One player that played a part in Sunderland’s 2013/14 season now plays alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez at Inter Miami.
The 2013/14 Premier League season saw Sunderland harbour several top players worthy of getting them into an EFL Cup final, which they went on to lose to Manchester City. Nonetheless, the likes of Fabio Borini, Emanuele Giaccherini, and Marcos Alonso to some extent, made their names known in the campaign.
However, the side primarily managed by Sunderland boss Gus Poyet had one player right down the pecking order now playing alongside the likes of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez in the MLS with Inter Miami, one which notched just three appearances in the 2013/14 season, all falling in the FA Cup campaign that was cut short by an away defeat to Hull City.
That man is back-up goalkeeper Oscar Ustari, an Argentinian shot-stopper who played behind Vito Minnone in the pecking order.
After leaving Wearside, the Argentinian has gone on quite the career path, now playing alongside one of the best players of all time.
Former Sunderland player Oscar Ustari career path after Wearside departure
After departing the Stadium of Light in 2014, having notched just three appearances in the FA Cup for Poyet’s side, Ustari returned to Argentina to play for Newell’s Old Boys, before moving to Mexico to sign for Atlas.
Following that, he continued to play in South America, this time with Uruguayan club Liverpool, then back to Mexico to play for Pachuca. He then went on to Audax Italiano before his move to Messi’s Inter Miami.
Now, Ustari finds himself in-between the sticks for Inter Miami on rare occasions, having tallied just five appearances in all competitions for the MLS outfit.
What former Black Cats man Oscar Ustari has said about Lionel Messi
Anyone would assume that the former Sunderland shot-stopper would revel in the presence of arguably the greatest footballer of all time, who finds himself taking the MLS by storm in his hay-day.
That certainly has been the case for Oscar Ustari, who has marvelled in his compatriot’s brilliance, both on-and-off the pitch.
In an interview with DSports, Ustari said: “Messi is unbearably competitive, he is incredible in everything.
“There are team-mates who have never seen him before and they are surprised. Nothing is a coincidence at that level. You see that his release is football, training, being well and proving every day who he is.”
Ustari initially played alongside Messi in the early years of their career, having notched his first of two Argentina caps in 2007 alongside the then-Barcelona talent.