This Thursday, Carlos el ‘Pibe’ Valderrama turns 60. A true idol of Colombian soccer who managed to carry his legacy to all corners of the world. His emblematic number 10, those fantasy passes and his particular mane are details that the football public does not forget.
At FUTBOLRED we honor the former soccer player from Unión Magdalena, Millonarios, Deportivo Cali, Montpellier (FRA), Valladolid (ESP), Medellín, Junior, Tampa Bay, Miami Fusion and Colorado Rapids with the following data:
THE BEGINNING
1. Argentine coach Rubén Deibe, who directed ‘Jaricho’ Valderrama, Carlos Alberto’s father, at Unión Magdalena, was the one who baptized him as ‘El Pibe’.
2. He graduated from the Liceo Celedón in 1979. There he decided that he would dedicate himself to professional football.
3. He made his debut with the Unión Magdalena shirt in 1981, when he was 19 years old. The coach who gave him the opportunity was Perfecto Rodríguez.
4. In December 1981, Valderrama had an altercation with a police officer, of which he says “it was one of the moments in my life that I don’t like to remember”. ‘El Pibe’ was attacked and he also responded, for which he was taken to command and imprisoned for several days.
5. In his first year as a professional, Carlos Valderrama scored 5 goals with Unión Magadalena.
6. The first time he wore the Colombia shirt was in 1981, in the U-20 team led by Eduardo Julián Retat.
7. In 1984, and for 10 million pesos, Millonarios acquired it on the recommendation of Jorge Luis Pinto. But under the command of the Santander, Valderrama could not perform in Bogotá.
8. In 1985 he was transferred to Deportivo Cali, a team where he exploded and formed a great duo with Bernardo Redín.
9. At Cali, Valderrama had jersey number 12, not 10 with which he was always identified.
AMERICA CUP
10. Francisco Maturana leads Valderrama to the 1987 Copa América and hands him jersey number 10. In the first game, on July 1, Colombia debuts with a 2-0 win over Bolivia, and Valderrama scores one of the goals.
11. Valderrama played the four games for Colombia, played 360 minutes and came out third with the National Team, defeating the local Argentina 2-1, who had just been world champion.
12. That same year, ‘El Pibe’ was awarded as the Best Soccer Player in America.
13. Valderrama played 27 games for that contest.
14. Valderrama scored two goals: in his first and his last commitment. The second was in 1995, in a 4-1 victory over the United States, in the match for third place in the Uruguay Cup.
15. As in 1987, in 1993 Valderrama again came out third with Colombia and again received the award for Best Player in America.
16. ‘El Pibe’ was chosen by Conmebol as a member of the ‘Team of Dreams’ for this competition. There they are: José Luis Chilavert (Paraguay), José Nasazzi (Uruguay), Elías Figueroa (Chile), Obdulio Varela (Uruguay), Héctor Chumpitaz (Peru), Carlos Valderrama (Colombia), Marco Etcheverry (Bolivia), Alberto Spencer (Ecuador ) and Alfredo Di Stéfano (Argentina), Diego Maradona (Argentina) and Pelé (Brazil).
EUROPEAN FOOTBALL
17. In 1988, Valderrama became the second Colombian to play in Europe (The first was Ernesto Díaz in Belgium). He came to Montpellier, from France.
18. In May 1990, he won the French Cup and reached the quarterfinals of the Recopa de Europa. He was the first Colombian to get a title in the ‘Old Continent’.
19. In 1991, Valderrama accepted Francisco Maturana’s invitation to join the Valladolid team in Spain. There he coincided with René Higuita and Leonel Álvarez.
20. In Valladolid it did not go well. He played 17 games and ended up relegation.
21. On September 8, 1991, Valderrama experienced a strange moment on a soccer field. In the 1-0 defeat against Real Madrid, at the Santiago Bernabéu, ‘El Pibe’ was groped by ‘Michel’, the historic defender of the ‘merengue’ team.
22. On November 24, 1991, Carlos Valderrama scored his only goal for Valladolid. It was in a 1-1 draw against Real Oviedo.
ELIMINATORIES
23. Valderrama played three World Cup qualifying processes and in all of them got the quota.
24. In total there were 28 performances on the way to the World Cups. 15 wins, 8 draws and 5 losses.
25. Valderrama scored three goals in qualifying stages, all en route to France 98 ‘. Uruguay and Bolivia, in Barranquilla, as well as Argentina, in the La Bombonera stadium, were the victims.
