- The midfielder left for Bayern Munich in 2007, two years before Estudiantes' fourth CONMEBOL Libertadores title.
- At 41, he took the first penalty for the 'Pincha' in the shoot-out at the Maracanã, and on November 28, against Palmeiras, he will play his first Final in the competition.
When José Sosa stood over the ball at the Maracanã, Estudiantes were already trailing in the shoot-out. Giorgian de Arrascaeta had converted Flamengo's first kick, and it fell to the midfielder, who had come on 44' into the second half for Alexis Castro, to take the first penalty for the 'Pincha'. He beat Agustín Rossi to make it 1-1, and from then on the night belonged to Fernando Muslera, who saved three penalties for the 3-2. On Saturday, November 28, at the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, Sosa, at 41, will face Palmeiras in the Final that eluded him in 2009.
A CONMEBOL Libertadores from afar
When Estudiantes lifted their fourth CONMEBOL Libertadores, Sosa was in Germany. He had made his debut for the club in 2002, at 17, and was part of the team that, with Juan Sebastián Verón back in La Plata, won the 2006 Apertura in an unforgettable decider against Boca Juniors: he opened the scoring with a free kick. It was the start of a cycle that, three years later, would take the club to the top of the continent. In early 2007 his move to Bayern Munich was completed, and in the middle of that year he moved to Germany. In 2008 he added an Olympic gold medal with Argentina.
The 2009 campaign took shape without him. Estudiantes started in Stage 1 against Sporting Cristal, changed coaches in the middle of the Group Stage, with Leonardo Astrada leaving and Alejandro Sabella arriving, and were crowned at the Mineirão: after the 0-0 in La Plata, Gastón Fernández equalized and Mauro Boselli headed in the 2-1 against Cruzeiro from a Verón cross. In that edition, the current coach was on the other side: Alexander Medina was the number 9 for the Nacional side that the 'Pincha' knocked out in the Semifinals, and he scored against them in the return leg in Montevideo. Two other protagonists of that campaign are still close by: Verón, the captain, is now the club's president, and Marcos Rojo, then a youngster in Sabella's squad, is his teammate in this team.
On October 29, 2009, three months after that night in Belo Horizonte, Bayern loaned Sosa out until mid-2010, but he could not be registered for the Club World Cup in December. He did play the 2010 CONMEBOL Libertadores with Estudiantes, before returning to Europe, where he built a career of more than a decade, with spells at Napoli, Atlético de Madrid and Milan, among other clubs.
The return and his redemption
In August 2022 he returned to the club where he came through the ranks, and since then he has been part of the cycle that won the 2023 Copa Argentina, the 2024 Copa de la Liga, the 2024 and 2025 Trofeo de Campeones and the 2025 Torneo Clausura. After the last of those titles, last December, he summed it up like this: "I'm grateful to the club for giving me the chance to come back".
The CONMEBOL Libertadores, on the other hand, was still unfinished business. In the 2025 Quarterfinals, against Flamengo in La Plata, he converted his kick in the shoot-out, but Rossi saved two attempts from the 'Pincha' and the Rio side went through 4-2 on their way to a fourth title. In May this year, after the dramatic qualification for the Round of 16 against Independiente Medellín, with a stoppage-time goal from Mikel Amondarain, Sosa explained how that win came about: "We got through with the story that defines the fans more than anything: believing until the end. I don't know if it's mystique, maybe mystique is when a championship is decided".
That is why the penalty at the Maracanã carried extra weight. It came in the same matchup, 13 months later, and against the same goalkeeper who had blocked Estudiantes' path in 2025. After two 0-0 draws, Estudiantes returned to a Final of the competition after 17 years, and Sosa, who watched that one from afar, will play the first of his career.
The Final at the Centenario
In Montevideo, a rival with history for the club awaits him. Palmeiras were the opponents in Estudiantes' first Final, in 1968, which was decided in a playoff at the same Centenario, the stadium where the club also completed its run of three straight titles. A fifth title would allow the 'Pincha' to draw level with Peñarol in third place on the all-time roll of honor. For Sosa, it will also be the chance to add his name to the story that was written without him in 2009. If mystique, as he said in May, is when a championship is decided, on November 28 he will have the chance to experience it firsthand.
