Riquelme Juan Roman is the last clean playmaker in football history

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

This name announced by the announcer will no longer be carried over the stadium. The fans will no longer ask the question: "Riquelme Juan Roman where does he play?" In January 2015, he announced his retirement from football, probably the last clean playmaker in football history.

First Argentine period

Future footballer Riquelme Juan Roman was born in the capital of Argentina on June 24, 1978. On the same June day, nine years later, the future multiple best football player of the planet Lionel Messi will be born, whose star will begin to shine just at the time when the career of our hero will be close to sunset. But that's not the point now.

Buenos Aires has more than a dozen football teams that periodically play in the Major League of Argentine Football. Juan Roman studied at the Argentinos Juniors school. This club gave a start in life to the legend of not only Argentinean, but also the entire world football, Diego Maradona. Since then, only outstanding results have been expected from the pupils of the club. But Juan Roman did not have time to play for Argentinos Juniors. At the age of eighteen, he moved to another legendary Argentinean club, Boca Juniors, in which he almost immediately established himself at the base from the youth team. Beginningsince 1998, he has won the title of champion of Argentina three times with the club. Before that, in 1997, he managed to become the world champion among youth. In "Boke" a legendary bunch appeared to the world: playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme - goal scorer Martin Palermo. It was they who terrified the opponents' defense players.

In 2000, after winning the Copa Libertadores, Boca Juniors beat Real Madrid 2-1 in the Intercontinental Cup match. Palermo scored both goals for the Argentines, the second of them after Riquelme's magnificent pass. The following year, Boca again placed championship medals in the Copa Libertadores. And Juan Roman was recognized as the best player in South America.

In Barcelona

Of course, not the aforementioned match for the Intercontinental Cup was the reason, but literally in 2002, Riquelme Juan Roman moved to the camp of the worst enemy of Madrid - the Spanish "Barcelona". In those days, the Catalan club was going through hard times and was a strong middle peasant in the Spanish Examples. In the previous season, Barcelona had won fourth place and wanted to take revenge. Unfortunately for Riquelme, the top European teams have long abandoned having a pure playmaker in their squads, European coaches have been hesitant to bet on a single player in the team. Therefore, Juan Roman was assigned to play as a winger, which the player himself did not like. And his game was not always liked by the coaches. After the arrival of Frank Rijkaard on the Barcelona coaching bench and Ronaldinho in the squad, the coach made it clear that the bet would bebecome a world champion. And Riquelme was sent to the modest Villarreal.

Villarreal star

The day before, this modest Valencian team reached the final of the Spanish Cup and won the right to play in the UEFA Cup as a finalist. Another important circumstance is that in 2004 the team was headed by the Chilean specialist Manuel Pelligrini, who, unlike the Europeans, built his team's game through a playmaker. It was this combination of circumstances that influenced the fact that Riquelme Juan Roman again began to play his game, and the modest Villarreal team in the middle of the 2000s reached the semi-finals of the Champions League and won prizes in the Spanish championship.

Second Argentine period

But playmaker Juan Roman and coach Manuel Pelligrini no longer get along. The player began to appear less on the field and in 2007 went on loan to his native Boca Juniors, where he managed to help the team win another Copa Libertadores. At the same time, he scored three goals in two final matches and became the best player of the tournament. Returning from the lease, Riquelme Juan Roman made it clear that he no longer intended to play for the Spanish club, and again, finally, he moved to Boca Juniors. He played steadily at the base, his connection with Martin Palermo was restored, but the club already lacked stars from the sky, only once becoming the champion of Argentina in 2011. The team also did not achieve international success anymore.

Career in the national team

Against the backdrop of the success of individual players in their clubs, everyone was waiting forArgentine team victories. In any of the tournaments, this team was one of the favorites. And national team coach Carlos Bianca relied on his playmaker, who since 2000 has been Riquelme Juan Roman.

But somewhere there was no luck (losing to the Germans on pen alties at the World Championship in 2006), somewhere it was a coincidence, and victory in tournaments did not come. It would be unfair if this bright footballer did not win the title with his national team. And this happened in 2008, when Juan Roman was the captain of the Argentine national team, which became Olympic champions. Already literally the next year, in the prime of football, Riquelme said goodbye to the national team forever. After all, Diego Maradona came to the coaching bridge - an excellent football player, but an unsuccessful coach.

Retirement and achievements

In 2014, Juan Roman moved to the club where he formed as a footballer, Argentinos Juniors. He helped him rise to the Major League of Argentine football, after which, at the age of thirty-six, he decided to end his football career. Four-time champion of Argentina, three-time winner of the Copa Libertadores, winner of the Intercontinental Cup, world youth champion and Olympic champion. It seems that Riquelme Juan Roman has achieved a lot. Photos in which the footballer is constantly captured without a smile, as if they say that this is not enough.