Álvaro Recoba

Álvaro Alexánder Recoba Rivero (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈalβaɾo alekˈsandeɾ reˈkoβa riˈβeɾo]; born 17 March 1976; nickname "El Chino"[1]) is a retired Uruguayan footballer who played as a forward or midfielder. Although he began and ended his footballing career in his native country, he also played for several European clubs throughout his career, most notably Italian side Inter Milan, where he spent 11 seasons.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Recoba and the second or maternal family name is Rivero.
Álvaro Recoba
Recoba with Nacional in 2012
Personal information
Full name Álvaro Alexánder Recoba Rivero
Date of birth (1976-03-17) 17 March 1976
Place of birth Montevideo, Uruguay
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder, forward
Youth career
Danubio
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1995 Danubio 34 (11)
1996–1997 Nacional 33 (17)
1997–2008 Inter Milan 175 (53)
1999 → Venezia (loan) 19 (11)
2007–2008 → Torino (loan) 22 (1)
2008–2010 Panionios 21 (5)
2010–2011 Danubio 31 (11)
2011–2015 Nacional 82 (17)
Total 488 (144)
National team
1995–2007 Uruguay 68 (10)
2016 Uruguay (beach soccer) 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

At international level, Recoba won 68 caps for the Uruguay national team between 1995 and 2007, participating at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and two Copa América tournaments.

Club career

Early career

Recoba started his career with Uruguay's Danubio. After several years in the Danubio youth teams, he appeared on the first team at age 17 and played for two full seasons, 1994–95 and 1995–96.[2] At the start of the 1996–97 season, Danubio agreed to transfer Recoba to Nacional. The following season, Nacional agreed to send Recoba to Italy's Serie A club Inter Milan.

Inter Milan

Recoba made his Inter debut on the same day as Ronaldo, on 31 August 1997, coming on as a substitute against Brescia at the San Siro. He scored 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 after a Cristiano Doni foul. The goals allowed Inter to come back and win the match 2–1.[3]

Loan to Venezia

After two seasons with Inter, Recoba was loaned out to relegation-battling Venezia for the second round of the 1998–99 Serie A.[4] The striker scored 11 times and made 9 assists in 19 games. Eventually, Venezia escaped relegation that season.

Return to Inter Milan
Álvaro Recoba number 20 Inter Milan shirt

After his tenure at Venezia, Recoba returned to Inter. In January 2001, he renewed his contract with the club until 30 June 2006. During the same month, he was accused of carrying a fake passport and lost the Italian nationality he had received in 1999. The Italian football organisation penalised Recoba with a one-year ban, which was later reduced on appeal to four months.[5] Overall, he played for Italian champions Inter in Serie A for ten seasons, from 1997 to 2007.

On 16 March 2007, Recoba confirmed to Sky Italia he wanted to leave the team at the end of the 2006–07 season, citing lack of appearances with the first team. On 31 August 2007, he was loaned to Serie A club Torino, where he rejoined Walter Novellino, his previous boss at Venezia.

Torino

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.[6] On 19 December 2007, Recoba gave a top-class performance against Roma in the Coppa Italia, scoring two excellent goals in Torino's 3–1 win.[7] However, his performances have been disappointing due to injuries and lack of playing time; he did not make the expected impact despite a solid start to the season, and finished the season out of the club's starting 11.[8]

Panionios

On 5 September 2008, Recoba signed for Greek top division club Panionios, where he joined Greek international and former Inter teammate Lampros Choutos as well as Uruguay national team player Fabián Estoyanoff. He made his debut in a 2–1 win against Aris on 18 October 2008. He proved his quality by assisting both goals for teammates Giannis Maniatis and Anderson Gonzaga.[9] In his next match, Recoba inspired Panionios to a 5–2 away win against Ergotelis, where he scored two goals. He finished the season with five goals and seven assists, despite continuous fitness problems.

On 9 June 2009, Recoba agreed to remain at Panionios for the following season, as per the terms of his original contract. On 6 December 2009, and after being constantly injured, Recoba came to an agreement with the club to mutually rescind his contract on 16 December 2009. Panionios stated the termination was "friendly" and that they "were honoured" by his association with the club despite his injury-riddled spell.[10][11]

Back to Uruguay
Recoba playing for Nacional

After nine days without a club, Recoba announced on 24 December 2009 that he would sign with Danubio,[12] where he had played from 1993 to 1995.[2]

In July 2011, Recoba signed for former club Nacional. He appeared in many matches coming on from the bench, but still helped the team to win the Torneo Apertura. Recoba scored the second goal in the clásico victory 2-1 against Peñarol by taking a penalty kick during stoppage time. The result allowed Nacional to surpass Peñarol in the tournament table. He also scored the only goal in the last game against Liverpool.

During the Torneo Clausura, he started more matches, scoring the third and definitive goal of that tournament's clásico, which ended ending 3–2 for Nacional.

He scored the only goal in the final game of 2011–12 Campeonato Uruguayo against Defensor Sporting Club on 16 June 2012.

