Esteban Fuertes
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Oscar Esteban Fuertes | ||
| Date of birth | 26 December 1972 | ||
| Place of birth | Coronel Dorrego, Buenos Aires, Argentina | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Playing position | Centre forward | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Retired | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Independiente | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1992 | Independiente | 1 | (0) |
| 1992–1993 | El Porvenir | 26 | (17) |
| 1993–1995 | Los Andes | 68 | (31) |
| 1995–1996 | Platense | 29 | (9) |
| 1996–1997 | Racing Club | 33 | (8) |
| 1997–1999 | Colón | 62 | (23) |
| 1999 | Derby County | 8 | (1) |
| 2000 | Colón | 18 | (17) |
| 2000 | RC Lens | 26 | (7) |
| 2001–2002 | Tenerife | 26 | (5) |
| 2002–2003 | River Plate | 34 | (12) |
| 2003–2006 | Colón | 81 | (35) |
| 2007 | Universidad Católica | 35 | (19) |
| 2008–2012 | Colón | 122 | (63) |
| 2013 | Sport Boys | 11 | (3) |
| Total | 577 | (250) | |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2009 | Argentina | 1 | (0) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:03, 16 October 2013 (UTC). | |||
Oscar Esteban "Bichi" Fuertes (born 26 December 1972 Coronel Dorrego, Buenos Aires) is a former Argentine football striker who played most of his career for Colón de Santa Fe.
Playing career
Club
Fuertes has been used as a winger and as a striker in his career, he is a classic journeyman footballer, having played for 10 different teams in Argentina, France, England, Chile, and Spain.
Fuertes began his career at Primera División club Independiente in 1991, but he was soon released. He went to play for El Porvenir and then Los Andes in the Argentine second division.
He made his return to the Primera with Platense in 1995, but he only stayed there for one year before moving on to Independiente's fiercest rivals Racing Club de Avellaneda. Again he only spent one season with the club before he found his way to the club that has become his spiritual home; Colón de Santa Fe.
It was at Colón where he became the Primera's top scorer in 2000, he was Goleador with 17 goals in the Clausura tournament, this feat earned him a lucrative transfer to Europe.
In July 1999, Fuertes was purchased for £2.3m by Jim Smith, manager of Derby County in England. He scored two early goals, the winner against Everton in the league[1] and another against Swansea City in the League Cup.[2] However, weeks later, he was refused entry back into Britain when immigration officials discovered that his Italian passport was forged. Derby were able to sell him on to Lens in France for £2.8m.[3] His final European club was Tenerife in Spain.
Fuertes returned to Argentina in 2002 to join River Plate, where he won the Clausura 2003, but again he only stayed for one season before returning to Colón de Santa Fe. He has now become the club's all-time top goalscorer with 138 goals for the club.
Fuertes retired from professional football on 25 June 2012 in a match against Banfield scoring two goals.[4] A year following his retirement, Fuertes signed a six-month contract for Bolivian side Sport Boys Warnes which had been recently promoted to the Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano.[5] He officially retired on 6 December 2013 after 11 appearances and 3 goals scored for the club.[6]
International
On 20 May 2009 Fuertes made his international debut in a friendly match against Panama aged 36, making him the oldest player ever to make his debut for the Argentina national team.[7] The Argentina team made up of players based in the Primera División Argentina won the game 3–1.
Honours
- River Plate
- Individual
References
- ↑ Andrews, Phil (28 August 1999). "Fuertes arrives with perfect timing". London: The Independent. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
- ↑ "Sport: Football Everton slain by Oxford". BBC. 23 September 1999. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
- ↑ News of the World 8 December 2002 The bung busters demanded to see every letter, fax and document involving Derby's foreign transfers
- ↑ Fuertes' last professional match. at Diario Olé (Spanish)
- ↑ El Bichi Fuertes retorna al fútbol en el recién ascendido Sport Boys at bolivia.com (Spanish)
- ↑ Se acaba la era 'Bichi' Fuertes en Sport Boys at elsol.com.bo (Spanish)
- ↑ El "Bichi" Fuertes se convirtió en el jugador "más viejo" en debutar en la Selección at El Argento (Spanish)
External links
- Statistics at Irish Times
- (Spanish) BDFA profile
- (Spanish) Argentine Primera statistics
- (Spanish) Soccerway profile
- Esteban Fuertes career statistics at Soccerbase