WORLDWIDE
26. His first match in a World Cup was played on June 9, 1990, at the Renato Dall’Ara Stadium, in Bologna, Italy. Colombia beat the United Arab Emirates 2-0. In that match, Valderrama scored the only goal in the World Cup.
27. Valderrama played four games and 390 minutes in Italia 90 ‘.
28. In 1994 she played all three matches for Colombia, being eliminated in the first phase.
29. In 1998 he also played the three matches of the first phase. Colombia did not pass the group round.
30. In total there were ten games in the World Cup, with one goal in his account.
31. In World Cups, ‘El Pibe’ never received a warning or a red card.
32. On June 26, 1998, in Lens (France), Valderrama played his last match in the World Cups. It was in a 2-0 defeat against England.
33. The English international David Beckham was left with the last shirt that Valderrama wore in a World Cup.
FPC Y LA MLS
34. He played for Independiente Medellín in 1992, directed by Julio Comesaña.
35. Between 1993 and 1995 he played with Junior. There he got his only two titles in Colombian soccer.
36. In 1994, Valderrama reached the semifinal of the Copa Libertadores with Junior, where he fell to Vélez Sarsfield, ultimately champion, from the penalty shootout series.
37. In 1996 he came to soccer in the United States, in the nascent MLS.
38. With Florida’s Tampa Bay, Valderrama won the Eastern Conference and was recognized as the Most Valuable Player in MLS in his first season.
39. To date, Valderrama holds the record for being the player with the most assists in MLS.
40. He also played for the Miami Fusion and the Colorado Rapids.
41. It lasted six years in the United States, where it is considered a badge of that league. He played 175 commitments.
42. His last game was in September 2002. Thus ended his 21-year career.
43. He left a fond memory in MLS and that is why the competition established July 18, 1996 as ‘Valderrama’s day’. The players took to the field with wigs in honor of the Kid.
RETREAT and TRIBUTES
44. In 2007, ‘El Pibe’ agreed to be Luis Grau’s technical assistant at Atlético Junior.
45. On October 31 of that year, Valderrama had a problem with referee Óscar Julián Ruiz, when he showed him a ticket in protest of his decisions. For this reason, he was sanctioned by the Dimayor with 10 dates and Oscar Julión himself sued him for slander.
46. In 2011, ‘El Pibe’ agreed to play the Hexagonal del Olaya, one of the most traditional amateur football tournaments
in the country.
47. The team with the most matches played was Cali, (131), followed by Union Magdalena (94) and Junior de Barranquilla (82).
48. He was the third best South American player of the 20th century, according to the International Federation of History and Statistics.
49. Carlos Valderrama played on 10 teams during his career. Four different countries.
50. Along with Freddy Rincón, he is the only Colombian player to participate in three World Cups.
51. In 1998, Fifa included Carlos Valderrama in the select group of the 100 most emblematic soccer players in the
history.
52. Valderrama is an artist who has recorded dozens of commercials. He has also participated in cinema films, in Colombia and Argentina. He also participated in a Reality.
53. He played 111 games with the Colombian National Team (10 in the World Cup, 28 in qualifying matches, 27 in the Copa América and 56 in friendlies).
54. He scored 11 goals with the ‘Tricolor’ (1 in world championships, 3 in qualifiers, 2 in America’s Cup and 5 in friendlies)
55. Valderrama is the only Colombian footballer in the all-time ideal selection of the Copa América.
56. His farewell game was played on February 1, 2004, at the Metropolitan Stadium in Barranquilla. He invited big stars like José Luis Chilavert, Diego Armando Maradona, Enzo Francescoli and the match, between “Amigos de Colombia” and “Amigos del Mundo” was 3-3.
57. In 2012, ‘El Pibe’ was delegated by the IOC to carry the Olympic flame in the town of Yorkshire, prior to the start of the London Games.
28. FIFA invited him to the Ballon d’Or gala in January 2013 to present the Puskás Award for that edition. Although Falcao had a high chance of winning, Miroslav Stoch of Slovakia took the award.
59. In Mexico, Valderrama was elected at the end of 2014 as a new member of the World Soccer Hall of Fame. He is the first Colombian to enter this select list.
60. He took charge of the indigenous team of Colombia and in his process he had the guajiro Luis Díaz, current Colombian figure in Europe and scorer of the Copa América 2021.
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