Juan Román Riquelme

Football player infobox
playername =Juan Román Riquelme


fullname = Juan Román Riquelme
nickname = "Romy", "Topo Gigio"
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1978|6|24
cityofbirth = San Fernando
countryofbirth = Argentina
height = height|meter=1.82
currentclub = Boca Juniors
clubnumber = 10
position = Attacking Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs = Argentinos Juniors Boca Juniors
years = 1996–2002 2002–2003 2003–2007 2007 2008–
clubs = Boca Juniors FC Barcelona Villarreal CF → Boca Juniors "(loan)" Boca Juniors
caps(goals) = 148 (26) 029 0(3) 102 (36) 015 0(2)
010 0(1)
nationalyears = 1997-present
2008
nationalteam = Argentina
Argentina Olympic
nationalcaps(goals) = 050 (17)
0|006 0(1)
pcupdate = 11 September 2008
ntupdate = 14 September 2008

Juan Román Riquelme (born June 24, 1978 in San Fernando, Buenos Aires) is an Argentine professional football attacking midfielder who currently plays for Boca Juniors and the Argentina national team.

Footballing career

Early career

Riquelme was born in San Fernando, Buenos Aires Province, into a family of ten in poverty, and grew up in Don Torcuato. Argentine clubs Boca Juniors and River Plate spotted him when he was a youth player for Argentinos Juniors. He chose to move to Boca in 1995, as he had been a fan of the club since childhood. Boca paid US$800,000 to sign him. A year later, on November 10 1996, Riquelme played his first professional match in a 2-0 win over Unión de Santa Fe. Two weeks later he scored his first senior goal in Boca's 6-0 win over Huracán.

Barcelona

In 2002, after seven successful seasons with Boca Juniors, the central midfielder was transferred to FC Barcelona for a reported €11 million. [cite web|url=http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/news/kind=1/newsid=44002.html|title=Barça take up Riquelme option|date=2002-11-26|publisher=UEFA.com] Shortly before his departure from Boca, his brother, Cristian, was kidnapped. Riquelme negotiated for his brother's release and eventually paid the ransom. He has stated before this was one of the reasons why he chose to leave Boca although it has also been noted Riquelme was in dispute with Boca over his contract at the time.Fact|date=August 2008 Barcelona coach Louis van Gaal described Riquelme as a "political signing" [cite news
first = Jason
last = Cowley
url = http://football.guardian.co.uk/worldcup2006/story/0,,1800201,00.html
title = Lonesome Riquelme is the go-to man
work =
publisher = Guardian Unlimited
pages =
page =
date = 2006-06-18
accessdate = 2006-08-12
language = ] and treated him with indifference. When Van Gaal did play him on rare occasions, Riquelme was deployed on the flanks. He was unable to find his form during a period of largely substitute appearances, losing his place in the first team. Van Gaal instead chose to use him as a backup player, standing in during Spanish Cup and Champions League Group stage matches. He was loaned to Villarreal a year later.

Villarreal

At Villarreal he was surrounded by fellow Latin and South American players, including fellow Argentine international and captain Juan Pablo Sorín. At the end of the 2004-05 campaign, Spanish sports newspaper [http://www.marca.com/ Marca] awarded him the title of [http://www.marca.com/futbol/jugador_conmasarte/Most Artistic Player] . He earned a nomination for the 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year award. In an effort to keep hold of him, Villarreal bought up 75% of Riquelme's rights from Barcelona for up to 8 million euros, dependent on Villarreal performance next two seasons, and gave the player a 4-year contract. [cite web|url=http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/news/kind=1/newsid=308912.html|title=Riquelme leaves Barça for good|date=2005-06-21|publisher=UEFA.com] A 25% transfer fee would also given to Barça if Villarreal resold him.

