Buenos Aires, Jun 14 (IANS): An Argentine football player, Mariano Campodonico, was shot in the leg when two assailants forced him and his two children out of the car and drove away to Buzarco city, 30 kilometers from the capital here.

Campodonico, 38, an experienced center forward for Argentina' s second-division Temperley Club team and has also played in Venezuela, Ecuador, Mexico and Paraguay, was wounded in his left knee after one of the carjackers shot at the ground and the bullet ricocheted, Xinhua reported Wednesday.

The carjacking occurred Monday night as Campodonico was picking up one of his children from a birthday party.

"When I was getting my daughter inside the car, I heard two people yell, telling me to stand still and give them the car keys," Campodonico told the daily Cronica. "I turned around and told them to let me get my kids out of the car and then they could have it."

"The thieves then pointed a 9-millimeter gun at me (and) asked me to give them my wallet, which was inside the car," said Campodonico, adding he also gave them some money he had in his pocket.

Though he didn't try to resist the robbery, the criminals apparently fired a parting shot in an attempt to intimidate him, Campodonico said.

"It was a horrible moment, especially because I was with my kids," he added.

Campodonico made headlines in 2006 when he was sentenced to eight days in jail after making obscene on-field gestures at a rival team.