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Juan Román Riquelme
Personal information
Full name	Juan Román Riquelme
Date of birth	June 24, 1978 (1978-06-24) (age 30)
Place of birth	San Fernando, Argentina
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Attacking Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Boca Juniors
Number	10
Youth clubs
	Argentinos Juniors Boca Juniors
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1996–2002 2002–2003 2003–2008 2007 2008–	Boca Juniors FC Barcelona Villarreal CF → Boca Juniors (loan) Boca Juniors	0148 (26) 029 (3) 0102 (36) 015 (2) 010 (1)
National team2
1997-	Argentina	046 (17)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 May 2008. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 18 June 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

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.^[1] 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.^{citation needed} Barcelona coach Louis van Gaal described Riquelme as a "political signing"^[2] 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 Marca awarded him the title of 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.^[3] 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 and coach.^[4][5]. 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.^[6] However, a few days later the situation changed, as Boca Juniors director Juan Carlos Crespi expressed confidence in Riquelme's return "within 10 days".^[7] 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.^[8] 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.^[9]

International career

World cup 2006

Riquelme won the South American Youth Championship and the FIFA U-20 World Cup, both in 1997 with coach José Pekerman.

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.^{[10] [11]} 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.^[12] 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. ^[13]

Statistics

Club	Season	League		Libertadores		Copa Mercosur		Super/Inter.		UEFA Champ.		UEFA Cup		Argentina		Total
		GP	Goals	GP	Goals	GP	Goals	GP	Goals	GP	Goals	GP	Goals	GP	Goals	GP	Goals
Boca Juniors	Apertura 1996	8	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	2
	Clausura 1997	13	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	13	2
	Apertura 1997	13	0	-	-	-	-	2	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	15	0
	Clausura 1998	6	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	0
	Apertura 1998	19	3	-	-	6	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	25	3
	Clausura 1999	18	7	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	18	7
	Apertura 1999	17	2	-	-	5	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	22	2
	Clausura 2000	7	2	11	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	18	5
	Apertura 2000	16	5	-	-	1	0	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	18	5
	Clausura 2001	11	5	12	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	23	8
	Apertura 2001	13	7	-	-	1	0	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	14	7
	Clausura 2002	9	3	4	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	0	13	3
	Subtotal	148	36	27	6	13	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	193	44
FC Barcelona	2002–03	29	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	11	2	-	-	2	0	41	5
Villarreal CF	2003–04	33	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12	4	1	0	47	12
	2004–05	31	15	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9	3	9	5	41	19
	2005–06	25	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	12	2	-	-	8?	1?	45	15
	2006–07	13	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8?	0?	21	1
	Subtotal	131	39	0	0	0	0	0	0	23	4	21	7	18	2	195	52
Boca Juniors	Clausura 2007	15	2	11	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	9?	9?	35	19
	Clausura 2008	10	1	10	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2?	0?	22	5
	Apetura 2008	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0	0
	Subtotal	25	3	21	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11?	9?	57	24
	Total	304	78	48	18	13	0	4	0	23	4	21	7	?	?	-	-

Argentina Goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	30 April 2003	Tripoli, Libya	Libya	3-1	Win	Friendly
2.	17 November 2004	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Venezuela	3-2	Win	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)
3.	8 June 2005	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Brazil	3-1	Win	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)
4.	15 June 2005	Cologne, Germany	Tunisia	2-1	Win	2005 FIFA Confederations Cup
5.	18 June 2005	Nuremberg, Germany	Australia	4-2	Win	2005 FIFA Confederations Cup
6.	21 June 2005	Nuremberg, Germany	Germany	2-2	Draw	2005 FIFA Confederations Cup
7.	9 October 2005	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Peru	2-0	Win	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)
8.	16 November 2005	Doha, Qatar	Qatar	3-0	Win	Friendly
9.	2 July 2007	Maracaibo, Venezuela	Colombia	4-2	Win	Copa América 2007
10.	2 July 2007	Maracaibo, Venezuela	Colombia	4-2	Win	Copa América 2007
11.	8 July 2007	Barquisimeto, Venezuela	Peru	4-0	Win	Copa América 2007
12.	8 July 2007	Barquisimeto, Venezuela	Peru	4-0	Win	Copa América 2007
13.	11 July 2007	Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela	Mexico	3-0	Win	Copa América 2007
14.	13 October 2007	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Chile	2-0	Win	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)
15.	13 October 2007	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Chile	2-0	Win	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)
16.	17 November 2007	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Bolivia	3-0	Win	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)
17.	17 November 2007	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Bolivia	3-0	Win	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)

Achievements

• 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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Juan Román Riquelme

• Argentine Primera statistics
• Juan Roman Riquelme tribute site
• FootballDatabase provides Juan Roman Riquelme's profile and stats
• JuanRomanRiquelme.com.ar - pictures, profile and biography

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