Juan Román Riquelme
Name: Juan Román Riquelme
Nationality: Argentinian
Date and Place of Birth: Born June 24, 1978 in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Playing Position: Attacking midfielder
Current Club:
Boca Juniors (Argentina)
Club Career: 1996-2002 Boca Juniors
2002-2003 FC Barcelona
2003-2007Villarreal CF
2007 - present Boca Juniors
International Career: 1997-present Argentina
About Juan Roman Riquelme:
Juan Roman Riquelme is an Argentinian footballer who was born on 24th June 1978 into a background of abject poverty. From an early age Riquelme's natural ability drew interest from the major clubs in Argentina. After a short spell as a youth at Argentinos Juniors, Riquelme chose to move to his childhood team Boca Juniors.
After many successful years at Boca, Riquelme moved to FC Barcelona and immediately encountered difficulties as he attempted to adapt to life in Spain. At the time Barcelona were a struggling team and Riquelme had added pressure loaded on his shoulders to turn things around and lead the team back to it's former glory. However, he was out of favour with the coach and in the few matches he did play he was played out of his natural position. His confidence was at an all time low and he was loaned out to Villarreal.
At Villarreal Riquelme began to display the talents that had brought him to Spain in the first place and he quickly became one of the most influential and dependable players in the team. Due to his commanding presence on the pitch he was nominated for the 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year Award and Villarreal purchased 75% of Riquelme's rights from Barcelona.
In February 2007 Riquelme was loaned back to Boca Juniors and immediately made an impact at the club helping them to victory in the Copa Libertadores 2007. He later completed a permanent move back to Boca Juniors after a falling out with Villareal's owners and coaching staff.
Riquelme is a regular in the Argentina national team and he participated in the 2006 FIFA World Cup as an integral player. Despite hinting that he would be retiring from the international stage in 2006, Riquelme has recently been called up to the Argentina squad to compete in the 2007 Copa America.
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