LOSER by name, a winner in the game.
Argentina’s multi-awarded middle blocker Agus Loser carries a unique name that isn’t quite apt in a competitive environment like professional sport.
A nine-year national team veteran, Loser, 27, has won a quadruple of club titles in Italy and Argentina prior to his five-medal run with the Argentine youth squad.
He also has three major top middle blocker plums to his name on top of all his successes for the four international clubs he has played for.
It ultimately earned him the captaincy of Argentina’s senior national team three months before the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship.
Used to all the jokes and banter, Loser knows he’s proven himself to be an antithesis of his very name.
“As a winner on the court, for the most part, I try to work hard every day because I'm a very competitive guy,” Loser told SPIN.ph.
“That motivates me every day to do things good and better. This competitive part of me makes me train more every day to improve and try to reach more goals and dreams.”
And as he best put it, “I like to win in everything.”
How losses built a ‘Loser’
But as a ‘Loser’ by name, the Argentine captain has had his fair share of losing over the years.
Most recently, his greatest heartbreak was a disappointing campaign in the 2024 Paris Olympics where Argentina crashed out of the group stage without a win over the likes of the U.S., Japan, and Germany.
As it goes with competing at the highest level of sports, hitting rock bottom made Loser all the more eager to call himself a winner again for his homeland.
“With the losses, you mature more because it's there where you grow. Last year in the Olympics, it was very difficult for us. We lost all three matches, we played bad,” he said.
“It was a tough moment for me and for all of us. I think we learned from that and we have to put that experience here. That's the kind of attitude we have to put on the court.”
Now 43 years to Argentina’s first and only FIVB Worlds medal to date, that being a bronze in 1982 when it hosted the event, Loser wants his side to be a winner among winners in Manila.
“It's a dream for me and for all of us, for sure. We work every day to do that, to put Argentina at the top,” said Loser.
“We know it's difficult, but I think if we play good, we can do it but or sure, it's going to be a long way. I hope we can play our best volleyball and continue to show a better version of us.”
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
