Fútbol Fútbol Fútbol: What ever happened to?

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What ever happened to? Jhon Viáfara

Viáfara playing for Portsmouth
against Middlesbrough in 2005.

In June 2005 Portsmouth FC manager Alan Perrin signed Colombia international midfielder Jhon Viáfara from Once Caldas for a fee of £800,000 as he rebuilt the team for the 2005-06 Premier League season.

Viáfara had started his playing career in 1999 with Deportivo Pasto where he played until 2003 sandwiching a brief stint with América de Cali. He came to international attention as part of the Once Caldas team that stunned South America by winning 2004 Copa Libertadores. Their triumph against the holders Boca Juniors in the final was one of the biggest shocks in the history of the tournament because Once Caldas had only ever won two Colombian league titles at the time and Boca Juniors were undoubtedly the strongest team in South America having utterly dominated the Copa Libertadores winning the tournament in 2000, 2001 & 2003. Viáfara was one of the most easily identifiable stars of the Once Caldas team having scored this wonderful long range goal only eight minutes into the second leg of the final.

He also attracted more attention playing for the Colombia national team that reached the semi-finals of the 2004 Copa América tournament and took to the world stage again to play for Once Caldas in the last ever Intercontinental Cup final against Porto.

Viáfara played quite regularly for Portsmouth in the early part of the 2005-06 season however after the sacking of Perrin and his replacement by Harry Redknapp Viáfara was farmed out on loan to Real Sociedad. Viáfara played a total of 15 games for Portsmouth, (14 in the league and 1 in the League Cup). He headed his only goal for Pompey in a 2-1 defeat against Manchester City.

After completing the 2005-06 season with Real Sociedad he returned to England and was transferred to Portsmouth's fierce local rivals Southampton FC for a reported fee of £750,000. He had a solid 2006-07 season with the club but there was an unfortunate end to the season for him. He put in a great performance scoring two goals in the Championship playoff semi-final against Derby County but saw his team eliminated on penalties. To make matters worse Derby went on to secure promotion but suffered a record-breakingly bad season only winning one of their 38 top flight games.

In the summer break he represented the Colombia national team at Copa América 2007. There was no repeat of Colombia's run to the semi-final, due mainly to a devestating 5-0 defeat to Paraguay in the opening game.

Viáfara in Southampton Colours

Viáfara continued to play for the Saints until the summer of 2008 when he was allowed to leave by short lived Dutch manager Jan Poortvliet who stated that he did not want anyone who was not completely committed to the club to remain. The official reason given for his departure was that he was homesick, however the turmoil at the club and his public falling out with Poortvliet must also be taken into consideration.

It is no surprise that Viáfara did decide to leave Southampton to return to Once Caldas. he had played under four different Saints managers within a six month period, the club were struggling at the wrong end of the table in the 2nd tier of English football, he was having a tough time but instead of offering support Poortvliet resorted to banning him from training and dishing out public criticism. All a far cry from his experiences in the Copa Libertadores final, the semi-finals of Copa América and the Intercontinental Cup final. He made a total of 83 appearances for the Saints, scoring 7 goals.

Viáfara scored a vital goal for Once Caldas in the
2004 Copa Libertadores final, he returned to the club in 2008.

Viáfara's return to Once Caldas coincided with a huge improvement in fortune for the team They went from struggling along near the bottom of the table to winning the Apertura 2009 tournament, a stunning achievement given that they only scraped into the playoffs in the last of the eight available positions.

In 2010 he joined La Equidad and helped them to reach the final of the 2010 Apertura where they lost on penalties to Junior. They also reached the playoffs in the Clausura 2010 tournament. After this highly successful year with one of Colombia's smaller teams he was signed by Atlético Junior for the 2011 season and their 2011 Copa Libertadores campaign.

Viáfara's career with Junior has got off to a great start, he scored vital goals in both of their opening games of the Copa Libertadores Group 2 games. The first was the opening goal in a decent 1-2 away win against tournament debutants León de Huánuco and the second was the winner in a 2-1 home win against Brazilian giants and group favourites Gremio.

Viáfara celebrating his goal for Junior against León
in the 2011 Copa Libertadores group stages.

It seems that after several difficult years in English football Viáfara has managed to resurrect his playing career and is enjoying his return to the international stage. He has played a total of 32 games for his country, scoring 1 goal. 2008 was a particularly bad year for him, not only was he stuck in the middle of the Southampton débâcle for much of it, it was also is the only year since 2003 that he failed to make any appearances for the Colombia national team. At the age of 32 and having rediscovered his form he can still keep his hopes alive of playing Copa América this summer or perhaps even the World Cup in 2014.

Portsmouth fans memories of Viáfara will understandably be clouded by his association with the disastrous Perrin era that nearly resulted in relegation, however few would put the blame directly on Viáfara's shoulders. He will be more fondly remembered by Southampton fans. Even though at the time they were experiencing their first few seasons outside the top flight in 27 years he was one of their more reliable players and things have got much worse for them since his departure back in 2008.

Viáfara can also count himself as one of a select band of players to have crossed the south coast rivalry which includes players such as C.B. Fry, Bill Rochford, Mick Mills, Mick Channon, Dave Beasant, John Beresford, Antii Niemi, Eyal Berkovic, Vincent Péricard, Peter Crouch and Ricardo Fuller.

Part of the What ever happened to? series.

What ever happened to? Ulises de La Cruz

De La Cruz became the first Ecuadorian to join a Scottish Premier League
side when he joined Hibs in 2001

In June 2001 Scottish side Hibernian signed Ecuadorian international defender Ulises de La Cruz from Ecuadorian side Barcelona Sporting Club. This transfer made Hibs manager Alex McLiesh the first manager to sign an Ecuadorian player for a Scottish Premier league club, he then signed De La Cruz's international team mate and international journeyman Eduardo Hurtado.

