Álvaro Recoba

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Álvaro Recoba
Personal information
Full name Álvaro Alexander Recoba Rivero
Date of birth March 17, 1976 (1976-03-17) (age 31)
Place of birth    Montevideo, Uruguay
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10+1⁄2 in)
Playing position Forward, Left winger
Club information
Current club Torino
Number 4
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1993-1995
1996-1997
1997-
1999
2007-		 Danubio
Nacional
Internazionale
→ Venezia (loan)
→ Torino (loan)		 034 0(11)
033 0(17)
0175 (53)
019 0(10)
015 (1)   
National team
1995-2007 Uruguay 58 (12)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

Álvaro Alexander Recoba Rivero, nicknamed "El Chino" (born March 17, 1976) is a Uruguayan football forward who plays in the Italian Serie A since 1997, currently on loan from Internazionale to Torino, and participated at the 2002 World Cup with the Uruguay national team.

Contents

[edit] Club career

Born in Montevideo, 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 storied teams. The following season, he was sold to Internazionale.

[edit] Notable debut at Inter

Recoba made his debut for Inter 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 30-yard shot that flew past the keeper, the next, a free kick into the top corner. The goals allowed Inter 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.

[edit] Loan to Venezia

Despite his spectacular start for Inter, 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.

[edit] Return to Inter

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.[citation needed]

Recoba has had other notable performances for Inter, an example of which was the 2004-05 Serie A match against Sampdoria on January 9, 2005 where he was substituted into the game for Adriano in the 32nd minute. Recoba first hit the bar, then in the 43rd minute of the second half he fed the ball to Obafemi Martins who scored to give Inter a chance to equalise; after Christian Vieri equalized the score, Recoba scored making it 3-2 for Inter, the team's third goal in 5 minutes, snatching a last minute win. However, he has performed badly as well, living up to the stamp put on him saying that he would never reach his full potential.[citation needed]

He was once, for a period of many years, the highest paid football player in the world, but took a voluntary paycut when Inter Milan suffered financial difficulties.[citation needed]

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. He was initially linked with Inter's scudetto rivals AS Roma after he claimed that if the opportunity arose and Inter president Massimo Moratti approved he would join the capital club immediately.[1] On August 31, 2007 he was loaned to Torino F.C., another Serie A team, where he rejoined Walter Novellino, his previous boss at Venezia.

[edit] Torino

Recoba played his first game for Torino against Reggina. Recoba performed well although he did not score. Amoruso put Reggina ahead but the game ended in a 2-2 draw. Recoba scored his first goal for Torino in a 1-1 draw with Palermo after a good combination between himself and Rosina. On the 19th December 2007 Recoba gave an excellent performance against Roma in the Coppa Italia and scored two excellent goals in Torino's 3-1 win and could have scored many more. However, Recoba has dissapointed since he joined Torino due to injuries and lack of playing time, he has not made the expected impact despite a good start.

[edit] National team

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 Inter, he was again picked for the Uruguayan national team. This allowed Recoba to play in most of the Uruguay matches for which he 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.

[edit] Playing style

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, an example of which were his two goals during his debut with Inter, and basically all the goals scored during his time at Venezia.

Recoba is known for being a player who can be one of the world's greatest players, but he always seems 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, he could never hold onto that name or his wage price which was the highest in the world.[citation needed] 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. As a result of this Recoba has featured as a substitute in recent seasons, though few would question his ability to turn match when he is on form.

[edit] Honours

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Football Italia. "Recoba bids farewell to Inter", channel4.com, 2007-03- 16. Retrieved on 2007-03-16. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Uruguay squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup
1 Carini • 2 Méndez • 3 Lembo • 4 Montero • 5 García • 6 Rodríguez • 7 Guigou • 8 Varela • 9 Silva • 10 O'Neill • 11 Magallanes • 12 Munúa • 13 Abreu • 14 Sorondo • 15 Olivera • 16 Romero • 17 Regueiro • 18 Morales • 19 Bizera • 20 Recoba • 21 Forlán • 22 De los Santos • 23 Elduayen • Coach: Púa
 Flag of Uruguay
v • d • e
Torino F.C. – current squad

1 Sereni • 2 Comotto • 3 Pisano • 4 Recoba • 5 Corini • 7 Motta • 8 Barone • 9 Ventola • 10 Rosina • 11 Lazetić • 13 Grella • 14 Natali • 15 Dellafiore • 16 Oguro • 17 Di Michele • 19 Diana • 20 Bjelanović • 21 Franceschini • 22 Di Loreto • 23 Lanna • 27 P. Zanetti • 28 Vailatti • 29 Bottone • 31 Fontana • 33 Rubin • 77 Stellone • 89 Gomis • 92 Malonga • Coach: Novellino
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81lvaro_Recoba"
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