Tuesday, July 1, 2008

2008 Copa Libertadores Final: Players that Have Played Abroad

In cased you missed it, Ecuador's LDU beat Brazil's Fluminense (at nearly 9,000 feet altitude) with four first-half goals on their way to a 4-2 win in the first leg of South America's Copa Libertadores final last Wednesday. They're still far from putting away the series because they'll have to play in front of nearly 100,000 Brazilian fans at the Maracanã in Rio tomorrow night (where Flu beat Boca Juniors and São Paulo by two goals each in the last two rounds).

I always find it interesting to look into players past clubs to see their career progression prior to being on a "Championship-level" club. These are all of the players on Fluminense and LDU that have played in nations outside of Brazil and Ecuador respectively.


Fluminense Players That Have Played Outside of Brazil:

Player Club Club Country Years Abroad
Gabriel Malaga CF Spain 2005-06
Thiago Silva

FC Porto

Dynamo Moscow

Portugal

Russia

2004

2005

Luiz Alberto

Saint-Étienne

Real Sociedad

France

Spain

2000-01

2001-02/2004/05

Júnior César Santos Laguna Mexico 2005-06
Ygor IK Start Norway 2007 - (On Loan)
Somália

NK MIK CM Celje

Feyenoord

Al-Hilal

Busan

Slovenia

Netherlands

Saudi Arabia

Korea

1998-99

1999-2000

2003-04

2005

Washington

Fenerbahçe

Tokyo Verdy 1969

Urawa Reds

Turkey

Japan

Japan

2002

2005

2006-07

Thiago Neves Vegalta Sendai Japan 2006
Dodô

Ulsan Hyundai

Oita Trinita

Al-Ain

Korea

Japan

UAE

2003-04

2005

2006-07

Roger Vissel Kobe Japan 2004-05
Fabinho

Gamba Osaka

Shimizu S-Pulse

Japan

Japan

2002

2004

Dario Conca

River Plate

Universidad Catolica

Rosario Central

Argentina

Chile

Argentina

2002-04

2004-06

2006

Rafael Messina Italy 2004-06
David

Yverdon

Pogoń Szczecin

Switzerland

Poland

2000/03-05

2002

Ricardo Berna Vegalta Sendai Japan 1998




LDU Quito Players That Have Played Outside of Ecuador:

Player Club Club Nation Years Abroad
José Cevallos Once Caldas Colombia 2005
Norberto Araujo

Aldosivi

Arsenal de Sarandi

Racing de Cordoba

Sport Boys

Sporting Cristal

Argentina

Argentina

Argentina

Peru

Peru

1998-99

2000-01

2001

2002-03

2004-06

Agustin Delgado

Cruz Azul

Necaxa

Southampton

UNAM Pumas

Mexico

Mexico

England

Mexico

1998

1999-2001

2001-04

2005

Franklin Salas Red Star Belgrade Serbia 2007-08
Claudio Bieler

Colon de Santa Fe

Atlético Rafaela

Colo-Colo

Argentina

Argentina

Chile

2005-06

2006-07

2007

Joffre Guerrón

Boca Juniors

Getafe CF

Argentina

Spain

2005

After Tournament

Enrique Vera

Resistencia

Sol de America

Iteño

Paraguay

Paraguay

Paraguay

1999

2000-02

2003

Jairo Campos KAA Gent Belgium 2004
Damian Manso

Newell's Old Boys

SC Bastia

Xanthi

Argentina

France

Greece

1996-01/02-03/04-05

2001-02

2006-07




I've mentioned in the past that I follow the J-League, so I think it's pretty cool that Fluminense has 6 players that have played in Japan in their career. In fact, Washington was the leading scorer for the league champion Urawa Red Diamonds in 2006, with 26 goals and was also named to the league best eleven that season.

It's really amazing to see all of the former nations where the players have played, some of these guys are real journeymen. Here's a listing of the former nations that the finalist players have played in earlier in their career.

Fluminense: Past Nations Played In:
Spain
Portugal
Russia
France
Mexico
Norway
Slovenia
Netherlands
Saudi Arabia
Korea
Turkey
Japan
UAE
Argentina
Chile
Italy
Switzerland
Poland

LDU: Past Nations Played In:
Colombia
Argentina
Peru
Mexico
England
Serbia
Chile
Paraguay
Belgium
France
Greece

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