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Biography of Juan Roman Riquelme

Birthday:

1978/06/26

Full name:

Juan Roman Riquelme

Place of Birth:

San Fernando

Height:

182

Weight:

Position:

Midfielder

Nickname(s):

Romi, The Lazy Magician

Wife / girlfriend:

Lives in:

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Club information

Current club:

Boca Juniors

Previous clubs:

Villareal FC Barcelona Boca Juniors

National team:

Argentina

Youth clubs:

Argentinos Juniors Boca Juniors

Facts & Background

1 About Juan Roman Riquelme
2 Riquelme's Background
3 Club Football
4 International Football
- 4.1 International Goals
5 Awards and Honours
- 5.1 Personal Awards
- 5.2 Career Statistics
6 Personal Info
- 6.1 Wife / Girlfriend
7 Sponsors
8 Important Links
9 References

About Juan Roman Riquelme

Juan Roman Riquelme was born in San Fernando, an impoverished providence of Buenos Aires Argentina to a family of ten. He started playing soccer at a young age and was quickly picked up by the youth club team, Argentina Juniors, due to talent at the midfield position.

He started playing professional soccer in 1995 with the Boca Juniors and enjoyed seven seasons with the team before being traded to Barcelona. After a brief and not successful stay with them, he transferred to Villarreal, and became superstar there, winning many awards. Currently he continues to play at both the national and international level, and recently won the MVP award at the Copa Libertados.

Riquelme's Background

Juan Roman Riquelme was born in San Fernando, an impoverished providence of Buenos Aires Argentina to a family of ten. His way out of the slums in Buenos Aires was through soccer, when he got picked up by the youth club team Argentina Juniors. After spending some time there, he was offered to play professional soccer at both the Boca Juniors and River Plate. Due to his childhood admiration for the team, he decided to join River Plate for small fee of 800,000 U.S dollars. After playing with them for seven seasons he joined team FC Barcelona for the amount of 1.1 million euros. Juan Roman Riquelme did not have a successful season with team Barcelona and ended up being traded to Villarreal, where he currently plays.

Club Football

Boca Juniors
(1995-2002) Juan Roman Riquelme started his professional football career with the Boca Juniors in 1995, when he was signed to them for 800,000 dollars. In 1996 he scored his first goal with the team, in a game against Huracana.

He flourished with Boca Juniors taking them to three league titles and two Copa Liberatadores. Riquelme’s success with the team gave him the honor of being Argentina’s league MVP in 1999 and 2000 seasons. He was also crowned South American Player of the Year in 2001.

(2007- Present) After his 2007 season with Villarreal, Juan Roman Riquelme was loaned back to the team that he started his professional soccer career with in 1995. He immediately made significant impact on the offensive side by scoring seven goals in 26 appearances. He led the team into the finals of the Copa Libertadores after scoring goals against Vélez Sársfield in round 16, Club Libertad in the quarter finals, and Cúcuta Deportivo in the semis. The Boca Juniors went on to win the final, and Juan Roman Riquelme, was crowned the Most Valuable Player in the competition.

Juan Roman Riquelme future in the organization remains uncertain since the price tag for his talent is something that club cannot afford as of right now. He is currently being scouted by different organizations in Spain. However as it looks like right now, the player will play for Villarreal, for the time being.

Barcelona
(2002-2003). Juan Roman Riquelme was signed to Barcelona for a fee of 9 million euros in 2002. He had joined the team, during a time period in which Barcelona was struggling, and was expected to play phenomenal soccer.

Immediately after being signed to Barcelona, Riquelme’s struggles started. He did not have a positive relationship with Coach Louis van Gaal, and because of this did not get much playing time. He was mainly used as a substitute.

It was not until the Spanish Cup and Champion Premier League stage matches that Juan Roman Riquelme showed that he was really a superstar type player. Here he started in fourteen games and made a total of three goals during the whole season. His most noticeable achievement on Barcelona was against Club Brugge, where he scored the only goal in the game. After only one season Barcelona traded Juan Roman Riquelme and he signed with Villarreal.

Villarreal
(2003-Present) At Villarreal, Juan Roman Riquelme had a lot of pressure taken of his shoulders, and it allowed him to really shine. On the team were experienced South American players, including the captain of Argentina’s national team, Juan Pablo Sorín.

His influence in the game became ever present during the 2004-05 and 05-06 seasons. Due to his performance in the UEFA Champions League, Villarreal was able to beat Manchester United and Lille, in order to advance into the knockout stages during their first appearance in the tournament. Riquelme ended up scoring sixteen goals in thirty seven appearances that season, and was nominated for the 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year award.

International Football

Argentina
Juan Roman Riquelme is considered the top midfielder on Argentina’s national team. He started his international football career with Argentina back in 2003 at a friendly match against Libya, where he scored his first international goal.

His first appearance in the FIFA World Cup came in 2006. He played a key role on the offensive side when Argentina won to Serbia and Montenegro in a 6-0 shut out. In a game against Germany during the quarter-finals, he delivered a corner kick to Roberto Ayalo, who ended up scoring the only goal during regular time. Argentina went on to loose that game in penalty kicks and was kicked out of the tournament.

On June 26, 2007 Juan Roman Riquelme was summoned to play for the national team by new coach Alfio Basile, to play in the Copa America. This was Juan Roman Riquelme’s best performance on the world stage. All together he scored five goals in five starts leading his team to the finals. Even though Argentina did not win against Brazil in the final game, Juan Roman Riquelme was able to take a lot of shots towards the goal, and performed best out of all his team mates.

International Goals

Date	Team	Competition	Goals Scored
30 April 2003	Libya
17 November 2004	Venezuela
8 June 2005	Brazil
15 June 2005	Tunisia
18 June 2005	Australia
21 June 2005	Germany
9 October 2005	Peru
16 November 2005	Qatar
2 July 2007	Colombia
8 July 2007	Peru
11 July2007	Mexico
13 October2007	Chile
17 November 2007	Bolivia

Awards and Honours

Villarreal
2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup
2007 Copa Libertadores' Most Valuable Player

Boca Juniors
1998 Argentine Apertura Championship
1999 Argentine Clausura Championship
2000 Copa Libertadores
2000 Intercontinental Cup
2000 Argentine Apertura Championship
2001 South American Footballer of the Year
2001 Copa Libertadores (Boca Juniors)
2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup
2005 Nominated for FIFA World Player of the Year
2006 Nominated for FIFA World Player of the Year

Argentina
UEFA European Championship 2004: Runner-up
Copa America Championship 2007: Runner up