Iván Córdoba

Iván Ramiro Córdoba Sepúlveda (Spanish pronunciation: [iˈβaŋ ˈkoɾðoβa],[1] born 11 August 1976 in Rionegro, Antioquia Department) is a retired Colombian footballer, who played as a defender. He began his career in Colombia with Deportivo Rionegro and Atlético Nacional, before moving to Argentine club San Lorenzo. In 2000, he joined Italian side Internazionale, where he spent most of his career, remaining with the club until his retirement in 2012. At international level, Córdoba played for the Colombia national team, and represented his nation at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, and four editions of the Copa América, winning the tournament in 2001, where he scored the winning goal in the final. He was the vice-captain of Internazionale and has also served as captain for his country's national team.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Córdoba and the second or maternal family name is Sepúlveda.
Iván Ramiro Córdoba
Córdoba with Inter Milan in 2009
Personal information
Full name Iván Ramiro Córdoba Sepúlveda
Date of birth (1976-08-11) 11 August 1976
Place of birth Rionegro, Colombia
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1995 Deportivo Rionegro 42 (1)
1996–1998 Atlético Nacional 73 (1)
1998–2000 San Lorenzo 59 (8)
2000–2012 Internazionale 324 (15)
Total 498 (25)
National team
1997–2011 Colombia 73 (5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Córdoba made his debut with the Colombian Serie B team Deportivo Rionegro in 1993, his subsequent performances earned him a transfer to Colombian heavyweights Atlético Nacional in 1996. He made his name playing for San Lorenzo in Argentina from 1998 but signed for Italian side Internazionale in the winter transfer window, January 2000, costing the club €16 million, rejecting another offer from Real Madrid in doing so. He has become a mainstay of the Internazionale defence for several years, forming a highly effective partnership in central defence with Marco Materazzi. His long career at Inter led him to be named the club's vice-captain behind Javier Zanetti; because of this, he had the honour of lifting the Coppa Italia in 2005 when Zanetti was absent due to his involvement in the Confederations Cup with Argentina.

On 19 February 2008, Córdoba injured his left anterior cruciate ligament during the Champions League round of 16 fixture against Liverpool, resulting in having to sit out the rest of the season as Inter won the league title for the third consecutive year. On 9 June 2008 he renewed his contract until 30 June 2012 with Inter, ensuring that he would effectively finish his career with Inter.

On 5 May 2012 Córdoba announced that he would leave Inter at the end of the season.[2] A day later, Córdoba was brought on in the 84th minute of the Derby della Madonnina, making his last competitive appearance in an Inter shirt after 13 years in the San Siro; during the match (the club's last home game of the 2011–12 season), Inter's players wore the Córdoba #2 shirt while warming up before the kick-off.[3] In May, he traveled with 18 other Inter players (with Dellafiore an exception) to Indonesia for a friendly tour, before ending his career.[4]

In total, he won 5 Serie A championships, 4 Coppa Italia titles, 3 Supercoppa Italiana titles, 1 UEFA Champions League, and 1 FIFA Club World Cup with Inter.[5]

International career

Córdoba captained Colombia to win the 2001 Copa América competition, scoring the only goal in the final. Córdoba also played for his country at the 1998 World Cup (taking shirt number 2 from Andrés Escobar who was murdered in the previous tournament) without appearing in a match, the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup (where they finished in fourth place), and in three other editions of the Copa América (1997, 1999, and 2007).

Style of play

Usually a central defender, Córdoba was an experienced and extremely fast, energetic, versatile, and athletic defender, who relied mostly on his pace, stamina, man-marking ability and timing, which made him difficult to beat in one on one situations; due to his characteristics, he was also capable of playing as a full back or wing-back on the right flank, and even as a left-back on occasion. Despite being only 173 centimeters tall, he was also a good jumper and an accurate header of the ball, and had a penchant for scoring goals with his head. Throughout his career, Córdoba also stood out for his leadership in addition to his ability as a footballer.[6][7]

Career statistics

Club

Source:[5][8]

Club performance League Cup Continental Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Colombia League Cup South America Total
1994Deportivo Rionegro160--160
1995261--261
1996Atlético Nacional311--311
1997420--420
Argentina League Cup South America Total
1997San LorenzoPrimera División242--242
1998356--356
Italy League Coppa Italia Europe Total
1999–00InternazionaleSerie A20050-250
2000–012303190351
2001–0230110110421
2002–0328110161452
2003–0431150110471
2004–0532340100463
2005–063544090484
2006–072905170411
2007–082031050263
2008–092822070372
2009–102102020250
2010–112201050280
2011–1250100060
Total Colombia 1152--1152
Argentina 598--598
Italy 3241534292145518
Career total 4982534292162428

International

Source:[9]

Colombia national team
YearAppsGoals
199790
199840
199973
2000101
2001101
200200
2003100
200460
200550
200600
200760
200800
200940
201020
Total735

International goals

Colombia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Córdoba goal.[10]

International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 9 February 1999Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, United States14 Germany3–33–3Friendly
2 4 July 1999Estadio Feliciano Cáceres, Luque, Paraguay18 Argentina1–03–01999 Copa América
3 13 October 1999Estadio Olímpico Chateau Carreras, Córdoba, Argentina20 Argentina1–11–2Friendly
4 4 June 2000Estadio Nemesio Camacho, Bogotá, Colombia24 Venezuela2–03–02002 FIFA World Cup qualification
5 29 July 2001Estadio Nemesio Camacho, Bogotá, Colombia35 Mexico1–01–02001 Copa América Final

Honours

Club
Internazionale[5]

International
Colombia[5]

Individual
  • South American Team of the Year: 1999[11]
  • Pirata d'Oro (Internazionale Player of the Year): 2011[12]

References
  1. In isolation, Iván is pronounced [iˈβan].
  2. "Ivan: "My last game in San Siro"".
  3. "Inter 4-2 AC Milan: Milito hat-trick and Maicon rocket decide derby and ensures Juventus are crowned Serie A champions". Goal.com. 6 May 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  4. "Inter's Córdoba happy to end career in Indonesia". Goal.com. 27 May 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  5. "Colombia – I. Córdoba – Profile with news, career statistics and history". Soccerway. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  6. Dario Di Noi (14 March 2015). "Córdoba: "Addio all'Inter? Ecco il motivo. Per Ronaldo stavo andando al Real, ma…"" (in Italian). F.C. Inter 1908. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  7. "Inter Milan – Squad Profiles". ESPN FC. 11 February 2003. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  8. "Football : Iván Córdoba". FootballDataBase. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  9. "Iván Córdoba". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  10. Mamrud, Roberto (20 February 2014). "Iván Ramiro Córdoba – International Appearances". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
  11. "South American Team of the Year". RSSSF. 16 January 2009. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  12. "INTER CLUB: A LUCIO IL "PIRATA D'ORO"". Inter.it. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
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