A peculiar contract situation arose when, on December 7, 2005, Villarreal beat French club Lille OSC 1-0 to win its UEFA Champions League group, knocking out English giants Manchester United F.C., and Lille and advancing to the lucrative knockout stages in the club's debut season in the Champions League. Because of a clause in the transfer contract with Barcelona, Villarreal had to pay one million euros to the Catalan club. The contract included another two one-million euro clauses; one if Villarreal finished in one of the top 4 positions of the Spanish La Liga in the 2005-06 season, and an identical clause for the 2006-07 season.

During the second leg of the Champions League semi-final match between Villareal and Arsenal, Jens Lehmann saved a Riquelme penalty that would have taken the match to extra time.

Boca Juniors

Riquelme accepted a five-month loan back to Boca Juniors on February 2007 following a tense situation between him and Villarreal's director general and with club manager Manuel Pellegrini. [ [http://football.guardian.co.uk/continentalfootball/story/0,,1996215,00.html "The end is nigh for a player unable to cross great divide"] - The Guardian] [ [http://www.ole.com.ar/notas/2007/02/07/um/01359416.html "Román dio el sí"] - Diario Olé] Riquelme has played a significant part in Boca's success in the Copa Libertadores 2007, scoring against Vélez Sársfield in the round of 16, Club Libertad in the quarter finals and Cúcuta Deportivo in the semis, earning Boca a place in the finals. In the first leg of the final against Grêmio, Riquelme scored a goal and in the return leg, scored two more, crowning Boca as the 2007 Copa Libertadores Champions. He also won the award for the Copa Libertadores' Most Valuable Player.

In August 2007, it was reported that Boca had given up hope of re-signing Riquelme. [cite news | url = http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=371902 | title = Boca Juniors Give Up On Riquelme | publisher = Goal.com | date = 2007-08-03 | accessdate = 2007-08-09 ] However, a few days later the situation changed, as Boca Juniors director Juan Carlos Crespi expressed confidence in Riquelme's return "within 10 days". [cite news | url = http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=373479 | title = Boca Director Insists Riquelme Will Return | publisher = Goal.com | date = 2007-08-05 | accessdate = 2007-08-09 ] The negotiations stalled when Villarreal's offer to give up Riquelme in exchange for €4 million, Rodrigo Palacio, and half the rights to either Mauro Boselli or Jonathan Maidana was rejected by Boca. [cite news | url = http://goal.com/en-us/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=377756 | title = Boca Rebuff Villarreal Riquelme Offer | publisher = Goal.com | date = 2007-08-09 | accessdate = 2007-08-09 ] It was announced on August 30 that Riquelme has been signed by Atletico Madrid for a fee of €8 million. This transfer however, fell through at the last minute, and Riquelme remained a Villareal player and was awarded the #16 shirt.

On November 26, 2007 Riquelme reached an agreement with Villarreal CF to allow him to join Boca Juniors after the transfer window re-opened in January 2008. [cite web|url=http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/news/kind=2/newsid=626379.html|title=Riquelme set to return home|date=2007-11-26|publisher=UEFA.com]

International career

Riquelme won the South American Youth Championship and the FIFA U-20 World Cup, both in 1997 with coach José Pekerman. And would recive a call-up, but did not play in the 1998 or 2002 FIFA World Cups.

2006 World Cup

During the 2006 World Cup Argentina were defeated in the quarter-final by Germany on penalties, after a 1-1 draw after extra-time. Germany equalised moments after Riquelme was substituted off the pitch. Riquelme had delivered the corner from which Roberto Ayala scored Argentina's goal.

