Juan Román Riquelme Totally Explained

Everything about Juan Rom N Riquelme totally explained

| cityofbirth = San Fernando | countryofbirth = Argentina | height = | currentclub = Boca Juniors | clubnumber = 10 | position = Attacking Midfielder | youthyears = | youthclubs = Argentinos Juniors
Boca Juniors | years = 1996-2002
2002-2003
2003-2008
2007
2008- | clubs = Boca Juniors
FC Barcelona
Villarreal CF
→ Boca Juniors (loan)
Boca Juniors | caps(goals) = 151 (38)
Juan Román Riquelme (born June 24, 1978 in San Fernando, Buenos Aires, Argentina) is an Argentine professional football attacking midfielder. He currently plays for Boca Juniors of Argentina. Riquelme is also part of the Argentina national football 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'd 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. This new stage of his life proved to be a difficult and troubling time. 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. 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 substitute appearances, losing his place in the first team as well as his confidence. Van Gaal instead chose to use him as a backup player, standing in during Spanish Cup and Champions League Group stage matches. Here, Riquelme was able to play as a playmaker and he produced some excellent moments, including an almost solo 1-0 win over Club Brugge. However, his general playing form made him redundant, and 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. Expectations were also much lower at Villarreal and Riquelme began to display the talents that now make him so sought after.
Riquelme' is often cited as the main factor in Villarreal's ascendancy in La Liga and the UEFA Champions League through the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons. At the end of the 2004-05 campaign, Spanish sports newspaper Marca

awarded him the title of Artistic Player

. As a result of his influential play, 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. 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, at the 89th minute, Jose Mari won his club a penalty when the referee adjudged Gaël Clichy had obstructed him in the box, but Jens Lehmann saved the penalty, taken by Riquelme 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.. 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. 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 €4 million, Rodrigo Palacio, and half the rights to either Mauro Boselli or Jonathan Maidana was rejected by Boca. 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 no.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-opens in January.

International career

Riquelme won the South American Youth Championship and the Football World Youth Championship, both in 1997 with coach José Pekerman.

2006 World Cup

During the 2006 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 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, 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. 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 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.

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. Argentina Goals

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

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 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)

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