Juan Roman Riquelme Biography
– Introduction - The first time I
saw Riquelme play, was at the 1997 World U-20 Youth Championship, where
everyone talked about him as a future star in Argentinean and
international soccer. I must admit, what I saw there didn't impress me
one bit. Riquelme showed off some quality technique, but he also seemed
lazy and heavy on his feet and with the fast pace of today's soccer, I
didn't give him too many chances to becoming a great soccer player in
the future.
Fortunately for everyone, I was wrong and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
Riquelme turned out to become one of today's most impressive players
and although he kept his above-mentioned apparent "laziness"
on the pitch, he's a brilliant player that can and will win a match.
Let's take a look at how the Argentinean progressed as a soccer player
in this Juan Roman Riquelme biography.
Full
name
Juan
Roman Riquelme
Date
of birth
June
24, 1978
Place
of birth
San
Fernando, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height
6.0FT
- 1.82M
Playing
position
Attacking
midfielder
Juan
Roman Riquelme
Biography – Boca Juniors
- Born near Buenos Aires, young Riquelme
grew up
as a fan of Boca Juniors, but ended up playing for the youth club of
Argentinos Juniors instead. Having some good performances with the
club's youth team, he attracted the interest of both Argentinean
giants, River plate and Boca Juniors. Obviously, being a fan of Boca,
he chose them over River plate and after just one year with the club's
youth squad, he was taken on to the senior team.
Although he did not
immediately become a first team regular at Boca, Riquelme gradually
found his place in the team and his 4 seasons with the Argentinean club
saw him earn a goal tally of 38 in 151 matches, but also numerous
assists, which will prove to be his "specialty"
later on.
In 2002, after some
contractual issues with Boca, Barcelona moved in quickly and signed
Riquelme, although it was not a transfer to the liking of Barca's coach
Luis Van Gall, who treated him with indifference.
Season
Club
Games
Goals
1996-2002
Boca
Juniors
151
38
2002-2003
FC
Barcelona
30
3
2003-Present
Villarreal
CF
105
35
2007
Boca
Juniors (loan)
12
2
Juan Roman Riquelme
Biography – FC Barcelona and Villarreal
- His season with Barcelona was a
complete
disaster and Riquelme had to
go through some painful moments. Shortly after he signed for the
European club, back home someone kidnapped his brother,
Cristian and threatened that if Riquelme would not pay a ransom, his
brother would be killed. He did pay the ransom and got his brother
safely back home, but this moment would affect his performances.
In addition to
this problem
and to coach Van Gall not giving him a lot
of chances to play (or playing him on the wrong positions), he got a lot
of pressure
from the Barcelona board and fans, who were expecting him to turn the
team back into a European power. Since his performances were
unsatisfactory, he was sold to Villarreal FC, a mid-table team that had
a lot of Argentineans and other South Americans in the squad.
Years
National
Team
Games
Goals
1997-06/07
Argentina
41
13
In this new
setting at
Villarreal, Juan Roman Riquelme fit right in and as he started playing
regularly on the position that he was always destined for, that of a
playmaker, Villarreal began to turn into a power.
He managed
to take the small
Spanish team into the Champions League semi-finals, but unfortunately
it was Juan Roman Riquelme who missed a crucial penalty
in the 90th minute of the second leg against Arsenal London, which gave
the English team the opportunity to advance in the final of the
tournament.
Although he
was still revered
as an idol at Villarreal, his tense relationship with the club's board
made him force a loan back to his former club in Argentina, Boca
Juniors. Despite the fact that he only played for 5 months since his
return, he had a serious contribution to Boca winning the Copa
Libertadores, being named the final's MVP.
Although he
remains a rather
unusual soccer player, Riquelme is one of the most sought-after
transfers on the market. Giant clubs such as Barcelona, Manchester
United, Liverpool, Celtic or Hamburg expressed their desire to hire
Riquelme's skills for the future.
Despite the
fact that no one
but the player knows his future destination right now, the only
certainty is that Juan Roman Riquelme still has a lot to offer on the
stage of soccer and wherever he's going to play in the 2007-2008
season, he's bound to make an impact.