Following the loss of Argentina and Pekerman's resignation as head coach, Riquelme was tipped by many to take over the reins of skipper for the "Albicelestes" in place of the outgoing Sorín. However, after captaining the team for the first friendly match under new coach Alfio Basile, he announced on September 13, 2006 his decision to retire from the "Selección", claiming that the frequent critics from sectors of the press and public had negatively affected his mother's health, who was hospitalized twice in two months after the 2006 World Cup. [cite news
first = Brian
last = Homewood
url = http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-riquelme&prov=reuters&type=lgns
title = Riquelme says he is quitting Argentina
work =
publisher = yahoo.sports
pages =
page =
date = 2006-09-13
accessdate = 2006-09-14
language = ] [cite news
first =
last =
url = http://www.clarin.com/diario/2006/09/13/um/m-01270823.htm
title = Riquelme renunció a la Selección: "Antes que nada está mi familia"
work =
publisher = Clarín (newspaper)
pages =
page =
date = 2006-09-13
accessdate = 2006-09-13
language = Spanish] At that point, Riquelme had played 37 matches for Argentina, scoring 8 goals.

2007 Copa América

On June 26, 2007, Riquelme was recalled to the national team by coach Alfio Basile as part of the 23-man squad to represent Argentina in the 2007 Copa América. [ [http://copaamericavenezuela2007.terra.com.br/default.asp?pag=noticias&id=404 Riquelme quiere sumarse a selección argentina] sp icon] Riquelme illustrated his array of skills by scoring two goals – a header and a free kick – against Colombia in the second match of the Copa's group stage. In the quarter-finals against Peru, Riquelme scored two of Argentina's four goals and assisted Lionel Messi for another goal to lead Argentina into the semifinals with a 4-0 win. He scored his fifth goal of the competition in a penalty during the semifinal clash against Mexico, completing Argentina's 3-0 win.

2010 World Cup qualification

On October 14, 2007 Riquelme emerged from three months of inactivity at Villarreal to score two free kicks in a 2-0 win against Chile to get his team off to a winning start in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. On November 17 Riquelme scored twice again in Argentina's 3-0 victory against Bolivia. He is currently the leading goal scorer in the 2010 CONMEBOL qualifications.

2008 Beijing Olympics

Argentina included Riquelme as one of the three permited overage players in the squad for the Olympic Games Football tournament in Beijing. [cite news |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/soccer/07/03/argentina.olympic/index.html |title=Messi, Agüero, Riquelme named to Argentine Olympic team |publisher=sl.com |date=2008-07-03 |accessdate=2008-10-10] . Riquelme captained the side to win the Olympic Gold medal. He scored one goal against Brazil in the semi-final. [cite news |url=http://www.fifa.com/mensolympic/matches/round=250025/match=300051812/summary.html |title=Angel delivers Argentina gold |publisher=FIFA.com |date=2008-08-23 |accessdate=2008-10-10]

Statistics

Argentina Goals

Achievements

*2008 Recopa Sudamericana (Boca Juniors)
*2008 Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's tournament (Argentina)
*2007 Nominated for FIFA World Player of the Year
*2007 Copa Libertadores' Most Valuable Player
*2007 Copa Libertadores (Boca Juniors)
*2006 Nominated for FIFA World Player of the Year
*2005 Nominated for FIFA World Player of the Year
*2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup (Villarreal CF)
*2001 Copa Libertadores (Boca Juniors)
*2001 South American Footballer of the Year
*2000 Argentine Apertura Championship (Boca Juniors)
*2000 Intercontinental Cup (Boca Juniors)
*2000 Copa Libertadores (Boca Juniors)
*1999 Argentine Clausura Championship (Boca Juniors)
*1998 Argentine Apertura Championship (Boca Juniors)
*1997 FIFA's World Youth Championship (under-20)

References

External links

* [http://www.futbolxxi.com/Futbolista.aspx?ID=9446&SEOFutbolista=Riquelme+Juan+Roman Argentine Primera statistics]
* [http://www.riquelme-web.com.ar Juan Roman Riquelme tribute site]
* [http://www.footballdatabase.com/site/players/index.php?dumpPlayer=922 FootballDatabase provides Juan Roman Riquelme's profile and stats]
* [http://www.juanromanriquelme.com.ar JuanRomanRiquelme.com.ar - pictures, profile and biography]

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