Veron back to first club Estudiantes

Former Argentina World Cup captain Juan Sebastian Veron left Inter yesterday for Estudiantes de La Plata, the Argentine club where he began his career.

Veron, overlooked for the World Cup, will link up with his former Argentina team-mate Diego Simeone, who recently left Racing Club to become coach of Estudiantes.

"I always wanted to come back," said Veron, who played in two World Cups, helping his country reach the 1998 quarter-finals in France and leading the side which suffered a shock first-round exit in South Korea and Japan four years ago.

The 31-year-old, nicknamed "Little Witch" after his winger father Juan Ramon who was known as the "Witch", spent most of his career in Europe.

He joined Sampdoria from Boca Juniors in 1996 and went on to Parma, where he won the UEFA Cup, and Lazio, where he won the Serie A championship under Sven-Goran Eriksson in 2000.

He then joined Manchester United and helped Alex Ferguson's side reach the 2002 Champions League semi-finals.

Veron moved on to Chelsea but was loaned to Inter after one injury-troubled season.

Members of Argentina's World Cup squad in Germany said his return to Argentina would be good for the game at home.

"That Veron is back in Argentine football is good news," said Juan Roman Riquelme, his heir as playmaker of Argentina's team at the World Cup.

"Over a number of years, he showed in Europe he was one of the best," Riquelme told a news conference at Argentina's World Cup base near Nuremberg.

Argentina's coach Jose Pekerman decided against picking Veron in the team he has built for Germany.

Defender Gabriel Heinze, who followed Veron to Manchester United, said: "I was surprised because he still had a lot to give to European football. He's one of the best in his position."

Simeone left Europe in 2005 to join Racing Club where he took on the extra job of coaching the side early this year although with limited success.