De La Cruz was born 8 February 1974 in the village of Piquiucho in the Valle del Chota. He made his professional debut for Deportivo Quito in 1991. He also had stints with Liga de Quito, Barcelona Sporting Club and Aucas in his homeland and with Cruzeiro in Brazil. He made his international debut in a 3-0 defeat to Japan on 28 May 1995. Before his move to the UK he had featured in three Copa América squads in 1997, 1999 and 2001.

One of the highlights of his career was netting a hat-trick in an incredible 7-0 win against Emelec in the 1998 Ecuadorian championship final.

De La Cruz settled into the first team, he scored both goals in the Edinburgh derby in October 2001 including the opening goal after only 36 seconds. The game ended 2-1 to Hibs and De La Cruz won praise from his manager, the fans and the press for his performances.

In December 2001 McLeish, the manager who had signed De La Cruz was poached by Rangers. McLeish's replacement Bobby Williamson sent Hurtado back to Ecuador and without his international team mate or the manager that signed him it became clear that De La Cruz's time with the club was limited.

De la Cruz playing for Aston Villa
against Manchester united in 2004.

During the summer of 2002 he played for Ecuador in their first ever World Cup, he featured in all three of the countries games including their first ever win in the World Cup finals, a 1-0 victory against Croatia in Yokohama.

In 2002 De La Cruz established the British-Ecuadorian charity Friends of FundeCruz to which he donates around 10% of his wages to help fund children's nutrition, health, education and sports development. So far the charity has helped to build a water treatment plant, a medical centre and a community sports centre in his local province of Valle del Chota. He is good friends with Southampton flop Agustín Delgado who also has a charity with similar objectives in the same province.

Following his success at the World Cup he was signed by Premier League side Aston Villa for a fee of £1.5 million. Over the next four seasons he made 109 appearances for the club and scored two goals, his first came in a 2-0 win against Charlton Athletic in September 2002 and the other came in a 3-0 win against Luton Town in a League Cup tie on 2 October 2002. During his time at Villa he played in his 4th Copa América tournament. De La Cruz eventually left the Villa on a free transfer in 2006 after falling out with manager David O'Leary.

Ulises playing against Poland in the 2006 World Cup.

He played in his second World Cup that summer, appearing in all three of the group games and in Ecuador's first ever 2nd round match against England.

His next club were newly promoted Reading who were playing their first season ever in the English top flight. De la Cruz featured as an occasional player for the team that not only survived in the top flight but finished in 8th position only one point shy of a UEFA Cup place. The following season Reading were relegated and De La Cruz was released from his contract. He made a total of 24 appearances for the Royals in all competition and bagged one goal for the club in a 3-1 win against Sheffield United.

During his time at Reading he became their first ever representative at the Copa América, his fifth outing in the tournament and his last of seven major international tournaments for his country. In 2007 Ulises came up against young Brazilian sensation Robinho, in a World Cup qualifier. He cannot be blamed for failing to deal with the situation given Robinho's brilliance before his slump in form at Manchester City.

Between 2008 and 2009 he spent time on trial with a number of different clubs, he spent some time at Watford where he played 45 minutes of a friendly against Brentford. He also had trials at Coventry City.

In March 2009 he was given the opportunity to join up with the man who brought him to the UK back in 2001 when Birmingham manager Alex McLeish offered him a temporary contract. De La Cruz played only one game for Aston Villa's fierce local rivals, he was offered a 1 year contract buit decided to return to Ecuador to play regular first team football and improve his chances of returning to the Ecuador national team.

All in all Ulises de La Cruz played 8 seasons in British football making 164 appearances in all competitions and scoring 4 goals. He will never be remembered as one of the great exciting flair players but he was one of the very few South American players to last the course in British football. Many many exiting and highly talented South Americans have been beaten into submission by football in the UK, yet De La Cruz had what it takes to survive our game for 8 years.

After being released by Birmingham De La Cruz joined up with Liga de Quito; the most powerful team back in Ecuador. In July that year he was part of the team that annihilated Brazilian side Internacional 4-0 on aggregate in the final of the Recopa Sudamericana 2009 (South American Super Cup).

In 2009 De La Cruz was part of the Liga de Quito
side that won the Copa Sudamericana in 2009.

Later that year he won his second major international tournament with the club. He was part of the team that beat Brazilian side Fluminense 5-4 on aggregate to win the Copa Sudamericana 2009, although he was sent off in the second leg of the final after only 14 minutes.

De La Cruz had been frozen out of the Ecuador national team back in 2008 on 99 caps but he was recalled to the team in May 2010 for a couple of pre-World Cup warm up matches for Mexico and South Korea to put himself on the exclusive list of players with 100+ caps for their countries. With 101 caps and 6 goals he is currently Ecuador's 3rd most capped player behind Eduardo Hurtado and Alex Aguinaga.

In September 2008 he won his third major international title with Liga de Quito, he played in the 2nd leg of the Recopa Sudamericana in which they beat Alex Sabella's Estudiantes side which was captained by Juan Sebastián Verón to become only the 3rd side ever to retain the title after São Paulo of Brazil and Boca Juniors of Argentina.

De La Cruz still plays for Liga de Quito who are currently at the semi-final stage of their defence of their Copa Sudamericana championship and top of the Ecuadorian league. He continues his charity work and is a UNICEF ambassador. However he may be remembered back in the UK he will be rightly regarded as one of Ecuador's finest players, who was part of the most successful generation of Ecuadorian footballers ever to grace the game.

Part of the What ever happened to? series.

What ever happened to? Fernando de Ornelas

De Ornelas in
Celtic colours.

In the summer of 1999 Crystal Palace became the first British club to sign a Venezuelan footballer when they signed winger Fernando de Ornelas from Happy Valley AA of Hong Kong.

De Ornelas was born on 29 July 1976 in the city of Caracas. He began his professional playing career with Maritimo Caracas in 1994 and had also played for Unión Táchira and Deportivo Italchaco before beginning his international football odyssey in Hong Kong.

