Career

Valderrama began his career at Unión Magdalena of the Colombian First Division in 1981. He also played for Millonarios and Deportivo Cali before joining the Montpellier of the French First Division in 1988. He then went on to play for Independiente Medellín and then Atlético Junior, for whom he won the Colombian championship in 1993 and 1995. In 1996, he went to the US to play for the Tampa Bay Mutiny (1996-97, 2000-01), Miami Fusion (1998-99), and Colorado Rapids (2001-02). While a member of the Mutiny, the team would sell Carlos Valderrama wigs at Tampa Stadium. In Major League Soccer, Valderrama scored relatively few goals (16) for a midfielder, but is the league's second all-time leader in assists (114) after Steve Ralston (121), a former teammate. In 2005, he was named to the MLS All-Time Best XI. He was also named one of the top players of the 20th century by Pelé in 1999.

MLS career

Valderrama began his Major League Soccer career with the Tampa Bay Mutiny in the league's inaugural year of 1996, and won its first Most Valuable Player award. In 2000 Valderrama recorded the only 20+ assist season in MLS history—ending the season with 26—a record that remains intact today, and which MLS itself suggested was an "unbreakable" record in a 2012 article. Valderrama remained in the league until 2002, playing for the Mutiny, Miami Fusion, and the Colorado Rapids in his eight-year American soccer career.

Retirement as player

In February 2004, Valderrama ended his 22-year career in a tribute match at the Metropolitan stadium of Barranquilla, with some of the most important football players of South America, such as Diego Maradona, Enzo Francescoli and José Luis Chilavert.

Valderrama has since become assistant manager of Atlético Junior. On November 1, 2007, Valderrama accused a referee of corruption by waving cash in the face of Oscar Julian Ruiz when the official awarded a penalty to América de Cali. Junior lost the match 4-1, which ended the club's hopes of playoff qualification.

Playing style

Although Valderrama was known for being a "classic number ten" playing behind the forwards, as was typical of South American sides of that era, in reality, Valderrama was tactically speaking a natural deep-lying playmaker, which is a fundamentally different role than that of the traditional attacking midfielder. Valderrama's instantly striking features were, of course, his hair, but perhaps more importantly, his agility and very quick and electric feet; his footwork was similar to that of much smaller and shorter players, which for a player of Valderrama's build and height is not a common physical feature. Although his vision and passing ability were considered to be no lesser than the best European players of the time, it was his balance and ability to shield the ball that differentiated him from most of his peers; his ball retention ability was always the subject of praise, not only effective from a practical stand point, but also unique from an aesthetic stand point, which marked out Valderrama as an interesting player to watch.

In that respect, former French defender Laurent Blanc, who played with Valderrama in Montpellier, described Valderrama perhaps more accurately than anyone else, when he said “In the fast and furious European game he wasn’t always at his ease. He was a natural exponent of ‘toque’, keeping the ball moving. But he was so gifted that we could give him the ball when we didn’t know what else to do with it knowing he wouldn’t lose it… and often he would do things that most of us only dream about!”. Most people tend to remember Valderrama mostly for his hair and then for his passing ability, but in reality his strongest attributes were his ball retention ability and his aesthetic value as an artistic entertainer, which Laurent Blanc described so concisely and yet so accurately.

Valderrama's passing was highly accurate and versatile to the point where he held a consistent rate of assists, and was often involved in plays that often related to goals. This also involved free kicks, whether supporting his teammates, or attempts on goal. His creativity made him very influential, to the point where he became a known legend throughout South America, and eventually throughout the world of football.

Aside from his passing talents, Valderrama held very precise ball-control and dribbling abilities that were supported by quick reactions, and his disciplined mindset. This allowed him to perform impressive plays that have been highlighted throughout his career. A team-player, Valderrama was also known to be an extremely selfless player for both club, and nation.

