Luis Saritama

Football player infobox| playername= Luis Fernando Saritama
fullname = Luis Fernando Saritama Padilla
nickname = Sari


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1983|10|20
cityofbirth = Loja
countryofbirth = Ecuador
height = height|m=1.75
currentclub = Sociedad Deportivo Quito
position = Side or Center Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 2000-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006 2007 2007-2008 2008-
clubs = Sociedad Deportivo Quito Alianza Lima Sociedad Deportivo Quito UANL Tigres Club America Alianza Lima Sociedad Deportivo Quito
caps(goals) = 103 (13) 14 (0) 71 (19) 14 (1) 7 (0) 20(5) 25 (4)
nationalyears = 2003-
nationalteam = Ecuador
nationalcaps(goals) = 15 (0)
pcupdate = 18 August 2007
ntupdate = 15 June 2007

Luis Fernando Saritama Padilla (born October 20, 1983) is a footballer who currently plays for Sociedad Deportivo Quito.

International career

He is a midfielder and has been selected in the Ecuador national team for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. He has played in every Ecuador youth national team and has captained various of those teams, where he displayed fine passing and playmaking ability. Luis Fernando made his international debut against Peru in 2003. In 2006 he played against Brazil in Sweden, Mexico in Oakland, and U.S in Tampa Bay.

Club career

Alianza Lima

In 2004, he had a brief stint in the Peruvian first division with Alianza Lima, along with fellow Ecuadorian footballer, Johnny Baldeon. Together, they both played key roles in Alianza's championship run all the way to the finals and became the Clausura champions. In 2007 he made his return to the team and he stayed there until the end of the year.

Deportivo Quito

But as soon as he helped Alianza lift the trophy, he returned to Deportivo Quito, along with Baldeon. Despite being just 22, he was the captain of Deportivo Quito, his only ever club team in his native Ecuador. It was during this period that he was used more regularly for his national side, and it became clear that Ecuador coach Luis Fernando Suarez intended on bringing him to Germany 06.

UANL Tigres and Club América

Saritama was signed on July 25, 2006, right after the FIFA World Cup by Tigres UANL, the same club where Ivan Hurtado, Ecuador's evergreen captain, played while in the Mexican league. There he was one of the most popular players in that club, he suffered a horrible season as Tigres were last in their group and constantly conceding large amounts of goals. He scored a few goals during that period, but it became clear that the Tigres coach Mario Carrillo, who succeeded Luis Fernando Tena after several terrible performances, did not intend to fit him into the team plans.

He was then transferred to Mexican giants Club América during the winter transfer window, mainly to reinforce the team for its Copa Libertadores 2007 action. His contract, which was to tie him to the Estadio Azteca for four years, specified that he was only to participate in Copa Libertadores games, but the Mexican club later allowed him to play in official Primera División de México matches. He scored a goal in January 2007 during his debut with América against Peruvian club Sporting Cristal in the first round of Copa Libertadores. However, after six months spent with the giants, it was clear he was not producing any positive results, and they loaned him to Peruvian traditional powers Alianza Lima. His season with Alianza was impressive enough, and he was loaned out again by América, this time back to the club of his beginnings, Deportivo Quito and he is still there currently.

External links

* [http://www.footballdatabase.com/index.php?page=player&Id=7471&pn=Luis_Fernando_Saritama_Padilla Football Database Provides Profile and Stats for Luis Fernando Saritama]