He only ever played 9 games for Crystal Palace, starting 5 and coming on as a substitute in the others he left Palace in December 1999 with some fans complaining that he did not live up to expectations, however anyone with high expectations of a Venezuelan winger signed from a Hong Kong based side called Happy Valley would clearly not have a very firm grip on reality.

After leaving Palace he had an unsuccessful spell with Spanish side Real Zaragoza in which he failed to make a single appearance and then he joined Scottish side Celtic in December 2000. He got even less game time for the Glasgow giants than he had for Palace, he played in a friendly game against Bayern Munich and made only two league appearances for the first team. His league debut was as an 82nd minute substitute in a game against Dundee on 15 April 2000 and his other appearance came as a 73rd minute sub against Hibernian later that month.

De Ornelas at the Celtic Wiki

Within a few months of arriving in Scotland he was on his way again. His next club were Slovan Bratislava of Slovakia where he also failed to settle, appearing in only 2 league games. It was during this first stint in European football that he began to establish himself as a regular first team player for the Venezuela national team. In the 1999-2000 period he played nearly as many games for Venezuela as he did for his European clubs.

His next move was to return to the Hong Kong league to play for South China AA, it was from here that he made his surprise return to British football in October 2001 when he was signed on a short term contract by QPR. Manager Ian Holloway threw him into the action as a late substitute in a game against Oldham Athletic, in which he didn't really do anything except earn himself a yellow card within about a minute of coming onto the pitch. He only ever made one more appearance for the club before being offloaded to Portuguese side Maritimo.

During his time in British football De Ornelas had three clubs, started six competitive games and appeared as a substitute in seven more, he never scored a goal in British football.

De Ornelas was a popular player for Odd Grenland.
He is pictured here in a game against IK Start.

After making only 4 league appearances for Maritimo, he had an equally unsuccessful stint with Gansu Tianma in mainland China, in which the highlight of his stay was probably being a team mate of Gazza during the self destructive Geordie's brief stint in Chinese football. His next club was 1.FC Nürnberg in the German 2nd division, where he had a five month stint.

In 2004 he joined Cypriot side Olimpiakos Nicosia where after 3 years of roaming around making sporadic appearances for a multitude of clubs he finally established himself as a regular first team player making 21 league appearances over the next two seasons bagging himself 3 goals.

In 2005 he joined the brilliantly named Norwegian team Odd Grenland where he made 57 league appearances and scored 11 goals (see video). This run of form earned him a recall to the Venezuela national team in 2005 and in 2007 he was part of the Venezuela squad for the Copa América tournament in Venezuela. He played in all three of the group games and helped the team progress to the 2nd round for the first time in the history of the competition. He also appeared in the 1-4 defeat to Uruguay in the quarter-final.

Fernando de Ornelas looks a pretty good player in this video, however the standards of

defending and marking do not appear to be that great in the Norwegian first division.


De Ornelas and Bolivian defender Ronald Raldes pictured during the group stage game between Venezuela and Bolivia in Copa América 2007.

De Ornelas spent 3 seasons at Odd Grenland where he played alongside the likes of Cameroonian journeyman and former Sheffield United and Coventry player Patrick Suffo, Somen Tchoyi who is currently at West Brom in the Premier league and de Ornelas' Venezuela international team mate Ruberth Moran.

He made his last appearance for Venezuela in 2007, he made a total of 27 appearances for his country between 1999 and 2007 and scored 5 goals. Some of his international goals can be seen on this video.

After Odd Grenland were relegated to the Norwegian 2nd division De Ornelas returned to Venezuelan domestic football in July 2008 but after short stints with Monagas and Zulia he returned to Norway in 2009 to play for 2nd division side Mjøndalen IF, because his family could not settle back in Venezuela. He currently plays in the lower leagues of Norwegian football for semi-professional side Gulset IF.

De Ornelas never really set the world on fire for any of the clubs he played for, however he seems to have been well liked by the fans of Odd Grenland, he earned his place in the history of Venezuelan football by playing in the most successful Venezuela side ever to play in the Copa América and he has definitely earned his place on the list of the world's greatest international journeymen footballers.

Part of the What ever happened to? series.

What ever happened to? Hamilton Ricard

Hamilton Ricard playing for Middlesbrough.

In 1998 Middlesbrough FC signed 24 year old Colombian striker Hamilton Ricard from Deportivo Cali for a fee of £2 million. Ricard had been in a rich vien of form, he was the top scorer in the Colombian league in 1996-97 with 36 goals and had starred for the Colombia national team at Copa América 1997 and at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

After struggling to adapt to life in the 2nd tier of English football in his first season and earning himself more than a few detractors amongst the Boro faithful, some of whom cruelly referred to him as Hamilton Retard.He rediscovered his goalscoring form after Boro were promoted to the Premier League, he scored in the double figures as the club's top scorer for the 1998-99 & 1999-00 seasons and making himself the most prolific striker Boro have had over a season since Fabrizio Ravanelli in 1996-97 and a better Premier League goalscorer than all of the big money signings to have come after him.

Ricard stayed with Middlesbrough for 4 years, making 132 appearances for the club in all competitions. He scored 43 goals in his time on Teesside, giving him a goal average of nearly 1 in 3 which is pretty good considering he made 25 appearances as a substitute. Ricard blew hot and cold for the Boro, he went on long runs without scoring a goal but on his day he was brilliant. His game winning curler against Bradford at Valley parade was a contender for goal of the season in 2000-01 and his 3rd goal at Highbury in 2001 will live long in the memory. He particularly enjoyed playing against London clubs, he scored plenty of goals against Wimbledon and Spurs, his first goal after only 30 seconds in a 3-1 win against Wimbledon in April 1999 remained the fastest goal scored at the Riverside until 2010. Another of his stand out performances came in a 0-3 away win against Spurs in September 1998 in which he scored 2 sublime goals, he repeated the trick the following season netting twice at White Hart Lane in a 2-3 win.

Hamilton Ricard alongside legendary
Colombian midfielder Carlos Valderrama.

