Rhydian Howell-Morris
Since his two phase return home (first on loan and later transferred) to Boca Juniors, from Villarreal in 2007, Juan Román Riquelme has managed to repair a damaged national reputation and salvage a once troubled career.
It’s fair to say that the end of 2006 was a difficult time for Riquelme, after his crucial last minute lame penalty failure against Arsenal in the Champions League 2005/06 semi-final eliminating his club Villarreal, followed by World Cup 2006 favourites Argentina’s early exit from the tournament with him baring the brunt (along with resigned manager Jose Pekerman) of widespread national criticism.
Riquelme subsequently decided to retire from playing for the national team due to the level of criticism, causing further controversy in his homeland. Add to that his ongoing dispute with Villarreal club manager Manuel Pellegrini and director, leaving him out in the cold towards the end of 2006, Riquelme was at an all time low in football.
In February 2007, Riquelme opted to return to Boca on loan for 5 months, ignoring interest from Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Milan, much to the delight of his loyal followers at Boca, seemingly the only people in Argentina that still held him in high esteem.
It proved to be a great personal move in his career. Although Riquelme needed many games to get his fitness and sharpness after so long without regular first team football at Villarreal, in May he began to have a historical impact on Boca’s season. He scored the first goal of a first leg win against fellow domestic club Vélez Sársfield in the last 16 of the Copa Libertadores and then scored the crucial away goal in the away leg a week later, to take Boca into the quarter-finals of South America’s most important club competition.
Riquelme followed this up with the winning goal in the away leg of the quarter-final against Chilean club Libertad, then the first goal of the semi-final win against Colombian side Cúcuta Deportivo and scoring again in the final against Brazilian side Gremio to cap a fantastic run of big performances.
Riquelme finished the tournament as the third top scorer and was awarded Most Valuable Player. Riquelme rid himself (at least in South America) of the label as a non-big game player and along the way, re-established the romance between him and the club’s supporters who credit him with almost single-handedly winning Boca’s 6th Copa Libertadores, at the time leapfrogging AC Milan as the world’s most successful club in international tournaments. Comparisons were drawn with another boy from La Boca, Diego Maradona for his single-handed efforts in Argentina’s World Cup victory 1986.
Shortly after lifting the Copa Libertadores, Riquelme reversed his decision to retire from the national team, returning to the squad for Copa América 2007, following a shift in opinion in the general public and media, now giving some praise rather than constant criticism. Even some supporters of fierce local rivals, River Plate, were appealing for Riquelme to return, as Argentina were in need of an El Enganche (playmaker) to link play and, in particular, find Messi, with Riquelme regaining this title over Pablo Aimar.
Throughout Copa América 2007, Riquelme translated his form for Boca to the national team, scoring twice in the 2nd game of their group, a win against Colombia, and then scoring twice again in the quarter-final win over Peru as well as creating another goal for Messi. Riquelme continued to score his fifth goal in the semi-final win over Mexico, finishing as the tournament’s second top scorer with 5 goals, behind Brazil’s Robinho on 6, as Brazil ultimately beat Argentina 3-0 in the final.
Despite having spent more time out in the cold again at Villarreal at the beginning of the 2007/08 season, Riquelme ended 2007 happy after agreeing a transfer to Boca on 26th November 2007 and delighting the Boca fans to have their idolized number 10 permanently. He managed to continue his resurgence for the national team, scoring twice against Chile in October 2007, Argentina’s first game of World Cup 2010 qualification, and following that up again with two more goals against Bolivia in November 2007, making him still the joint top scorer in the South American qualifying section, despite playing no football for Villarreal during this time.
Riquelme finished the Clausura 2008, Argentina’s first of two annual domestic league campaigns, as runner up to River Plate and made it to the semi-final of the Copa Libertadores, losing out 5-3 on aggregate to Fluminense of Brazil. Following this he headed off to China to captain the Argentina Olympic Games team to gold medal success, scoring against Brazil in the semi-final 3-0 win, and adding to his return to national idolism.
Argentina now holds it breath in the hope that he’ll continue to play on for the national team into World Cup 2010 and try to vanquish any lingering criticism of his performances back in Germany in 2006. Whatever he decides in that respect, he will continue to be considered a hero for the performances he has given and continues to give at Boca Juniors.