During the Uruguayan Clásico on 9 November 2014, at almost age 38, Recoba scored a 30-yard free-kick in the fifth minute of stoppage time to win the match for Nacional.[13]

International career

Recoba made his debut for Uruguay on 18 January 1995 in a friendly match against Spain (2–2) at the Estadio Riazor, A Coruña, replacing Enzo Francescoli in the 65th minute.[14] He played at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. His only goal at the tournament came against Senegal in Uruguay's final group stage match, but it was not enough as the match finished in a 3–3 draw and eliminated Uruguay in the first round.

In September 2005, Recoba scored the winning goal against Argentina in a 2006 World Cup qualifying match. This helped Uruguay qualify as South America's fifth-placed team and put them in position to play for the intercontinental play-off against Oceania Football Confederation champions Australia. However, Uruguay lost 4–2 in a penalty shootout after a draw in aggregate score. Recoba was substituted off in the second leg of the playoff for Marcelo Zalayeta after 73 minutes.[15] When he was interviewed for the Australian documentary November 16 in 2015, Recoba indicated his displeasure at the decision to replace him, saying, "I was OK. I had the will to keep going. I was disappointed to come off in a game like that."[16]

After the 2006 World Cup, and despite his lack of appearances in Inter's playing squad, Recoba was again picked for the Uruguay national team. He scored his 12th international goal in a 2–1 victory on 2 June 2007, in a friendly against Australia and he also appeared for Uruguay in the 2007 Copa América, where Uruguay finished fourth. In total, Recoba was capped 69 times with Uruguay.

Retirement

Recoba played his last match as a professional footballer on 31 March 2016 at age 40, at the Estadio Gran Parque Central in Montevideo.[1] The occasion was an exhibition game, organized by Nacional, between one team of current and former Nacional players, with Hugo de León, Felipe Revelez, "Cacique" Medina, among others, and a team of Amigos del Chino which included international stars Juan Román Riquelme, Christian Vieri, Carlos Valderrama, Juan Sebastián Verón and Iván Zamorano.[17]

Style of play

A quick, technically gifted and creative offensive midfield playmaker, who was capable both of scoring and creating goals, Recoba's main strengths were his dribbling skills, ball control, pace, his brilliant long passing and crossing ability and his powerful and accurate striking ability with his left-foot from outside the area.[18] He was a set-piece, penalty kick, and corner-kick specialist, renowned for his curling free-kicks, and has scored goals of great quality, examples of which were his two goals on his debut with Inter.[18] Recoba was capable of playing in several offensive positions, and has been used as an attacking midfielder, as a supporting striker, and as a winger. For a period, he was also the highest-paid footballer in the world.[18][19][20] Despite his talent, Recoba was often injury-prone throughout his career,[21][22] and was also criticised for his poor work-rate and inconsistency, which has led pundits and managers to accuse him of not fulfilling his potential.[18][23][24][25]

Career statistics

Club
ClubSeasonLeagueCupContinentalOtherTotalRef.
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Danubio1994Primera División146—146[26]
1995Primera División205—205[26]
Totals3411—3411—
Nacional1996Primera División228—288[26]
1997Primera División1198[lower-alpha 1]3—1912[26][27]
Totals331783—4120—
Inter Milan1997–98Serie A83526[lower-alpha 2]0—195[27]
1998–99Serie A10102[lower-alpha 3]0—40[27]
1999–2000Serie A271060—1[lower-alpha 4]03410[27]
2000–01Serie A299329[lower-alpha 5]5—4116[27]
2001–02Serie A186004[lower-alpha 2]0—226[27]
2002–03Serie A2791014[lower-alpha 3]3—4212[27]
2003–04Serie A198307[lower-alpha 5]3—2911[27]
2004–05Serie A133425[lower-alpha 3]1—226[27]
2005–06Serie A205207[lower-alpha 3]11[lower-alpha 6]0306[27]
2006–07Serie A131302[lower-alpha 3]0—181[27]
Totals1755428656132026173—
Venezia (loan)1998–99Serie A191100——1911[27]
Torino (loan)2007–08Serie A22122——243[27]
Panionios2008–09Superleague Greece14421——165[27]
2009–10Superleague Greece5000——50[27]
Totals19421——215—
Danubio2009–10Primera División135——135[27]
2010–11Primera División185——185[27]
Totals3110——3110—
Nacional2011–12Primera División2371[lower-alpha 7]01[lower-alpha 8]1258[27]
2012–13Primera División2159[lower-alpha 9]1—306[27]
2013–14Primera División1923[lower-alpha 1]01[lower-alpha 8]0233[27]
2014–15Primera División1721[lower-alpha 1]01[lower-alpha 8]0192[27]
Totals8016141319718—
Career totals413124329781751528151—
  1. Appearances in the Copa Libertadores.
  2. Appearances in the UEFA Cup.
  3. Appearances in the UEFA Champions League.
  4. Appearance in the Serie A playoff.
  5. Appearances in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup.
  6. Appearance in the Supercoppa Italiana.
  7. Appearances in the Copa Sudamericana.
  8. Appearances in the Primera División playoff.
  9. Appearances in the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana.