One of his most impressive moments, was during the 1990 FIFA World Cup last group stage match against Germany. In a game where Colombia needed at least a draw to survive into the next round, Pierre Littbarski scored what appeared to be the winning goal in the 88th minute. However, within the last seconds of extra time, Valderrama made a crucial pass to Freddy Rincon who equalized immediately and saved Colombia into the next round.

Personal life

Valderrama is married and has three children. Valderrama was the only Colombian to feature in FIFA's 125 Top Living Football Players list in March 2004. He is currently a coach for a football academy called Clearwater Galactics in Clearwater, Florida.

Honours

Club

Montpellier HSC

• French Cup: 1990

Atletico Junior

• Colombian Championship: 1993, 1995

Tampa Bay Mutiny

• MLS Supporters' Shield: 1996

Individual

• Copa América MVP: 1987
• South American Footballer of the Year: 1987, 1993
• South American Team of the Year: 1987, 1993, 1996
• MLS All-Star of the Year: 1996
• Major League Soccer MVP: 1996
• FIFA 100
• Golden Foot: 2013, as football legend
• World Soccer: The 100 Greatest Footballers of All Time

Other recognition

Valderrama appeared on the cover of International Superstar Soccer Pro 98. In the Nintendo 64 version, he is referred to by his nickname, El Pibe. A 22-foot bronze statue of Valderrama, created by Colombian artist Amilkar Ariza, was erected outside Estadio Eduardo Santos in Valderrama's birthplace of Santa Marta in 2006. Valderrama has also received a Legend card in EA Sports' soccer video game FIFA 15.

Statistics

Club performance			League		Cup		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Colombia			League		Cup		Total
1981	Unión Magdalena
1982
1983
1984	Millonarios
1985	Deportivo Cali
1986
1987
France			League		Coupe de France		Total
1988-89	Montpellier	Division 1	24	1
1989-90			18	1
1990-91			35	2
Spain			League		Copa del Rey		Total
1990-91	Real Valladolid	La Liga	17	1
Colombia			League		Cup		Total
1992	Independiente Medellín
1993	Atlético Junior		35	4
1994			18	1
1995			29	0
USA			League		Open Cup		Total
1996	Tampa Bay Mutiny	Major League Soccer	23	4	1	1	24	5
1997			20	3	1	0	21	3
1998	Miami Fusion	Major League Soccer	18	2	1	0	19	2
1999			4	1	0	0	4	1
1999	Tampa Bay Mutiny	Major League Soccer	27	3	2	0	29	3
2000			32	1	2	0	34	1
2001			12	1	1	0	13	1
2001	Colorado Rapids	Major League Soccer	12	0	0	0	12	0
2002			27	1	2	0	29	1
2003			0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	Colombia
	France		77	4
	Spain		17	1
	USA		175	16	10	1	185	17
Career total

International goals

Scores and results lists Colombia's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	1 July 1987	Estadio Gigante de Arroyito, Rosario, Argentina	Bolivia	1-0	2-0	1987 Copa América
2.	30 March 1988	Estadio Centenario, Armenia, Colombia	Canada	2-0	3-0	Friendly
3.	24 June 1989	Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, United States	United States	1-0	1-0
4.	27 June 1989		Haiti	3-0	4-0
5.	9 June 1990	Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna, Italy	United Arab Emirates	2-0	2-0	1990 FIFA World Cup
6.	22 July 1995	Estadio Domingo Burgueño, Maldonado, Uruguay	United States	2-0	4-1	1995 Copa América
7.	7 July 1996	Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla, Colombia	Uruguay	2-0	3-1	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
8.	20 August 1997		Bolivia	2-0	3-0
9.	16 November 1997	Estadio Alberto J. Armando, Buenos Aires, Argentina	Argentina	1-0	1-1
10.	23 May 1998	Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, United States	Scotland	1-0	2-2	Friendly
11.	31 May 1998	Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany	Germany	1-3	1-3

[ Source: Wikipedia ]