Esteban Fuertes

Esteban Fuertes
Fuertes in 2008
Personal information
Full name Esteban Óscar Fuertes
Date of birth (1972-12-26) 26 December 1972 (age 52)
Place of birth Coronel Dorrego, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Centre forward
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 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)
International career‡
2009 Argentina 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:03, 16 October 2013 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18:20, 17 December 2010 (UTC)

Esteban Óscar Fuertes (born 26 December 1972) is an Argentine former footballer.

Club career

In July 1999, Fuertes was purchased for £2.3m by Jim Smith, manager of Derby County in England. He scored two early goals, including 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]

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 which had been recently promoted to the Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano.[5] He officially retired on 6 December 2013 after eleven appearances and three goals scored for the club.[6]

International career

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.

References

  1. ^ Andrews, Phil (28 August 1999). "Fuertes arrives with perfect timing". The Independent. London. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
  2. ^ "Sport: Football Everton slain by Oxford". BBC. 23 September 1999. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  3. ^ News of the World 8 December 2002 The bung busters demanded to see every letter, fax and document involving Derby's foreign transfers
  4. ^ Fuertes' last professional match. Archived 30 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine at Diario Olé (in Spanish)
  5. ^ El Bichi Fuertes retorna al fútbol en el recién ascendido Sport Boys at bolivia.com (in Spanish)
  6. ^ Se acaba la era 'Bichi' Fuertes en Sport Boys at elsol.com.bo (in Spanish)
  7. ^ El "Bichi" Fuertes se convirtió en el jugador "más viejo" en debutar en la Selección Archived 16 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine at El Argento (in Spanish)