Julio Andrés Arca (born 31 January 1981) is an Argentine former professional footballer, who played as a left-back or central midfielder. Arca spent the majority of his career in the North East of England, firstly for Sunderland from 2000 to 2006, and then for Middlesbrough from 2006 to 2013. He retired from professional football following his release from Middlesbrough, and subsequently played Sunday League football for Willow Pond for the 2014–15 season. He later signed for South Shields, in addition to his return to Sunderland as part of the club's youth coaching staff. During his professional career, he was seen as an attack minded player, with his key attributes including good long and short passing, as well as being a hard worker. Throughout his career at Sunderland and Middlesbrough, Arca has gained cult following among supporters at Sunderland, Middlesbrough and South Shields. Club career Argentinos Juniors Born in Quilmes, Argentina, Arca began playing football when he was eleven and joined Argentinos Juniors when he was fourteen. He went on to progress at the Argentinos Juniors’ academy and made his debut three years later at age seventeen; which saw his side lose 7–1 loss against Independiente. Arca went on to make thirty–six appearances during his time there, having broken into the first team at age eighteen. He said that playing in Argentina was tough, but acknowledged that it gave him a “great education”. Sunderland Sunderland's manager Peter Reid signed Arca in 2000 from Argentinos Juniors with a £3.5 million five-year deal, while holding off competition from Newcastle United and Leeds United. It came after when Peter Reid spotted him in an U21 match playing against England at Craven Cottage and tracked him until completing the signing in July 2000. Upon joining the club, Arca was Reid's most expensive signing of that summer and was then second only behind Stefan Schwarz as the club's record buy. The youngster was tipped for the brightest of futures and full international honours in the near future. Having missed the first three league matches, due to receiving his Italian passport, he was an immediate success, scoring on his debut at the Stadium of Light against West Ham United. Arca then helped the side in defence kept four consecutive clean sheets throughout October. The following month, he only played three matches, including scoring against Manchester United, due to his international commitment with Argentina U20. Arca's third goal