During his time in Middlesbrough he continued to make appearances for the Colombia national team, appearing at Copa América in 1999 and making his final two appearances for his nation in 2000 bringing his tally to 5 goals in 27 international games.

Ricard fell out of favour after Steve McClaren arrived at the Riverside, he eventually joined Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia after he was released from his contract in 2002. He never settled in Bulgaria and returned to Colombia later that year after only making 9 appearances for CSKA.

Ricard joined up with Independiente Santa Fe back in his homeland. While he was there he was involved in a car crash that resulted in the death of a 17 year old girl.

In 2003 he had stints with Shonan Belmare in Japan and Cortuluá back in Colombia but he did not settle at either club. He refound his form in Ecuador in 2004 hitting 17 goals in 25 games for Emelec but his time there ended in disaster after he was banned from football for a year for attacking a referee and making obscene gestures at the crowd.

Ricard returned to Deportivo Cali in 2005

His ban was overturned on appeal, but he left Ecuador behind to try his luck again in European football, his next club were Cypriot side APOEL, he made 15 appearances for the club, scoring six goals to help them to win the Cypriot league in 2004.

In 2005 he returned to his first team Deportivo Cali where he had won two league titles and finished as the top scorer in the Colombian league. He did not rediscover his form and after failing to score in six games he left Colombian football behind for the last time to join Spanish 2nd division side Numancia where he scored 2 goals in 16 games to help them to an 8th place finish.

In 2006 he joined Uruguayan side Danubio FC where he once again rediscovered his goalscoring touch, hitting 11 goals in 25 appearances to help them to win the Uruguayan league championship in 2007. It was in 2007 that he was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment in his absence by a Colombian court, a sentence his lawyers stated that they would appeal against and which as yet he still has not served.

Hamilton Ricard celebrating a goal for Danubio FC in Uruguay.

After this success he was lured to China for the big money on offer from Shanghai Shenhua who had been scouring the Uruguayan league for players at the time. they also signed Uruguayans Sergio Blanco, Diego Alonso and Fernando Correa at the same time. Ricard had a successful spell in China, scoring 14 goals in 42 league games in his two years in Shanghai.

In 2009 he returned to Danubio FC where he scored 3 goals in 10 games before being released at the end of the Apertura 2009 tournament and in 2010 his nomadic football career took him to the 10th different country when he joined Deportes Concepción of the Chilean 2nd division.

In January 2010 Ricard joined his 12th club in the 10th
different country of his nomadic football career.

In July 2010 he was involved in a bizarre game between Deportes Concepción and Rangers de Talca, in which the referee insisted on a penalty being retaken three times (Ricard missed one of them) and then ended up getting strangled by Rangers defender José Pedrozo.

"Ham the man" Ricard is fondly remembered by many Middlesbrough fans as well as the fans of Deportivo Cali in Colombia, APOEL in Cyprus, Danubio FC in Uruguay and Shanghai Shenhua in China. He is less fondly remembered at a succession of other clubs where he failed to find his goalscoring touch. What is clear is that he deserves his place on the list of the World's greatest international journeyman footballers.

Part of the What ever happened to? series.

What ever happened to? Walter del Rio

Walter del Rio playing for Dundee in the Scottish Premier League.

In August 1998 three Argentine players turned up at Crystal Palace in a deal which was rumoured to have cost at least £448,769 in agents' fees alone. The first player to leave was Pablo Rodríguez of Argentinos Juniors who returned to his club after failing his medical. A few days later Cristian Raúl Ledesma (not the more famous Cristian Daniel Ledesma of Lazio) returned to Argentinos as he was unsatisfied with the terms of the contract on offer, he eventually signed for Argentine giants River Plate in 1999.

The only player left was 22 year old defender Walter del Rio who was signed from Boca Juniors for a fee of £187,500. Walter, nicknamed "Wally" and "Wicha" in Argentina had played only 3 first team games for Boca Juniors before being sent out on loan to Argentine 2nd division club Huracán de Corrientes between 1997 and 1998.

Palace found Del Rio a flat in Croydon and bought him a car with deductions to be taken from his wages for both. He only ever started one game for the club in a 0-4 defeat against Barnsley. He also made two appearances as a substitute under manager Terry Venables, but once Steve Coppell took over he was frozen out of the first team altogether.

In March 1999, after Crystal Palace had gone into administration Del Rio received a two-sentence letter signed by the club secretary, Michael Hurst stating "This is to confirm that Crystal Palace Football Club have given you a free transfer. You have the club's authority to seek future employment with any other club," At this point Palace stopped paying his wages despite the fact that he was under contract until June. This was a severe blow as he was sending most of his wages home to help support his mother and younger siblings cope after the death of his father in the late 1980s.

Despite not being paid Del Rio was attending training every day in order to ensure that the club could not withhold his wages for breach of contract but he was not allowed to practice with the other players so he trained on his own. His PFA agent at the time Neil Fewings said "He has a great attitude. He's not one of these players who've come over here thinking he's owed a living. He's a lovely bloke, just looking to get on, play football, and prove himself somewhere."

It is not entirely clear what he did for the year after leaving Palace, but it is safe to assume that he remained in the UK seeking an alternative club as he had an unsuccessful trial with Norwich City in 1999 and another trial with Scottish side Dundee in July 2000 which earned him a 2 year contract with the club. A few months later he was joined by one of the most remarkable signings in the history of the club; fellow Argentine Claudio Caniggia.

Although he didn't play many games in his first season with the club it must have been a wonderful experience for the lad, who up until this point had barely played top flight football finding himself in a small Scottish town playing alongside one of the icons of Argentine football in the 1990s.

Caniggia left the club at the end of the season to join Rangers but Del Rio was kept on for another season, he earned himself a place as a regular first team player and was well liked by the Dundee fans for his hard working attitude and commitment. By the time he left in 2002 he had played 49 times for the club.

Del Rio made good use of the Italian passport that had allowed him the opportunity to play football in Europe by joining Italian lower league side Carrarense in 2002 where he played for one season. His next club were Cosenza who like Crystal Palace a few years before ended up in severe financial difficulties, they went out of existence in 2004.

