Male Celebrities: Riquelme, desktop wallpaper nr. 35830

Club career

Early career

Riquelme was born in San Fernando, Buenos Aires, 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 (17 years ago), as he had been a fan of the club since childhood. Boca paid US$800,000 to sign him. A year later, on 10 Nov. 1996 (16 years ago), Riquelme played his first professional match in a 2-0 win over Uni�n de Santa Fe. Two weeks later, he scored his first senior goal in Boca's 6-0 win over Hurac�n.

Barcelona

In 2002 (10 years ago), after seven successful seasons with Boca Juniors, the central midfielder was transferred to FC Barcelona for a reported �11 million. 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. Barcelona coach Louis van Gaal described Riquelme as a "political signing" and treated him with indifference. When Van Gaal did play him, he did so rarely, deploying him on the flanks. He was unable to find his form during a period of largely substitute appearances, losing his place in the first team. Van Gaal instead chose to use him as a backup player, standing in during Spanish Cup and Champions League Group stage matches. He was loaned to Villarreal CF a year later.

Villarreal

At Villarreal CF, he was surrounded by fellow Latin and South American players, including fellow Argentine international and captain Juan Pablo Sor�n. At the end of the 2004-05 campaign, Spanish sports newspaper Marca awarded him the title of Artistic Player. He earned a nomination for the 2005 (7 years ago) FIFA World Player of the Year award. In an effort to keep hold of him, Villarreal bought up 75% of Riquelme's rights from FC Barcelona for up to �8 million, dependent on Villarreal performance in the next two seasons, and gave the player a 4-year contract. A 25% transfer fee would also given to Bar�a if Villarreal resold him.

A peculiar contract situation arose when, on 7 dec. 2005 (7 years ago), Villarreal beat French club Lille OSC 1-0 to win its UEFA Champions League group, knocking out English giants Manchester United, 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 Bar�a, Villarreal had to pay �1 million to the Catalan club. The contract included another two �1 million clauses; one if Villarreal finished in one of the top four 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 Villarreal and Arsenal, Jens Lehmann saved a Riquelme penalty that would have taken the match to extra time.

Boca Juniors

Riquelme accepted a five-month loan back to Boca Juniors on Feb. 2007 (5 years ago) following a tense situation between him and Villarreal's director general and with club manager Manuel Pellegrini. Riquelme has played a significant part in Boca's success in the Copa Libertadores 2007 (5 years ago), scoring against V�lez S�rsfield in the round of 16, Club Libertad in the quarter finals and C�cuta Deportivo in the semis, earning Boca a place in the finals. In the first leg of the final against Gr�mio, Riquelme scored a goal and in the return leg, scored two more, crowning Boca as the 2007 (5 years ago) Copa Libertadores Champions. He also won the award for the Copa Libertadores' Most Valuable Player.

In Aug. 2007 (5 years ago), 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 30 Aug. that Riquelme has been signed by Atl�tico 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 16 shirt.

On 26 Nov. 2007 (5 years ago), Riquelme reached an agreement with Villarreal to allow him to join Boca Juniors after the transfer window re-opened in Jan. 2008 (4 years ago).

International career

Riquelme won the South American Youth Championship and the FIFA U-20 World Cup, both in 1997 (15 years ago) with coach Jos� Pekerman. And would receive a call-up, but did not play in the 1998 (14 years ago) or 2002 (10 years ago) FIFA World Cups. Riquelme announced his retirement from the Argentine national team in early Mar. 2009 (3 years ago) after a disagreement with coach Diego Maradona over Maradona's public criticism of his recent performances with his club team Boca Juniors.

2006 World Cup

During the 2006 (6 years ago) FIFA World Cup, Argentina 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 Juan Pablo Sor�n. However, after captaining the team for the first friendly match under new coach Alfio Basile, he announced on 13 sep. 2006 (6 years ago) his decision to retire from the Selecci�n, claiming that the frequent critics from sectors of the press and public had negatively affected his mother's health, who was hospitalized twice in two months after the 2006 (6 years ago) World Cup. At that point, Riquelme had played 37 matches for Argentina, scoring eight goals.

2007 Copa Am�rica

On 26 Jun. 2007 (5 years ago), Riquelme was recalled to the national team by coach Alfio Basile as part of the 23-man squad to represent Argentina in the 2007 (5 years ago) Copa Am�rica. 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 fifth goal of the competition in a penalty during the semifinal clash against Mexico, completing Argentina's 3-0 win. After that Argentina was trashed against arch-rivals, Brazil, 3-0 in the final.

2010 World Cup qualification

On 14 Oct. 2007 (5 years ago), Riquelme emerged from three months of inactivity at Villarreal CF to score two free kicks in a 2-0 win against Chile to get his team off to a winning start in the 2010 (2 years ago) World Cup qualifiers. On 17 November, Riquelme scored twice again in Argentina's 3-0 victory against Bolivia. Currently, his four goals are one behind the leading goal scorers in the 2010 (2 years ago) CONMEBOL qualifications. However, he decided to retire from the national team after a disagreement with coach Diego Maradona.

2008 Beijing Olympics

Argentina included Riquelme as one of the three permitted overage players in the squad for the Olympic Games Football tournament in Beijing.. Riquelme captained the side to win the Olympic Gold medal. He scored one goal against Brazil in the semi-final.