Juan Román Riquelme (born June 26, 1978 in San Fernando, Buenos
Aires Province, Argentina) is a football player, who currently
plays for the Villarreal CF of Spain, on loan from FC Barcelona.
Argentine giants Boca Juniors and River Plate noticed him when
he was a junior player in Argentinos Juniors. Being a Boca fan,
he decided to move to that team, who paid 800.000 US dollars for
his contract in 1995. A year later, November 10, 1996 Romy
played his first professional match (Boca Juniors 2 - 0 Unión de
Santa Fe) and two weeks later he scored his first goal (Boca
Juniors 6 - 0 Huracán).
In 2002, after seven successful years with Boca Juniors, the
central midfielder was transferred to FC Barcelona for 9 million
Euros. Unable to find his place in the team, he was loaned to
Villareal a year later, where he currently plays.
He is regarded as a talented player with excellent field vision.
As of 2005, Riquelme is often noted as the main factor in
Villareal's explosive 2005 campaign. |
