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Carlos Valderrama
Personal information
Full name	Carlos Alberto Valderrama Palacio
Date of birth	September 2, 1961 (1961-09-02) (age 46)
Place of birth	Santa Marta, Colombia
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position	Central midfielder
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1981-1983 1984 1985-1987 1988-1990 1990-1991 1992 1993-1995 1996-1997 1998 1999-2001 2002-2004	Unión Magdalena Millonarios Deportivo Cali Montpellier Real Valladolid Independiente Medellín Atlético Junior Tampa Bay Mutiny Miami Fusion Tampa Bay Mutiny Colorado Rapids	77 (4) 17 (1) 82 (5) 43 (7) 22 (3) 71 (5) 39 (1)
National team
1983-1998	Colombia	111 (12)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Carlos Alberto Valderrama Palacio (born September 2, 1961 in Santa Marta, Colombia) is a former Colombian footballer. He was a creative midfielder who some pundits consider as the best Colombian player of all time. ^[1]

Nicknamed El Pibe ("The kid"), Valderrama is recognizable for his enormous dyed blondish-orange bush of hair and is known for his skillful passing and shielding. One of the most formidable powers of Valderrama is his ability to dominate the match playing in walking pace. Valderrama captained Colombia during the 1990, 1994, and 1998 World Cups, before announcing his international retirement after the 1998 competition having received 111 caps and scored 11 times. He won the Colombian championship with Atlético Junior in 1993 and 1995. One example of excellent field vision was in the 1990 World Cup in Italy. In the game against Germany, Valderrama passed the ball to Freddy Rincon who was open for a pass. Rincon then scored through the legs of German goalkeeper Bodo Illgner. This goal tied the match at 1-1 and sent Colombia to the second round of the World Cup for the first time in its history and the only team Germany could not beat on their way to the championship.

He began his career at Unión Magdalena of the Colombian First Division in 1981. He also played for Millonarios and Deportivo Cali before joining Montpellier of the French First Division in 1988. to play for Independiente Medellín and Atlético Junior from 1993-96 before going to the US in 1996 to play for the Tampa Bay Mutiny (1996-97, 2000-01), Miami Fusion (1998-99), and Colorado Rapids (2001-02). In Major League Soccer, Valderrama scored relatively few goals (16) for a midfielder, but is the league's all-time leader in assists (114). In 2005, he was named to the MLS All-Time Best XI.

In February 2004, Valderrama ended his 22-year career in a tribute match at the Metropolitan stadium of Barranquilla, with some of the most important football players of South America, such as Diego Maradona, Enzo Francescoli and José Luis Chilavert.

He is married and has three children. Valderrama was the only Colombian to feature in FIFA's 125 Top Living Football Players list in March 2004.

On November 1, 2007, Valderrama was ejected from a Colombian league match after waving cash in the face of a referee for calling a penalty that helped end his team's hopes of qualifying for the playoffs.[1]

Contents 1 Trivia 2 Honours 3 References 4 External links 5 See also

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• He appeared in the cover of Nintendo 64 and Konami game International Superstar Soccer '98, as well as in the PlayStation conversion. In the N64 game, the player based on him is the only one whose name is not similar to the real-life counterpart; instead, he is called "El Pibe".
• There is a 22 foot tall bronze statue of Valderrama beside the Eduardo Santos stadium in Santa Marta, Colombia, created by Colombian artist, Amilkar Ariza.

• South American Footballer of the Year (1987, 1993)
• French Cup winner (1990)
• Colombian Championship winner with Junior Barranquilla (1993, 1995)
• MLS Player of the Year (1996)
• MLS All-time leader in assists
• MLS All-star game MVP
• Member of the FIFA Century Club

• Link for Valderrama in Spanish

• Famous Colombians

Preceded by Antonio Alzamendi	South American Footballer of the Year 1987	Succeeded by Rubén Paz
Preceded by Raí	South American Footballer of the Year 1993	Succeeded by Cafu

Preceded by none

Major League Soccer MVP Award 1996

Succeeded by Preki

v • d • e Major League Soccer | MLS All-Time Best XI
Tony Meola (Goalkeeper) Jeff Agoos • Marcelo Balboa • Eddie Pope (Defenders) Landon Donovan • Marco Etcheverry • Piotr Nowak • Preki • Carlos Valderrama (Midfielders) Brian McBride • Jaime Moreno (Forwards)

v • d • e Major League Soccer MVP

1996 Carlos Valderrama (Tampa Bay Mutiny) · 1997 Preki (Kansas City Wizards) · 1998 Marco Etcheverry (D.C. United) · 1999 Jason Kreis (Dallas Burn) · 2000 Tony Meola (Kansas City Wizards) · 2001 Alex Pineda Chacón (Miami Fusion) · 2002 Carlos Ruíz (Los Angeles Galaxy) · 2003 Preki (Kansas City Wizards) · 2004 Amado Guevara (MetroStars) · 2005 Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution) · 2006 Christian Gómez (D.C. United) · 2007 Luciano Emilio (D.C. United)

v • d • e Colombia squad - 1990 FIFA World Cup
1 Higuita • 2 Escobar • 3 Gildardo Gómez • 4 Herrera • 5 Villa • 6 Pérez • 7 Estrada • 8 Gabriel Gómez • 9 Guerrero • 10 Valderrama • 11 Redín • 12 Niño • 13 Hoyos • 14 Álvarez • 15 Perea • 16 Iguarán • 17 Cassiani • 18 Cabrera • 19 Rincón • 20 Fajardo • 21 Mendoza • 22 Hernández • Coach: Maturana

v • d • e Colombia squad - 1994 FIFA World Cup
1 Córdoba • 2 Escobar • 3 Mendoza • 4 Herrera • 5 Gaviria • 6 Gómez • 7 de Ávila • 8 Lozano • 9 Valenciano • 10 Valderrama • 11 Valencia • 12 Mondragón • 13 Ortiz • 14 Álvarez • 15 Perea • 16 Aristizábal • 17 Serna • 18 Cortés • 19 Rincón • 20 Pérez • 21 Asprilla • 22 Pazo • Coach: Maturana

v • d • e Colombia squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup
1 O. Córdoba • 2 I. Córdoba • 3 Palacios • 4 Santa • 5 Bermúdez • 6 Serna • 7 de Ávila • 8 Lozano • 9 Valencia • 10 Valderrama • 11 Asprilla • 12 Calero • 13 Cabrera • 14 Bolaño • 15 Aristizábal • 16 Moreno • 17 Estrada • 18 Pérez • 19 Rincón • 20 Ricard • 21 Preciado • 22 Mondragón • Coach: Gómez

Persondata
NAME	Palacio, Carlos Alberto Valderrama
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Valderrama, Carlos
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Footballer
DATE OF BIRTH	September 2, 1961 (1961-09-02) (age 46)
PLACE OF BIRTH	Santa Marta, Colombia
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH