
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2015 Newell's Old Boys 27 (5)
2015– Roma 0 (0)
2016–2017 → Granada (loan) 25 (2)
2017–2018 → Lille (loan) 25 (2)
2018– → AEK Athens (loan) 5 (3)
National team
2017– Argentina U20 3 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:57, 29 September 2018 (UTC)

Ezequiel Ponce (born 29 March 1997) is an Argentine footballer who plays as a Forward for Greek club AEK Athens, on loan from Italian club Roma and the Argentina national under-20 football team.[1] He also holds Spanish citizenship.[2]

Club career

Newell's Old Boys

Ponce is a youth exponent from his hometown club Newell's Old Boys. Predictably, Ponce was snapped up by local club Newell’s Old Boys at the age of eight, progressing through the youth set-up to eventually break into the senior squad in 2013. He made his league debut at 5 October 2013 against Quilmes in a 0–2 away win.[3] At 16 March 2014, he scored his first league goal for the club against Racing Club in a 2–0 home win.[4]

Roma

In August 2015, Italian club Roma announced the signing of Ponce from Newell's Old Boys for a fee of €4.2 million. Ponce started well with Roma by tallying three goals in the UEFA Youth League group stages, but disaster struck in December, as the striker received a torn ligament in his knee which kept him on the sidelines for four months. He returned to action with a bang in the spring, playing in their reserve squad, winning the Campionato Nazionale Primavera and scoring nine goals in ten matches.He was also summoned to Roma’s senior team without ever given a chance on the pitch.[5]

Granada (loan)

On 5 August 2016, Ponce was loaned to La Liga club Granada CF, for one year.[6] Fifteen days later he scored on his club debut, in a 1–1 home draw against Villarreal CF.[7]

Lille (loan)

On 10 July 2017, after being identified by then Manager Marcelo Bielsa, Ponce was loaned to Ligue 1 club Lille.[8] He made his debut in a 3–0 win against Nantes on 6 August 2017. He scored his first goal on 17 November in a 3–1 win against AS Saint-Étienne.[9]

AEK Athens (loan)

On 19 July 2018, Ponce was loaned to Greek Super League club AEK Athens, for one year with a €6 million buy-out. Roma would be entitled to 30% of any resale, although the loan notes that can be eliminated if AEK pay an extra €1 million. The striker is a hard worker, but looking at aspects which need to be improved, he certainly has to start scoring more goals. When joining AEK, Ponce pointed out his excitement at the opportunity to display his talents in the UEFA Champions League. "We all want to play in the Champions League, it’s our main goal. I am glad to be an AEK player, I’m impressed with the people I’ve met and we must be a united team." he said.[10][11] On 25 August 2018, he scored his first goal for the 2018–19 season in a 2–0 home win game against PAS Giannina as he was in the right place at the right time to convert a superb cross from Marko Livaja.[12] On 16 September 2018, he scored in a 4–0 home win game against Panionios from close range after Petros Mantalos sweet and precise cross. [13] On 29 September 2018, Ponce scored his third goal for the club in an away match against OFI, after the ball ricocheted of his body and ended up in the unguarded net to seal a 3–0 away win. [14]

International career

He was called up to the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup for the summer of 2017.[15] He started for Argentina national under-20 football team in the first match in a 3–0 defeat against England national under-20 football team.[16]

Career statistics

As of match played on 15 September 2018[17]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueCupOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Newell's Old Boys2013–14Argentine Primera División 174104[lower-alpha 1]0224
2014 10000010
2015 911000101
Total 2752000295
Roma2015–16Serie A 00000000
Granada (loan)2016–17La Liga 2522000272
Lille (loan)2017–18Ligue 1 2524100293
AEK (loan)2018–19Super League 53004093
Career totals 821281809913
  1. ↑ Appearances in Copa Libertadores

References

  1. ↑ "Argentina - E. Ponce - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  2. ↑ "Ponce's UEFA Youth League profile". UEFA. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  3. ↑ "Quilmes vs. Newell's Old Boys - 5 October 2013 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  4. ↑ "Newell's Old Boys vs. Racing Club - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  5. ↑ Roma complete signing of Ezequiel Ponce Archived 2015-09-05 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ Ezequiel Ponce llega a nuestra entidad cedido por un año (Ezequiel Ponce arrives at our club on loan for one year); Granada CF, 5 August 2016 (in Spanish)
  7. ↑ "Debut y gol para Ponce en el Granada" [Debut and a goal for Ponce with Granada] (in Spanish). Marca. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  8. ↑ "Officiel : Ezequiel Ponce est Lillois !" (Press release) (in French). Lille OSC. 10 July 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  9. ↑ "Ezequiel Ponce" (Press release). Soccerbase. 26 July 2018.
  10. ↑ "Και επίσημα ο Πόνσε στην ΑΕΚ!" (in Greek). www.to10.gr. 19 July 2018.
  11. ↑ "Official: Ponce leaves Roma". www.football-italia.net. 19 July 2018.
  12. ↑ "ΑΕΚ - ΠΑΣ Γιάννινα 2-0". www.sdna.gr. 25 August 2018.
  13. ↑ "ΑΕΚ - Πανιώνιος 4-0". www.gazzetta.gr. 16 September 2018.
  14. ↑ "ΟΦΗ - ΑΕΚ 0-3". www.gazzetta.gr. 29 September 2018.
  15. ↑ "Argentina U20 World Cup squad announced, Ezequiel PONCE included !" (Press release). Mundo Albeceleste. 27 April 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  16. ↑ "Argentina 0 England 3" (Press release). FIFA. 20 May 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  17. ↑ Ezequiel Ponce at Soccerway. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
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