Del Rio then found his way to the Swiss 2nd division where he played for FC Wohlen (2004-05) and Young Fellows Juventus (2005-06).

In 2006 his nomadic career as an international journeyman footballer took him to his sixth different country, he joined Extremadura, who in their glory days in the 1990s had boasted famous Argentine players like Fabián Basualdo and Carlos Navarro Montoya but by the time Del Rio had joined them they had fallen back into the 3rd tier of Spanish football. For the third time in his career he found himself at a club experiencing severe difficulties, they were relegated from the division at the end of the season and then dropped down another division for financial irregularities.

Del Rio stayed in Spain joining San Fernando in the 4th tier of Spanish football in 2007. He helped the club to achieve promotion to the 3rd tier as champions in 2007-08 but in 2009 the club got into financial difficulties and went out of business in August 2009.

Having experienced 2 relegations, two clubs going into administration and another two going out of business altogether Del Rio cut his losses in European football and returned to Argentina. he eventually found a club in January 2010 when he joined semi-professional side Boca de Río Gallegos in the regionalised 4th division of Argentine football.

In January 2010 former club Crystal Palace entered administration for the second time and in November 2010 another former club Dundee went into administration for the second time since he had left the club, as a result they were docked 25 points leaving them bottom of the table 20 points from safety.

It would be absurd to suggest that Walter del Rio is carrying some kind of curse, but the sheer scale of the troubles experienced by his former clubs is remarkable. It is a shame for the lad, since he seems to have worked hard in his football career without much glory or success, been well liked by the fans and done his best to support his family back in Argentina.

Part of the What ever happened to? series.

What ever happened to? Iván Kaviedes

Kaviedes at Crystal palace in 2004.

On 19 August 2004 newly promoted Premier League side Crystal Palace signed 26 year old Ecuador international striker Iván Kaviedes from Barcelona Sporting Club for a reported fee of £2 million.

By this point Kaviedes was already an international journeyman footballer having played professional football in Ecuador (Emelec, Deportivo Quito & Barcelona SC), Italy (Perugia), Spain (Celta Vigo & Valladolid), Mexico (Puebla) and Portugal (FC Porto) with varying degrees of success. At the time he was a regular first team player for the Ecuador national team and a very popular player in his homeland having scored the goal that secured Ecuador's first ever qualification for the World Cup in a 1-1 draw with Uruguay in November 2001.

He was highly regarded as a finisher, he scored 43 goals in one season for his first club Emelec, the goal of the season for 2000-01 in Spain with a bicycle kick against Barcelona for Valladolid and this excellent finish for Mexican side Puebla. Another notable moment in his career was this dribble and pass to set up Agustín Delgado's goal in a famous 1-0 win against Brazil in 2001.

Upon his arrival in south London manager Ian Dowie said "He is an icon in Ecuadorian football and an outstanding footballer. He's come on trial and shown good motivation in training, he's a breath of fresh air, a great finisher and a free-kick specialist."

Despite Dowie's positive words Kaviedes barely featured for Palace despite the fact that they were embroiled in a relegation battle and struggling to score goals. He made six competitive appearances for the club, he made his debut in a 1-3 defeat against Everton. His only start came in a game against Chelsea and the remaining four appearances all came as a second half substitute. It can be argued that he was unfortunate that Dowie stuck to a 4-5-1 formation and team mate Andy Johnson hit a rich vein of form, scoring 21 goals in the season and making himself virtually undroppable. In January 2005 he was allowed to leave the club after his contract was terminated by mutual consent, despite all of Johnson's goals Palace were relegated at the end of the season.

Kaviedes spiderman celebration at the 2006 World Cup.

Kaviedes returned to Barcelona Sporting Club in 2005 and regained his scoring touch, netting 9 goals in 19 games

Later that year he joined Argentine Primera División side Argentinos Juniors where he played with limited success, but he was still selected for the 2006 World Cup squad. He famously put on a spiderman mask after scoring against Costa Rica in the World Cup as a tribute to former team mate Otilino "Spiderman" Tenorio who had died in a car crash in 2005.
After the World Cup he had another brief stint with Barcelona Sporting Club and in 2007 he joined El Nacional where he scored 14 goals in 34 league appearances. This stint was the last time that he managed to finish a season without being sacked by his club.

His last cap for Ecuador came in November 2007 in a 5-1 win against Peru in a World Cup qualifier. He made a total of 53 appearances for his country scoring 16 goals, making him Ecuador's joint 4th highest goal scorer behind Agustín Delgado, Eduardo Hurtado and Alex Aguinaga.

In 2008 he joined Liga de Quito but after only two games he quit the club after a disagreement about a debt he said wasn't his. In 2009 he spent time in a drugs rehabilitation clinic and after recovering he trained with LDU Portoviejo but was not ever officially part of their squad.

After two years out of the game he returned to action for Macará in 2010, but once again he was sacked. The official reason was that he kept missing training and had other disciplinary issues. The manager of the club said that Iván always said that he wishes people would listen to him, but lots of people did listen to him and when they said things that he didn't want to hear he got angry with them.

This version of events is disputed on his official website which claims that he was forced out of the club against the manager's wishes by a group of players that have influence with the directors.

Whatever the case, it is clear that Kaviedes' career has been in serious decline since the 2006 World Cup. He is still remarkably popular amongst Ecuadorians, which is unsurprising given the flair with which he used to score goals and his place in the history of Ecuadorian football is safe thanks to his goal to earn Ecuador their first ever World Cup appearance.

It is hard to say why he failed at Crystal Palace since he was barely given an opportunity to play for the club, but like Southampton flop and international strike partner Agustín Delgado it is clear from his achievements before and after his short spell in English football that he was a quality player.

Part of the What ever happened to? series.

What ever happened to? Claudio Marangoni

Marangoni was one of four Argentinians to play in England
in the early 1980s. Osvaldo Ardiles, Marangoni, Alex Sabella
& Ricardo Villa (left to right).

In 1979 Sunderland AFC signed Argentine midfielder Claudio Marangoni from San Lorenzo for £380,000.

Marangoni who was born on 11 November 1954 was a trainee at local club Rosario Central but never played for the first team. He made his professional debut for Chacarita Juniors in 1974 aged 19 and in 1976 he joined San Lorenzo where he played 135 league games before his move to England.

In the late 1970s Marangoni was courted by Ipswich Town and Chelsea before eventually signing for Sunderland. He only played one season at Roker Park, scoring 3 goals in 20 league games. Marangoni has claimed that he couldn't get along with the man management style of then manager Ken Knighton, who demanded absolute subservience from his players. He also found it hard to adapt to the foreign lifestyle and the different mentality of his team mates. In one example he claimed that he messed about with an unnamed Sunderland team mates' car for a practical joke, but the owner of the car got so angry that he had to be restrained from attacking him for it.

In 1980 he returned to Argentina where he played for San Lorenzo's fiercest rivals Húracan between 1980 and 1981 without much success.

In 1982 he joined Independiente who had not won a trophy since 1978 when their blistering run of successes in the 1970s had come to an end. He fitted straight into the first team alongside great players such as Jorge Burruchara, Enzo Trossero, Ricardo Giusti and Ricardo Bochini (who he regards as the 2nd greatest Aregntine footballer of all time).

Under manager José Pastoriza the team revived their fortunes, finishing as runners up in Metropolitano 1982 behind the Estudiantes de La Plata team containing Alejandro Sabella who also had a spell in English football with Leeds and Sheffield United. Independiente were again runners up in Nacional 1983, losing to Estudiantes in the final.

They eventually won the Metropolitano championship of 1983 by beating their fierce local rivals Racing Club 2-0 in the last game of the season to clinch the championship one point above Marangoni's former club San Lorenzo and in beating Racing Club they consigned them to relegation for the first time in their history.

In 1984 Marangoni featured in the Independiente team that won their 7th Copa Libertadores championship, a record that stands to this day. this success qualified them to play against Liverpool FC in the intercontinental Cup which was the first meeting between an English and Argentine team since the Falklands War, Independiente felt that they were playing the game on behalf of their nation in what was more than just a sports encounter.

Independiente won the game 1-0 with a goal from José Percudani and after the game the players did not celebrate in the dressing room because they felt it would be disrespectful to all of the dead and injured in the Falklands War to celebrate over a game of football.

Around that time Marangoni had been offered the chance to return to England to play for Southampton. he claims that after the Intercontinental Cup final he told Kenny Dalglish that he was coming back to England and Dalglish told him "Claudio, stay in Argentina at least you have some sunshine there".

it was during this successful period that Marangoni made his 9 appearances for the Argentina national team, he was part of the Copa América 1983 squad however he fell out with manager Carlos Bilardo in 1985 and was not selected for the 1986 World Cup squad.

Marangoni played for Independiente until 1988, making 237 league appearances and scoring 25 league goals for the club.

On 27 August 1988 Marangoni joined Argentine giants Boca Juniors where he was part of the team that won the Supercopa Sudamericana in 1989 to end an 8 year trophy drought at the club, he scored the first goal in their 2-0 win in the semi final against Brazilian side Grêmio, before they beat his former side Independiente on penalties in the final.

In 1990 he was in the Boca Juniors team that won the Recopa Sudamericana. He made 93 appearances for Boca Juniors in all competitions between 1988 and his retirement in 1990, scoring 7 goals.

Throughout his playing career Marangoni pursued other interests, he qualified as a physiotherapist, obtained his coaching qualifications, attended college to learn English and in 1984 he established the Escuela Modelo de Fútbol y Deportes, a sporting academy which he still runs today.

Marangoni did try his hand at football management with Banfield, but he fell out with the directors because they kept trying to interfere with team affairs. he has since claimed that being a football manager is easier than being the director of 40 football academies, but he doesn't do it because there is no job security in football management.

In Argetnina Marangoni is considered as a great number 5 (centre half back) what would be called a defensive or holding midfielder in modern parlance. The fact that he has played for three of the big five teams in Argentina (San Lorenzo, Independiente & Boca Juniors), represented the Argentina national team and owns a reasonably large medal collection could be used as supporting evidence.

When asked Marangoni said that the best number 5s he has ever seen were Gérson, Franz Beckenbaur, Fernando Redondo and Roberto Telch. When asked about modern football he avoided the urge to get nostalgic about the past as many other ex-pros would be unable to, saying that modern football is better and that if all the Aregntinians currently playing abroad were to return to Argentina, they would have the best league in the world.

Marangoni is fondly remembered by Argentine football fans, however in England he was selected in 39th position by the Times in their list of the 50 Worst players ever to play in the English top flight. On closer inspection their argument for inclusion is somewhat diminished by their claim that he was a striker with a poor strike rate of 3 goals in 20 games, when he was actually a number 5. A modern equivalent would be trying to argue that Javier Mascherano was Liverpool's worst ever player because 1 goal in 94 league games is a dreadful goalscoring record for a striker.

It is clear from the fact that he only stayed one season, that Marangoni did not settle in English football, however ever since leaving Sunderland in 1980 he has enjoyed success. These successes show that he was a quality player that just didn't adapt to the English game and lifestyle rather than an absolute flop of the Nicolás Medina calibre.

Part of the What ever happened to? series.

What ever happened to? Nelson Vivas

In August 1998 Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger signed Argentine defender Nelson Vivas from Boca Juniors in a £1.6 million deal. Vivas had played for the Argentina national team in Copa América 1997 and again in World Cup 1998 where he was part of the team that eliminated England in the 2nd round.

Vivas who was born in the small town of Granadero Baigorria on 18 October 1969 began his career with Quilmes in 1990 before joining Argentine giants Boca Juniors in 1994. After a loan spell with Swiss side Lugano in 1997-98 he got his chance to play for the champions of one of the biggest leagues in Europe.

Vivas never really established himself as a regular player in the Arsenal team, but he did make 69 appearances for the club in all competitions during his three years in north London. 40 of his appearances were as a substitute, he was often used to replace more attacking players once Arsenal had established a lead or to cover injuries in the defensive line. His only goal came in a League Cup game against Derby County in a team almost completely made up of fringe players, his was the decisive goal in a 1-2 win.

In early 2000 he was loaned out to Spanish side Celta Vigo, who at the time were one of the top sides in La Liga. After only a handful of appearance in Spain he returned to Arsenal, but he only made sporadic appearances for the club until the end of his contract in 2001.

After leaving Arsenal, Vivas joined Italian giants Inter Milan where he fulfilled the same kind of bit part role that he had at Arsenal. Despite only making occasional appearances for his European clubs between 1998 and 2003 he made the majority of his appearances for the Argentina national team during this period, including appearances at the Copa América 1999 while an Arsenal player. His 39th and last cap came in a 3-0 away win against Venezuela in a World Cup qualifier in 2003.

In 2003 he returned to Argentina to play for River Plate making him one of a select band of players to have worn the shirts of both sides of the famous Superclásico rivalry. He only made a few appearances for River Plate before returning to his first club Quilmes in 2004.

The 2004-05 season turned out to be Vivas' last on the football field, he played for the club in the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana and at the end of the season retired from the game at the age of 35.

Following his retirement he obtained his coaching licences and in 2006 he became former Argentina team mate Diego Simeone's assistant at Estudiantes de la Plata. Under the leadership of this rookie coaching team and their onfield leader Juan Sebastían Verón Estudiantes won the Apertura 2007 championship, their first trophy in 23 years.

This success attracted the attention of other major clubs and in 2007 when Simeone was given the job as River Plate manager he brought Vivas back to his former club as his assistant. In their first season they led the club to the Clausura 2008 championship but Simeone resigned the following season after River were knocked out of the Copa Libertadores and had gone 11 games without a win in the Primera División. Vivas was also sacked and River went on to finish bottom of the league for the first time in their 107 year history.

He worked with Simeone once again at San Lorenzo beginning in April 2009, but after less than a year into the job Simeone resigned and Vivas was out of work again. Vivas has stated his desire to work as a football manager in his own right, but as of October 2010 he has not found the opportunity.

Vivas was a fairly decent player despite his lack of regular first team football. One Arsenal fan even selected Vivas in an all-time Arsenal worst XI (obviously a pretty young one judging by the lack of pre-Premier League Arsenal flops in his team).

It would be fair to say that Vivas never really fitted in at Arsenal and his penalty miss against Middlesbrough in the 1999-00 League Cup and his penchant for wearing gloves on the pitch did him no favours, but to call him one of the worst Arsenal players ever is something I believe most Arsenal fans who had actually seen him play would disagree with.

Part of the What ever happened to? series.

What ever happened to? Federico Arias

In January 2003 Southampton F.C. signed a 23 year old Argentine striker on loan from Vélez Sársfield with the option to buy. Federico Arias had plenty of experience having played over 80 competitive games between his hometown club Rosario Central and Vélez Sársfield mainly in the Argentine Primera Division but also 12 appearances in the Copa Libertadores for Central.

The Southampton team were full of praise for Arias, manager Gordon Strachan said "he looks a useful player and is very quick and hopefully he will make us stronger" while chief scout terry Cooper said "He has two excellent feet. I watched him three times and could not tell which was his best. He is a great crosser of the ball, too. His nickname is the Torpedo and it is easy to see why - he is explosive over 20 metres. The Argentinians I have seen usually have good technique on the ball but not many have this kind of pace."

It may have been wise for Southampton fans to be wary of such enthusiasm about new South American signings given the situation with the Ecuadorian pair Agustín Delgado and Cleber Chalá. Cynics amongst the Saints faithful were proven right fairly soon. Within six months of joining Southanpton and without ever taking to the field in a competitive game for them, Arias was back in Argentina. He continued to play for Vélez Sársfield until 2005, but was used sparsely only making 19 appearances for the club over the space of the entire two and a half years he was with them. He was part of the Vélez Sársfield squad that won the Argentine Primera Division in Clausura 2005, but played in few of the games.

It was clear from his lack of game time that Arias was no longer part of Vélez Sársfield's long term plans and later in 2005 he joined Quilmes. After a poor season in which Quilmes finished in 17th place and Arias only made six appearances he joined Argentine 2nd division side Belgrano de Córdoba in 2006, who then finished 2nd in the Clausura tournament earning them the chance to play in a promotion/relegation playoff against Olimpo de Bahía Blanca. Arias featured in the playoff games which were both won 2-1 by Belgrano earning them promotion to the Primera División.

Unfortunately for Arias, he never got the chance to return to the Primera División, as he was offloaded to Peruvian side side Sporting Cristal as part of Belgrano's extensive rebuilding process aimed at securing survival in the top flight.

Sporting Cristal had a poor Clausura, falling back from their 2nd place finish the previous season to end up in mid table. Arias only contributed 2 league goals in the campaign, not nearly enough to justify his wages so he was offloaded to another Peruvian side; Coronel Bolognesi at the beginning of 2007. Arias had a worse time at his new club, they finished bottom of the table in Apertura 2007 and Arias did not score a single goal for them.

During the European summer transfer window Arias put his Italian passport to good use by joining Italian Serie C1/B side Martina Franca. For the first time in several years he managed to complete a full season with a club, however at the end of the season he was not kept on.

Arias returned to South America to join Melipilla of the Chilean Primera Division but in September 2008 his contract was terminated by mutual agreement mainly because he had failed to score a single goal for the club. At the end of the season Melipilla were relegated, but by then he was long gone.

Arias next showed up back in the Argentine 2nd division playing for a small team in his home town called Tiro Federal in 2009. He did not stay with them for long, they tried to offload him onto Australian side Newcastle Jets in July 2009, but despite positive first impressions they didn't sign him on a permanent basis.

In August 2009 his career took him to his 7th different country when he joined Yaracuyanos FC of the Venezuelan 2nd division where he played until December 2009. In March 2010 he signed for Aldosivi back in the Argentine 2nd division alongside another international journeyman footballer familiar to many English football fans; one time "new Maradona", ex-Middlesbrough player Carlos Marinelli.

According to one of the most reliable sources of Argentine football statistics he now plays in the regionalised 3rd division for Los Andes, but on closer inspection it turns out to be a completely different Federico Arias, who was born in 1988 and would only have been 10 years old when our Federico Arias made his professional debut for Rosario Central on 21 November 1998 in a 2-3 home defeat to Boca Juniors.

So what can I say? If the Argentine football statisticians don't even know what happened to him and have resorted to just making it up, I'm at a loss. The only answer to the question of what happened to Federico Arias is that after many years as an international journeyman footballer he completely disappeared into obscurity.

Part of the What ever happened to? series.

What ever happened to? Agustín Delgado

Delgado celebrating his goal at Anfield,
which came on his full debut for Southampton
almost a whole year after he joined the club.

In November 2001 Southampton F.C. became the first English side ever to sign an Ecuadorian player when they signed striker Agustín Delgado from Mexican side Necaxa for a fee of £3.5 million.

Delgado who was born in Chota, Ecuador on December 23 1974 had made his professional debut for Espoli in 1991, he also played for Barcelona Sporting Club and El Nacional in his homeland before moving to Mexico in 1998, he had a short stint with Cruz Azul before joining Necaxa where he played between 1998 and 2001.

Delgado struggled for fitness and had to wait until the13th of January 2002 to make his debut for the club coming on as a substitute in a 3-1 defeat to Manchester United. He had to wait until November 2002 until he got his first chance to start a game, in a 3-1 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield in which he scored one of his two goals for the club.

Delgado was never given a regular place in the first team, starting only two league games for the club in nearly 3 years. He played a total of 15 games for the club in all competitions, mostly as a substitute, scoring 2 goals. Delgado openly blamed manager Gordon Strachan for his lack of playing opportunities, saying that Strachan had a personal problem with him.

Strachan's comments give some credence to this interpretation, he publicly dismissed Delgado at a press conference, saying "I've got more important things to think about. I've got a yoghurt to finish by today, the expiry date is today. That can be my priority rather than Agustin Delgado." Delgado is not the only foreign player to have claim that Strachan has personal issues with his players, recently French Middlesbrough midfielder Didier Digard claimed that he was frozen out of the squad by Strachan who blamed the foreigners for the club's plight and filled the team with familiar but inferior Scottish players.

On the other hand Delgado did himself no favours with the club by aggravating an ankle injury by playing through the pain to star for Ecuador in their first World Cup in 2002, in which he scored his nations first ever World Cup goal. He also went AWOL in South America several times during his time at the club. When Delgado eventually walked out of Southampton for the last time, it was not without more harsh words from Strachan and threats from Southampton that they would prevent him playing for any other club until his Southampton contract had expired.

During his time in England 'Tin established the Agustín Delgado foundation which has provided education, healthcare and sports facilities for poor children in Ecuador for the last eight years.

Delgado briefly returned to Ecuador to play for Aucas in 2004 where he reacquainted himself with regular first team football before going back to Mexico where he was part of the Pumas squad that won the Mexican league in 2005.

On 4 June 2005 he scored his 27th goal for Ecuador in a 2-0 win against Argentina, surpassing Eduardo Hurtado's previous record of 26 to become the all time highest goalscorer for his country.

Later that year he returned to Ecuador to play for Barcelona Sporting Club of Guayaquil where he formed a strike partnership with another iconic Ecuadorian player; Crystal Palace flop Iván Kaviedes. It was not a successful time for 'Tin Delgado, he didn't score as many goals as expected and Barcelona continued their long wait for another league title.

'Tin Delgado scores against Poland in the 2006 World Cup.

In 2006 he played in his second World Cup for Ecuador, scoring his last two goals for the national team in games against Poland and Costa Rica. He retired from international football after the tournament with an impressive 31 goals in 71 games for his country.

In 2006 he joined LDU Quito, where he was involved in a mass brawl in a game against his former club Barcelona which resulted in him being given a one year suspension from the game. The suspension was eventually lifted after protesters in his home province blocked the Pan-American highway and the ruling was overturned after a congressional hearing. Delgado apologised for his actions and publicly vowed to forswear violence as a consequence.

In 2007 he helped Liga de Quito to win the Ecuadorian league championship and in 2008 he was part of the squad that became the first Ecuadorian side to win the Copa Libertadores, although he did not play in the extraordinary final against Fluminense. He was described by Liga fans as the perfect super substitute.

Delgado playing for LDU Quito back in Ecuador.

After he left Liga in 2009, he played for Emelec but was released by the club after only a few appearances. 'Tin Delgado returned to football in July 2010 to play for 2nd division side Club Valle del Chota in his home province. In August 2010 he spoke out against corruption and racism in the Ecuadorian police force after he was detained by local police.

Delgado's time on the south coast can be seen from two different perspectives, Southampton fans will fondly remember his only league goal, the decisive one in a 3-2 win against Arsenal and some die hard fans will remember his goal against Liverpool at Anfield in the League Cup too. Maybe he could be given the benefit of the doubt as a player, the case could be made that he was never given the game time to properly adjust to English football.

Alternatively he could be seen as a player that gave his international career much more attention than the fortunes of the club that was paying his wages, for whom he barely started a game, fell out with his manager and went AWOL after international duty too many times.

Whatever is said about him, he had a lot of success before he arrived at Southampton, and he experienced more success after he left the club, he is a record breaking player for his country, an iconic player to Ecuadorian football fans and nobody could complain about the fact that he has spent his time and money on helping underprivileged children over the last 8 years.