Juan Román Riquelme

Juan Román Riquelme (born June 24, 1978 in San Fernando, Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina) is an Argentina professional football (soccer) Midfielder Attacking_midfielder, under contract to La Liga side Villarreal CF. Riquelme is also part of the Argentina national football team.

Footballing career

Early career

Riquelme was born in San Fernando, Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires Province, into a family of ten in poverty, and grew up in Don Torcuato. Argentine clubs Boca Juniors and Club Atlético River Plate spotted him when he was a youth player for Argentinos Juniors. He chose to move to Boca in 1995 as he had grown up supporting them. The club paid US$ 800,000 for his signature. A year later, on November 10, 1996, Riquelme played his first professional match (Boca Juniors 2 - 0 Unión de Santa Fe) and two weeks later he scored his first senior goal (Boca Juniors 6 - 0 Club Atlético Huracán).

Barcelona

In 2002, after seven successful seasons with Boca Juniors, the Football (soccer) positions Centre midfield was transferred to FC Barcelona for a reported pound sterling10 million. This new stage of his life proved to be a difficult and troubling time. Shortly after 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. His arrival at Barcelona was seen as a failure. Due to the club's struggling fortunes, there was intense pressure on Riquelme to perform well. However, Barca's current coach at the time, Louis van Gaal described Riquelme as a "political signing" 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 subsitute appearances, losing his place in the first team as well as his confidence. Van Gaal instead chose to use him as a B-team player, standing in during Spanish Cup and Champions League Group stage matches. Here, Riquelme was able to play as a playmaker, and produced some excellent moments, including an almost solo 1-0 win over Anderlecht. However, his general playing form made him redundant, and he was loaned to Villarreal CF a year later.. Riquelme has played a significant part in Boca's success in the Copa Libertadores 2007, scoring against Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield in the round of 16, Club Libertad in the quarter finals and Corporación Nuevo Cúcuta Deportivo in the semis, earning Boca a place in the finals. In the first leg of the final against Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense, 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.

Post-Boca

In August 2007, it was reported that Boca had given up hope of re-signing Riquelme. However, a few days later the situation changed, as Boca Juniors director Juan Carlos Crespi expressed confidence in Riquelme's return "within 10 days". The negotiations stalled when Villarreal's offer to give up Riquelme in exchange for Euro4M, Rodrigo Palacio, and half the rights to either Mauro Boselli or Jonathan Maidana was rejected by Boca. Riquelme's future still is uncertain, despite staying with Villarreal, he has been allocated the number 16 shirt, not his usual number 8. He still is yet to play this season for Villarreal.

International career

During the 2006 FIFA World Cup Riquelme was an integral part of the Argentina side which notably dispatched Serbia and Montenegro 6-0. They entered the second round in top form. However, they were defeated in the quarter-final by Germany national football team 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". Even though praised by some, he claimed that the frequent critics from sectors of the press and public have negatively affected his mother's health, who was hospitalized twice in two months after the 2006 World Cup.

At that point, Riquelme had played 37 matches for Argentina national football team, scoring 8 goals. He had also won the South American Youth Championship, and the Football World Youth Championship, both in 1997 with coach José Pekerman.

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 Copa América 2007.
Riquelme illustrated his array of skills by scoring two goals – a header and a free kick – against Colombia national football team in the second match of the Copa América 2007's group stage. In the quarter-finals against Peru national football team, 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 5th goal of the competition in a penalty during the semifinal clash against Mexico, completing Argentina's 3-0 win.

The final, against Brazil on July 15, proved a huge disappointment both for Argentina and Riquelme. After Brazil scored in the 4th minute, Riquelme hit the post a few minutes later but after that he and his fellow team-members proved unable to break through, and finished by losing 0-3 in a subdued manner.

Achievements

- 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 Primera División Argentina (Boca Juniors)
- 2000 European/South American Cup (Boca Juniors)
- 2000 Copa Libertadores (Boca Juniors)
- 1999 Primera División Argentina (Boca Juniors)
- 1998 Primera División Argentina (Boca Juniors)
- 1997 FIFA's Football World Youth Championship (under-20)