Albeiro Usuriaga

Albeiro Usuriaga López (12 June 1966 – 11 February 2004) was a Colombian footballer who played as a striker.

Albeiro Usurriaga
Usuriaga in 1994
Personal information
Full name Albeiro Usurriaga López
Date of birth (1966-06-12)12 June 1966
Place of birth Cali, Colombia
Date of death 11 February 2004(2004-02-11) (aged 37)
Place of death Cali, Colombia
Height 1.92 m (6 ft 3 1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1986 América Cali 7 (2)
1987 Deportes Tolima 13 (1)
1988 Cúcuta Deportivo 25 (4)
1989 Atlético Nacional 17 (2)
1990 Málaga 15 (4)
1991–1993 América Cali 37 (21)
1993 Málaga B 6 (1)
1994–1995 Independiente 26 (9)
1995 Necaxa 6 (0)
1996 Barcelona SC
1996 Santos 1 (0)
1996–1997 Independiente 15 (4)
1998 Millonarios 5 (0)
1999 Bucaramanga 3 (1)
1999–2000 General Paz
2000–2001 All Boys 4 (0)
2001 Deportivo Pasto 0 (0)
2002 Sportivo Luqueño
2003 Carabobo 4 (0)
Total 184 (49)
National team
1989–1991 Colombia 15 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Usuriaga and the second or maternal family name is López.

Nicknamed El Palomo, he played professionally in Colombia, Spain, Argentina, Mexico, Ecuador, Brazil, Paraguay and Venezuela, before being murdered at the age of 37.

Club career

Usuriaga first came to prominence with Medellín's Atlético Nacional, scoring four goals in a 6–0 win against Danubio F.C. for the 1989 edition of the Libertadores Cup and adding another against Club Olimpia in the final (2–0 in the second leg in Paraguay), in an eventual penalty shootout win. Goalkeeper René Higuita was amongst his teammates.

After playing two season halves in Spain with CD Málaga – Málaga CF's predecessor – and having a three-year spell with América de Cali, Usuriaga rarely settled with a team and continuously changed countries, appearing for Club Atlético Independiente (two stints), Club Necaxa, Barcelona Sporting Club, Santos FC, Club Deportivo Los Millonarios, Atlético Bucaramanga, General Paz Juniors, All Boys, Deportivo Pasto, Club Sportivo Luqueño and Carabobo FC.

In the 1993–94 season, Usuriaga contributed with four goals as Argentina's Independiente won the Clausura tournament. Three years later, whilst with the same team, he was handed a two-year ban by the Argentine Football Association after testing positive for cocaine.[1] After playing in various levels of football, he retired from the game in 2003, at the age of 37.

International career

Usuriaga gained 15 caps for Colombia, during three years. His only international goal came during the 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification playoffs against Israel, the only goal in the two legs.

Usuriaga was later, however, omitted from the final squad in Italy due to disciplinary problems.[1]

Death

On 11 February 2004, 37-year-old Usuriaga was gunned down while playing a card game in a nightclub district in his hometown of Cali, in unclear circumstances.[1] It later surfaced he was murdered by hired killers, ordered by criminal Jefferson Valdez Marín who was dating his former girlfriend.[2]

See also

References
  1. Former Colombia soccer player Albeiro Usuriaga shot dead Archived 22 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine; CBS Sports, 11 February 2004
  2. Conozca la historia de la banda que mató al ‘Palomo’ Usuriaga (Know the story of the gang who killed ‘Palomo’ Usuriaga); El País, 3 July 2014 (in Spanish)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.