Agustin Delgado Biography

Name
Agustin Delgado

Date of birth
December 23, 1974

Place of birth
Chota River valley in Imbabura

Height
6'2 1/2

Weight
81 kg

Agustin Delgado Detailed Biography

Agust�n Delgado (nicknamed "Tin"), (born December 23, 1974, in a small village in the Chota River valley in Imbabura) is an Ecuadorian football player. He plays center forward for Barcelona SC in the Ecuadorian Torneo Clausura 2005 as well as in the national football team, where he surpassed Eduardo Hurtado as top scorer in 2002.

He had a brief spell in the Barclays Premier League, with disastrous results. He barely played and spent most of the time in the physio's office. Southampton F.C. tried to bring him back to fitness after the injury he picked up during the WC 2002 Qualifiers, to no avail. However, history might have been different, had the striker refused to play injured during the World Cup. The pressure on him to play was enormous, Ecuadoreans believed him (and his 9 goals) to be indispensable, plus naturally, he dreamed of playing in a world cup. All that lead to his decision -playing with an injury while heavily medicated on painkillers- that effectively destroyed his future in Europe. Upon return to England, it was found that his injury had become chronic. It may even be said that he is not the same striker anymore.

After the Southampton saga, he was released, and promptly went to Mexico. This brought the end to a dissapointing time for Delgado although this was considered best for both parties. Delagado did however leave a memorable event for the fans of Southampton. He scored the winning goal for Southampton in a 3-2 home victory over the then Premiership champions Arsenal. He memorably remarked on leaving the club that he would be, 'Dancing in the Streets' with the clubs fans the day Southampton won the Premiership. This absurd image became even more unlikely however when the club where relegated in the 2004/05 season.

Delgado was then transferred to Barcelona Sporting Club from UNAM Pumas on January 1, 2005, for an undisclosed amount. Before that, he played for Nacional, Pumas, Southampton and Aucas.

Delgado scored a goal at the 2002 World Cup, the first goal for the Ecuadorian team in a World Cup, against Mexico. Delgado was also the top scorer (with Hern�n Crespo) in the CONMEBOL qualifiers for the tournament, with nine goals.

Delgado is known for being a strong albeit rather slow player, equally apt in offense and defense, ready to score in all the matches. He is also known for his air prowess. However, critics point out that he is a bit of a "tweener", his shooting just not good enough to be a pure "number 11", and his finesse just not good enough to be a pure "number 10".

However, as of 2005, he is one of the prime Ecuadorian sports icons and the joint top scorer of the Ecuadorian national team that reached the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Source: netglimse.com