Arnoldo Iguarán

Arnoldo Alberto Iguarán Zúñiga (born 18 January 1957), also known as El Guajiro, is a Colombian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He earned 68 caps for the Colombia national team between 1979 and 1993, playing at the 1990 FIFA World Cup and two Copa América tournaments. With 25 international goals, he was the nation's sole top scorer of all time until Radamel Falcao tied him in 2015.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Iguarán and the second or maternal family name is Zúñiga.
Arnoldo Iguarán
Personal information
Full name Arnoldo Alberto Iguarán Zúñiga
Date of birth (1957-01-18) 18 January 1957
Place of birth Riohacha, Colombia
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1978–1981 Cúcuta Deportivo[1] 156 (44)
1982 Deportivo Táchira
1982 Deportes Tolima[2] 18 (4)
1983 Independiente Santa Fe 11 (3)
1983–1991 Millonarios[3] 258 (88)
1992 Atlético Junior[4] 28 (3)
1993–1995 Millonarios 78 (32)
1995–1997 Cúcuta Deportivo 35 (14)
International career
1979–1993 Colombia 68 (25)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Born in Riohacha, Iguarán started and ended his club football career with Cúcuta Deportivo. He spent 12 years at Millonarios, and won the Colombian league in 1987 and 1988 with the club. In 13 seasons with Millonarios, he scored 120 goals in 336 league games.[5] Iguarán returned to Cúcuta Deportivo and retired from playing at age 40, making him one of the oldest players in Colombian league history.[6]

International career

Iguarán is also considered one of the best players ever in the Colombia national team, where he previously held the goalscoring record with 25 goals in 68 games between 1979 and 1993, until it was tied by Radamel Falcao in 2015.[7] One of the most memorable victories he had while playing at the Colombian team was in the 1991 Copa América, where they defeated Brazil 2–0, the first goal was scored by Antony de Ávila, and the second one was scored by the "El Guájiro" Iguarán himself, in the 66th minute of the match.

Since 1991, Iguarán had been considered Colombia's all-time goal scorer with 25 goals until Radamel Falcao tied him in 2015. During Falcao's 24th goal in a friendly match against Kuwait, a match commentator on Colombian television claimed that Falcao had tied Iguarán at 24 goals sparking a nationwide debate on whether Iguarán had scored 24 or 25 goals.[8] The controversy stems from a 1988 friendly match against the United States in which Iguarán scored both of the game's goals. However, video evidence suggests that one of the goals deflected off teammate Alexis García. Regardless, the match report credited Iguarán with both goals and both FIFA and the Colombian Football Federation have Iguarán on record with 25 goals. When interviewed by Colombian radio about the controversy Iguarán said, "In my records I have 25 and the Federation has 25 as well. Anyway, I don't worry about that and I won't lose any sleep over it. I think that all records are meant to be broken and this one was not going to be the exception. Someday, another striker had to come and break it and truthfully it is an honor that it's Falcao, a player I much admire."[9]

Legacy

After his retirement in the 1990s, a football academy was founded in his honor by his brother Camilo Iguarán.

Career statistics
Scores and results list Colombia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Iguarán goal.
List of international goals scored by Arnoldo Iguarán[10]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
122 August 1979Estadio Nemesio Camacho, Bogotá, Colombia Venezuela1–04–01979 Copa América
22 March 1985Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay Paraguay2–03–0Friendly
319 April 1985Estadio Nemesio Camacho, Bogotá, Colombia Paraguay1–12–2Friendly
428 April 1985Estadio Nemesio Camacho, Bogotá, Colombia Uruguay2–12–1Friendly
51 July 1987Estadio Gigante de Arroyito, Rosario, Argentina Bolivia2–02–01987 Copa América
65 July 1987Estadio Gigante de Arroyito, Rosario, Argentina Paraguay1–03–01987 Copa América
72–0
83–0
914 May 1988Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, United States United States1–0[n 1][11]2–0Friendly
102–0
1119 May 1988Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland Finland3–13–1Friendly
127 August 1988Estadio Nemesio Camacho, Bogotá, Colombia Uruguay1–02–1Gonzalo Jimenez Cup
139 March 1989Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla, Colombia Argentina1–01–0Friendly
1427 June 1989Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, United States Haiti2–04–0Friendly
153 July 1989Estádio Fonte Nova, Salvador, Brazil Venezuela2–04–21989 Copa América
164–1
179 July 1989Estádio do Arruda, Recife, Brazil Peru1–01–11989 Copa América
1820 August 1989Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla] Colombia Ecuador1–02–01990 FIFA World Cup qualification
192–0
2027 August 1989Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay Paraguay1–11–21990 FIFA World Cup qualification
2117 September 1989Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla] Colombia Paraguay1–12–11990 FIFA World Cup qualification
224 May 1990Guaranteed Rate Field, Chicago, United States Poland1–02–11990 Marlboro Cup
236 June 1991Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden Sweden2–12–2Friendly
2413 July 1991Estadio Sausalito, Viña del Mar, Chile Brazil2–02–01991 Copa América
2517 July 1991Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Santiago, Chile Chile1–01–11991 Copa América

Honours

Deportivo Táchira

Millonarios

Individual

Notes
  1. The first goal is credited to Iguarán by FIFA and FCF, however some sources credit it to Alexis García.

References
  1. Statistics at Golgolgol.net
  2. "Statistics at Golgolgol.net". Archived from the original on 21 February 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  3. "Statistics at Golgolgol.net". Archived from the original on 12 January 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  4. Statistics at Golgolgol.net
  5. "Iguarán, el mejor volante o delantero que jugó en Millonarios y Santa Fe" [Iguarán, the best midfielder or forward to play for both Millonarios and Santa Fe] (in Spanish). El Espectador. 5 February 2010.
  6. Rozo Castiblanco, Fabián M. (27 July 2009). "Antony de Ávila batiría récord en el balompié nacional" [Antony de Ávila would break the record in the national football league] (in Spanish). El Espectador.
  7. "Radamel Falcao: Manchester United striker equals goal record". BBC Sport. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  8. "¿Falcao está a uno o dos goles del récord de Arnoldo Iguarán?" [Is Falcao one or two goals from Arnoldo Iguarán's record?] (in Spanish). ComuTricolor. Archived from the original on 28 March 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  9. "¿Son 24 0 25 goles? La polémica en torno a Falcao e Iguarán" [Is it 24 or 25 goals? The controversy around Falcao and Iguarán] (in Spanish). HSB Noticias. Archived from the original on 1 July 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  10. Mamrud, Roberto (12 September 2002). "Arnoldo Alberto Iguarán - Goals in International Matches". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
  11. "- YouTube". YouTube.
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