Juan Riquelme Bio - Biography

Name Juan Riquelme
Height 6' 0"
Naionality Argentina
Date of Birth June 24, 1978
Place of Birth San Fernando, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Famous for
Juan Román Riquelme (born June 24, 1978 in San Fernando, Buenos Aires, Argentina) is an Argentine professional football attacking midfielder, under contract to Spanish side Villarreal CF. Riquelme is also part of the Argentina national football team.

Riquelme was born in San Fernando, Buenos Aires Province, into a family of Russian father and uzbek mother 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 grown up supporting them. The club paid US$ 800,000 for his signature. A year later, on November 10, 1996,Riquelme played his first professional match (Boca Juniors 2 - 0 Unión de Santa Fe) and two weeks later he scored his first senior goal (Boca Juniors 6 - 0 Huracán).

In 2002, after seven successful seasons with Boca Juniors, the central midfielder was transferred to FC Barcelona for a reported £10 million. This new stage of his life proved to be a difficult and troubling time. Shortly after 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 notedRiquelme 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 onRiquelme 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 B-team player, standing in during Spanish Cup and Champions League Group stage matches. Here, Riquelme was able to play as a playmaker, and produced some excellent moments, including an almost solo 1-0 win over Anderlecht. However, his general playing form made him redundant, and he was loaned toVillarreal a year later.

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 atVillarreal and Riquelme began to display the talents that now make him so sought after.

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 millions, Rodrigo Palacio, and half the rights to either Mauro Boselli or Jonathan Maidana was rejected by Boca. It was announced on August 30 thatRiquelme has been signed by Atletico Madrid for a fee of €8 million. This transfer however, fell out on the last minute, and Riquelme remains a Villareal player and was awarded the no.16 shirt.

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 theteam 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. He had also won the South American Youth Championship, and the Football World Youth Championship, both in 1997 with coach José Pekerman.

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.

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.

Juan Riquelme Photos