Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Boca Juniors' legendary forward

South American football has produced a lot of players who have become legends of the game and have dominated Euros for several years, but there is no denying that their leagues don't often get the same attention. Football fans who weren't born in South America usually ignore some of the greatest achievements and players who built their careers here, with Guillermo Barros Schelotto being a prime example of that.

Guillermo Barros Schelotto - here as coach

Despite being one of Boca Juniors' best-ever players, the truth of the matter is that Schelotto never played in Europe and that is something that hurt his estimations. However, he is one of the finest footballers that the Argentinian league has ever seen and even had a very good legacy in the Major League Soccer during the twilight of his career, which is a nice added bonus.

So, here is the career of Guillermo Barros Schelotto and why he is one of the most prominent footballers in the history of Boca Juniors and South American football as a whole.

The 90s

Guillermo Barros Schelotto was born in La Plata, Argentina, on May 4, 1973, and made his professional debut in 1991 at age 18 with the team of his town, Gimnasia y Esgrima de la Plata. He also has a twin brother named Gustavo, who was also a footballer, which is why Guillermo is nicknamed "mellizo" (twin in Spanish) in South America.

Schelotto played for Gimnasia for seven years and went on to become one of the most prolific players in the league while being a forward with pace and link-up play. As a fun fact, he also had a strong rivalry with Martin Palermo, the striker of city rival Estudiantes de la Plata, to the point there is an infamous derby where they are both captains and were doing the customary handshake without looking at each other.

However, this rivalry would take a fun twist as they both signed for Boca Juniors in 1997, establishing themselves as a powerful partnership throughout South America. It was during the late 90s that Boca reached the upper echelons of South American football once again with Carlos Bianchi as manager and the triumvirate of Schelotto, Palermo, and Juan Román Riquelme being extremely essential.

They would win a couple of Apertura and Clausura tournaments in the 90s but the 2000s would be Boca's heyday and also Schelotto's.

The 2000s and saying goodbye

The first era of Carlos Bianchi's reign as Boca's manager peaked in the early 2000s as they won the 2000 and 2001 Copa Libertadores and the 2000 Intercontinental Cup, defeating Real Madrid 2-1 in the process. However, this is where Schelotto's path took a major turn in his career.

While Palermo and Riquelme tried their luck in Europe, "El Mellizo" stayed in Boca and became the club's icon and flagbearer, which was shown as the squad began to be renewed and he took the role of captain. Furthermore, once Bianchi came back in 2003, Schelotto was now partnering with a young Carlos Tevez at the attack, which goes to show how long Schelotto has been playing.

Furthermore, this mid-2000s era of Boca peaked with a 2003 Copa Libertadores and a 2003 Intercontinental Cup, defeating prime AC Milan in the process. Once Bianchi left and Alfio "Coco" Basile took over as the club's head coach, Schelotto's age began to take a toll on him and started to be more of an impact sub on the team.

However, this was also the era where Martín Palermo came back after an ill-fated time in Spain and young players such as Rodrigo Palacio and Fernando Gago became more prominent in the starting lineup. Boca would win more league tournaments and the Copa Sudamerican during this era, although Schelotto would have a more reduced role.

Time at the United States

By the time 2007 rolled around, Schelotto was offered the chance to join Major League Soccer side Columbus Crew SC at a time when the league was trying to reach more prominent players. Considering that he was going to make a decent amount of money and was going to be given a very prominent role, he decided to leave Argentina for the first time and play abroad.

Perhaps the most telling aspect of Schelotto's mentality and qualities as a player is the fact he didn't go to the United States for a vacation and was actually a major catalyst for the club. During his three years at Columbus Crew, he won three leagues and a cup while also winning the Major League Soccer MVP award in 2008.

It was a testimony of his abilities at a time when he was no longer the player he once was, but still could provide quality, ending his stint there with 38 goals and 43 assists in 118 matches. Considering he arrived there at 34 years of age, that is a very good example of how he could still compete.

Schelotto decided to return to Argentina in 2011 so he could retire at Gimnasia and quickly started his coaching career, which has been doing ever since. And while he doesn't get a lot of credit for his career outside of South America, there is no denying that Schelotto is one of the most successful players on that side of the pond.

It is often easy to undermine South American football because it doesn't have the allure or financial backing of the big European leagues but Schelotto's success there deserves a lot more recognition. He was Boca's talisman for almost a decade and was part of at least three great iterations of that side in that time period while also being a major contributor.

And that is something not every player can do...