WHEN the half-time whistle blew at Villa Park on Sunday there was a classic Sergio Aguero moment.
Manchester City had just gone 4-0 up away to Aston Villa. Even so, the stocky little centre forward was still upset at Riyad Mahrez for failing to slide a pass a couple of minutes earlier when Aguero was well positioned.
It was an exhibition of the single minded dedication of the goal machine – the type of player that to do his job well needs a selfish streak.
But there was another classic Aguero moment just before full time. He had completed his hat trick, become the top scoring foreigner in Premier League history and City were 6-0 up.
And still he was disappointed that Ederson just failed to save Villa’s stoppage time penalty.
He threw up his arms in desperation almost as if his side had conceded a last-gasp equaliser.
It was an exhibition of a player committed to the collective cause, concerned about much more than just his own accumulation of statistics.
Those two sides of Aguero – the goalscoring individual and the team man – are what combine to make him such a genuinely great player.
And there seems to be a growing awareness that he is under-appreciated.
It may be because he is happy to live outside the media spotlight, and also a result of being too good for his own good – he makes the very difficult task of scoring goals look all too easy.
But he has not picked up the individual awards that his body of work with Manchester City would seem to merit.
And it is not only in England that he does not receive his due.
Much the same is true in his native Argentina.
Aguero has 42 goals in 97 games for his country. Only Lionel Messi and Gabriel Batistuta have scored more.
Plenty of truly great players are behind him in the list.
But his problem here is that not enough of the goals have come in major tournaments.
Some of this has to do with questions of fitness. It would appear that Pep Guardiola has got his star striker fitter than ever.
A few years ago – notably in the 2014 World Cup – he seemed not remotely close to full capacity.
Perhaps the 2018 World Cup was the big missed opportunity.
True, he was in and out of the side, with Argentina never able to make a clear choice between him and Gonzalo Higuain.
But he looked sharp.
He scored two fine goals, and was probably the only Argentina player to emerge from the tournament with his reputation enhanced.
But the team’s defence was a shambles and there was never the slightest chance of a happy ending.
He is still in the frame for his country – he scored against Uruguay in the last match.
There is a Copa America coming up later this year, which Argentina will co-host. That might be his last opportunity.
The 2022 World Cup looks a long way off, especially with Lautaro Martinez of Inter Milan shaping up as Argentina’s long term centre-forward.
Which leaves the Champions League as the biggest hill left to climb. Aguero has an excellent record in the competition.
He was scoring plenty of goals for City even while they were still finding their continental feet.
He must, though rue that missed penalty at the start of the first leg against Tottenham last year.
Had he scored the quarter final would surely have unfolded differently, and the final could well have been between Liverpool and City – in the stadium of Atletico Madrid, his former club.
The ex-Atletico player in him must be relishing the prospect of taking on Real Madrid in the next round of the Champions League.
Can he get the best of Raphael Varane and Sergio Ramos?
It looks like an epic confrontation. Sergio Aguero might be under-appreciated.
But there is no way he will be under-rated by the Real Madrid centre backs.