International statistics

Source:[28]

Uruguay national team
YearAppsGoals
199520
199633
1997123
199800
199920
200091
2001111
200271
200380
200440
200561
200600
200751
Total6911

International goals

Source:[28]

Scores and results list Uruguay's goal tally first. Score column indicates score after each Recoba goal.

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.17 July 1996Workers' Stadium, Beijing, China China PR1–01–1Friendly
2.25 August 1996Osaka Nagai Stadium, Osaka, Japan Japan1–13–5
3.3–4
4.15 June 1997Estadio Olímpico Patria, Sucre, Bolivia Venezuela1–02–01997 Copa América
5.10 September 1997Estadio Nacional, Lima, Peru Peru1–01–21998 FIFA World Cup qualification
6.17 December 1997King Fahd II Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia South Africa2–14–31997 FIFA Confederations Cup
7.17 February 2000Estadio Campus Municipal, Maldonado, Uruguay Hungary1–02–0Friendly
8.4 September 2001Estadio Nacional, Lima, Peru Peru2–02–02002 FIFA World Cup qualification
9.11 June 2002Suwon World Cup Stadium, Suwon, South Korea Senegal3–33–32002 FIFA World Cup
10.12 October 2005Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay Argentina1–01–02006 FIFA World Cup qualification
11.2 June 2007Telstra Stadium, Sydney, Australia Australia2–12–1Friendly

Honours

Inter Milan[29]

Nacional[29]

References
  1. "Uruguay legend Alvaro 'El Chino ' Recoba bids farewell to football" by Sam Kelly, ESPN FC, 1 April 2016
  2. "El "Chino" hace la diferencia" ("The Chinese makes the difference"), Danubio F.C. website (in Spanish)
  3. "Fantacalcio: Inter-Brescia, quando Recoba esplose nel giorno di Ronaldo" ("Fantasy Football: Inter vs Brescia, When Recoba exploded at the day of Ronaldo") by Marco Guidi, La Gazzetta dello Sport, 10 October 2014 (in Italian)
  4. Contessa, Michele (January 13, 1999). "Recoba a Venezia: "Finalmente potro' giocare"". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved December 17, 2010.
  5. "Inter get Recoba back from ban". World Soccer News. October 12, 2001. Retrieved April 11, 2004.
  6. "Palermo 1 – 1 Torino". Football Italia. Channel 4. September 16, 2007. Archived from the original on December 24, 2007. Retrieved April 11, 2008.
  7. "Coppa: Recoba breaks Roma". Football Italia. Channel 4. December 19, 2007. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007. Retrieved April 11, 2008.
  8. "Novellino defends El Chino". Football Italia. Channel 4. December 3, 2007. Archived from the original on February 4, 2008. Retrieved April 11, 2008.
  9. "Alvaro Recoba debuts for Panionios : European Soccer".
  10. "Uruguayan star Alvaro Recoba quits Greek side Panionios - ESPN FC". ESPNFC.com. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
  11. "Ανακοίνωση".
  12. "www.impre.com". Retrieved January 29, 2016.
  13. "Álvaro Recoba rolls back years to give Nacional victory over Peñarol". theguardian.com. The Guardian. November 10, 2014. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  14. http://www.rsssf.com/tablesu/uru-intres1995.html RSSSF
  15. Australia v Uruguay, 16 November 2005, 11v11 website, 16 November 2005
  16. "November 16" (Documentary Film). You Tube. 2015. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  17. "Chino Leyenda Nacional: Recoba se despide en el GPC" ("Chinese legend of National: Recoba says farewell at the GPC"), Nacional website (in Spanish)
  18. John Carlin (November 23, 2003). "Recoba's riddle". The Guardian. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  19. "Don't get discouraged". cnnsi.com. Sports Illustrated. February 20, 2001. Retrieved June 13, 2008.
  20. Giancarla Ghisi (May 15, 2003). "I vip dell' Inter accusano "Tutta colpa di Recoba, peggio di Tangentopoli"" [The Inter VIPs accuse: "Everything is Recoba's fault, worse than Tangentopoli"] (in Italian). Il Corriere della Sera. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  21. Nadia Carminati (January 1, 2007). "Recoba wants to be a regular". Sky Sports. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  22. "Recoba may not retire yet". Football Italia. May 14, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  23. "Inter. Moratti: "Zanetti come Facchetti. Recoba pigro, era più forte di Ronaldo"" [Inter. Moratti: "Zanetti like Facchetti. Recoba was lazy, but more talented than Ronaldo"] (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. May 19, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  24. Fabio Costantino (October 15, 2009). "Recoba: "Cercai di portare Barreto all'Inter"" [Recoba: "I tried to bring Barreto to Inter"] (in Italian). F.C. Inter News. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  25. Roberto Gotta (October 4, 2002). "Inter the world of paranoia". ESPN FC. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  26. "Recoba, Álvaro". National Football Teams. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  27. "Alvaro Recoba » Club matches". World Football. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  28. "Alvaro Recoba - International Appearances". www.rsssf.com.
  29. "Á. Recoba". Soccerway. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
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