Carlos Valderrama (footballer)

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Carlos Valderrama
Personal information
Full name	Carlos Alberto Valderrama Palacio
Date of birth	September 2, 1961 (age 45)
Place of birth	Santa Marta, Colombia
Height	5' 9" (175 cm)
Nickname	El Pibe
Playing position	Central midfielder
* Appearances (Goals)

Carlos Alberto Valderrama Palacio (born September 2, 1961 in Santa Marta) is a former Colombian soccer player, a creative midfielder considered the best Colombian player of all time. ^[1]

Nicknamed El Pibe ("The kid"), Valderrama is recognizable for his enormous dyed blondish-orange bush of hair and is known for his skillful passing and shielding. One of the most formidable powers of Valderrama is his ability to dominate the match playing in walking pace. Valderrama captained Colombia during the 1990, 1994, and 1998 World Cups, before announcing his international retirement after the 1998 competition having received 111 caps and scored 11 times. He won the Colombian championship with Atlético Junior in 1993 and 1995. One example of excellent field vision was in the 1990 World Cup in Italy. In the game against Germany, Valderrama passed the ball to Freddy Rincon who was open for a pass. Rincon then scored through the legs of German goalkeeper Bodo Illgner. This goal tied the match at 1-1 and sent Colombia to the second round of the World Cup for the first time in its history and the only team Germany could not beat on their way to the championship.

He began his career at Unión Magdalena of the Colombian First Division in 1981. He also played for Millonarios and Deportivo Cali before joining Montpellier of the French First Division in 1988. to play for Independiente Medellín and Atlético Junior from 1993-96 before going to the US in 1996 to play for the Tampa Bay Mutiny (1996-97, 2000-01), Miami Fusion (1998-99), and Colorado Rapids (2001-02). In Major League Soccer, Valderrama scored relatively few goals (16) for a midfielder, but is the league's all-time leader in assists (114). In 2005, he was named to the MLS All-Time Best XI.

In February 2004, Valderrama ended his 22-year career in a tribute match at the Metropolitan stadium of Barranquilla, with some of the most important football players of South America, such as Diego Maradona (he couldn't play), Enzo Francescoli and José Luis Chilavert. Despite ending his career, recent attempts have been made to try and persuade the former South American Footballer of the Year out of retirement and to play at a semi-professional level. Clubs rumoured to have approached him are Deportivo Cali, Once Caldas, Centauros Villavicencio and Leek Town.

He is married and has five children. Valderrama was the only Colombian to feature in FIFA's 125 Top Living Football Players list in March 2004.

Contents 1 Career 2 Trivia 3 Honours 4 External links 5 See also

[edit] Career

Team	Nation	Years	Apps	Goals
Unión Magdalena		1981-1983
Millonarios		1984
Deportivo Cali		1985-1987
Montpellier SC		1988-1990
Real Valladolid		1991
Independiente Medellín		1992
Atlético Junior		1993-1995
Tampa Bay Mutiny		1996-1997
Miami Fusion		1998
Tampa Bay Mutiny		1999-2001
Colorado Rapids		2002

[edit] Trivia

• He appeared in the cover of Konami game ISS PRO '98.
• There is a 22 foot tall bronze statue of Valderrama beside the Eduardo Santos stadium in Santa Marta, Colombia, created by Colombian artist, Amilkar Ariza.

[edit] Honours

• South American Footballer of the Year (1987, 1993)
• French Cup winner (1990)
• Colombian Championship winner with Junior Barranquilla (1993, 1995)
• MLS Player of the Year (1996)
• MLS All-time Assist King
• MLS All-star game MVP
• Member of the FIFA Century Club

[edit] External links

• Link for Valderrama in Spanish

[edit] See also

• Famous Colombians

Preceded by Antonio Alzamendi	South American Footballer of the Year 1987	Succeeded by Rubén Paz
Preceded by Raí	South American Footballer of the Year 1993	Succeeded by Cafu

Major League Soccer | MLS All-Time Best XI
Tony Meola | Jeff Agoos | Marcelo Balboa | Eddie Pope | Landon Donovan | Marco Etcheverry Piotr Nowak | Preki | Carlos Valderrama | Brian McBride | Jaime Moreno

	Colombia squad - 1990 FIFA World Cup
1 Higuita | 2 Escobar | 3 Gildardo Gómez | 4 Herrera | 5 Villa | 6 Pérez | 7 Estrada | 8 Gabriel Gómez | 9 Guerrero | 10 Valderrama | 11 Redín | 12 Niño | 13 Hoyos | 14 Álvarez | 15 Perea | 16 Iguarán | 17 Cassiani | 18 Cabrera | 19 Rincón | 20 Fajardo | 21 Mendoza | 22 Hernández | Coach: Maturana

	Colombia squad - 1994 FIFA World Cup
1 Córdoba | 2 Escobar | 3 Mendoza | 4 Herrera | 5 Gaviria | 6 Gómez | 7 de Ávila | 8 Lozano | 9 Valenciano | 10 Valderrama | 11 Valencia | 12 Mondragón | 13 Ortiz | 14 Álvarez | 15 Perea | 16 Aristizábal | 17 Serna | 18 Cortés | 19 Rincón | 20 Pérez | 21 Asprilla | 22 Pazo | Coach: Maturana

	Colombia squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup
1 O. Córdoba | 2 I. Córdoba | 3 Palacios | 4 Santa | 5 Bermúdez | 6 Serna | 7 de Ávila | 8 Lozano | 9 Valencia | 10 Valderrama | 11 Asprilla | 12 Calero | 13 Cabrera | 14 Bolaño | 15 Aristizábal | 16 Moreno | 17 Estrada | 18 Pérez | 19 Rincón | 20 Ricard | 21 Preciado | 22 Mondragón | Coach: Gómez

Persondata
NAME	Palacio, Carlos Alberto Valderrama
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Valderrama, Carlos
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Footballer
DATE OF BIRTH	September 2, 1961
PLACE OF BIRTH	Santa Marta, Colombia
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH