| Álvaro Recoba | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Álvaro Alexander Recoba Rivero | |
| Date of birth | March 17, 1976 | |
| Place of birth | Montevideo, Uruguay | |
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 101⁄2 in) | |
| Playing position | Attacking midfielder | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Danubio | |
| Number | 17 | |
| Youth career | ||
| Danubio | ||
| Senior career1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1993–1995 1996–1997 1997–2008 1999 2007–2008 2008–2009 2009– |
Danubio Nacional Internazionale → Venezia (loan) → Torino (loan) Panionios Danubio |
31
(32) 27 (30) 175 (53) 19 (11) 22 (1) 19 (4) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1995–2007 | Uruguay | 69 (14) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Álvaro Alexander Recoba Rivero (born March 17, 1976 in Montevideo), nicknamed "El Chino", is a Uruguayan footballer currently playing for Primera División Uruguaya side Danubio. Recoba can operate as an attacking midfielder[1] and has 69 caps for the Uruguay national team, with whom he participated at the 2002 World Cup.
Contents |
Recoba started his career with Uruguay's Danubio. After several years there in the youth teams, he appeared on the first team at just 16 years old and played seasons 1994-95 where he captured everyone's attention with his marvelous left foot. For the 1996-97 season he was transferred to Club Nacional de Futbol, one of Uruguay's most successful teams. The following season, he was sold to Internazionale.
Recoba made his debut for Internazionale on the same day as Ronaldo (31 August 1997), against Brescia in San Siro, scoring two goals in the last ten minutes of the match: one, a powerful 40-yard shot that flew past the keeper, the next, a free kick into the top corner after a Cristiano Doni foul. The goals allowed Internazionale to come back and win the match 2-1. In the same season, he scored a lob from only a short distance into the opponent's half.
After two seasons with Internazionale, he was eventually loaned out to relegation-battling Venezia. It was there that he proved he could play at the highest level, as he was involved in the majority of the goals that the Venice side scored during his time there; he scored 11 times and made 9 assists in 19 matches. His efforts helped Venezia escape relegation that season.
After his tenure at Venezia, which lasted less than one season, Recoba returned to Inter. In January 2001, he renewed his contract with the club until June 30, 2006. But during the same month he faced problems with a fake passport, losing the Italian nationality he received in 1999. He was punished with a one-year ban, which was later reduced to four months on appeal.[2]
Recoba has had other notable performances for Internazionale, an example being the 2004–05 Serie A match against Sampdoria on January 9, 2005 in which he entered the game as a 32nd-minute substitute for Adriano. In the 42nd minute of the second half with Sampdoria leading 2–0, he hit the post. He then fed the ball to Obafemi Martins who scored to bring Internazionale back into the game; this was followed three minutes later by an equaliser from Christian Vieri, and in the last minute of stoppage time, Recoba scored Internazionale's third goal in six minutes to snatch a 3–2 win.[3]
On March 16, 2007 Recoba confirmed to SKY Italia that he wanted to leave the team at the end of the 2006–07 season citing lack of appearances with the first team.[4] He was initially linked with Internazionale's scudetto rivals A.S. Roma after he claimed that if the opportunity arose and Inter president Massimo Moratti approved he would join the capital club immediately.[5] On August 31, 2007 he was loaned to fellow Serie A club Torino F.C. where he rejoined Walter Novellino, his previous boss at Venezia.[6] He has played for Italian champions Internazionale in the Italian Serie A for ten seasons from 1997.
Recoba scored his first goal for the club in the second match of the season, a 1–1 draw with Palermo, after a good combination between himself and Alessandro Rosina.[7] On December 19, 2007 Recoba gave a top-class performance against A.S. Roma in the Coppa Italia, scoring two excellent goals in Torino's 3–1 win.[8] However, his performances have been disappointing due to injuries and lack of playing time; he has not made the expected impact despite a good start and finished the season out of the starting formation.[9]
Recoba signed for Panionios of the Greek Super League on the 5th of September 2008, making him one of the clubs biggest signings in recent history. There he joined former Inter team mate and close friend Lampros Choutos as well as Uruguay national team player Fabián Estoyanoff. He made his debut by the p.t. Fabio Martella against Aris on October 18, 2008 in a 2-1 win for Panionios F.C. He proved his quality by assisting both goals for his teammates Maniatis and Gonzaga[10]. In his next match, he inspired Panionios to a 5-2 away win against Ergotelis where he scored two goals, and dominated as an attacking midfielder with his brilliant passing skills. He finished the season with five goals and seven assists, though had several injury problems.
On June 9, 2009 Recoba agreed to remain at Panionios squad for the following season as well, thus fulfilling the original duration of his contract despite the fact that Lampros Choutos had left the team after having consecutive arguments with his former coach Ewald Lienen.
Recoba agreed to mutually rescind his contract with Greek club Panionios on Dec. 16 2009. The club indicated that the meeting was friendly and they were honored by his association with their club, despite his career at Panionios being set back due to repeated injuries.[11] On December 16, 2009 upon his request Panionios officials have released the Uruguayan attacking midfielder[12].
After nine days without a club it was announced on 24 December 2009 that he would sign with Danubio F.C.[13] The former Uruguayan international has already played for Danubio from 1993 to 1995.
Recoba played for Uruguay at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and has earned over 50 caps for his country. His only goal at the tournament came against Senegal in Uruguay's final group game, but it was not enough as the match finished in a 3-3 draw and eliminated Uruguay in the first round.
In September 2005, he scored the winning goal against Argentina in a World Cup qualifier. This helped Uruguay qualify as South America's fifth placed team and put them in position to play for the intercontinental playoff against Oceania champions Australia. However, Uruguay was unsuccessful in its bid for World Cup 2006; losing 4-2 in a penalty shootout after a draw in aggregate score.
Despite the lack of appearances for Internazionale, he was again picked for the Uruguayan national team. This allowed Recoba to play in most of the Uruguay matches for which he was healthy. He scored his 12th goal with the Uruguayan national team in a 2-1 victory on June 2, 2007 in a friendly match against Australia.
Recoba also played for Uruguay in Copa América 2007.
Recoba's strengths are his dribbling, technique, pace and a strong, accurate left-foot shot. He is a free-kick specialist, and has scored goals of great quality, examples of which were his two goals on his debut with Inter. Recoba is known for being a player who could have been one of the world's greatest, but always seemed to fall short because of his constant injuries. He was in the 1998/1999 season the greatest player in the world but with his poor consistency, could never hold onto that title or his salary which was the highest in the world.[14]
He was perhaps summed up best in a 2003 Guardian article. The reporter commented that few, if any, have been born with Recoba's ability; however, his mentality continues to fail him at the most crucial moments - he continued by comparing Recoba with Real Madrid's Raul, whom he stated has only half or even a quarter of Recoba's ability and technique, but the mentality of a true champion. In a situation where Recoba loses his heart for the match, Raul's mentality serves only to heighten his workrate and focus his skills.
|
|||||
Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this name.
|
|
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search
