The Last of His Kind | Juan Roman Riquelme
Juan Román Riquelme. Pure genius. Did it his way.
To many of us, Riquelme was the last pure number 10, a player that controlled every aspect of his team’s attacking movements. The ball belonged to him and he alone decided who, when and where that ball needed to go. Riquelme was a mind reader, not in a literal sense of course, but because he always did something that once he did it, we were happy to see. A true artist - this number 10 never failed to deliver.
Growing up, I was fully aware that Riquelme was doing amazing things all over South American pitches, so when he moved to Barcelona in 2002, it seemed the perfect club for a player like him. After all, Barcelona is the home for the romantic fan and the beautiful player. I was beyond excited because I was going to be able to see him every week. However, as we all know, it didn’t exactly work out at Camp Nou, but he found his place at Villarreal, and it was here that truly got to see Riquelme at his best in La Liga.
We all love football for many different reasons that range from social, historical, familiar or because we saw a player doing something incredible and that was it for us. Riquelme was not the reason why I fell in love with the game, but he is one of the main reasons why that love never faded away. The best way to describe him might just be to say, he was a poor man’s Zidane. Not the fastest runner, annoyingly strong, brilliant mind, otherworldly vision, magnificent passing, strong shot, silky skills but also strong willed, stubborn, unavailable to change his ways.
Football is increasingly becoming a game of speed, of pure athletes, capable of covering 50 metres in seconds, but during a period of time, our game was controlled by a different kind of player - the slow but graceful moving, full of flair and skill. The likes Ortega, Zidane, Deco, Aimar, Baggio, Del Piero, Totti, Rui Costa and obviously Riquelme first spring to mind. Is he better than most of the players I named? Probably not, but there is a unique quality to the Argentinian that few others could replicate.
Riquelme refused to be rushed, things were done, when he thought they should be done and that’s how he played throughout his career, always under his own terms. Professional football has largely moved away from this type of players and I totally understand why, but growing up (and things are never as good as they were when we were growing up) football was filled with these characters. Characters that commanded a certain aura, that were special, it was basically ten players plus THAT player.
We will see other players similar to Cristiano Ronaldo (we are already seeing Mbappe) and even Messi, we got to see Maradona, but I have strong doubts we will ever see another player quite like Riquelme and I find that fascinating.
Let me tell you a story, more than 20 years ago, when a popular football management game exploded onto the scene, and all of us spent unhealthy amount of hours playing it, and I was no exception. As always, I would pick my team, FC Porto most of the times and then proceed to sell half the squad so I could afford to sign Riquelme for my side. Even now, in the latest installment of the game, I still reminisce about signing him each and every time. (I may or may not have created him on the game’s database!).
I treasure skill, passing and attitude above all other things in football, and Riquelme was the pinnacle of it. Football needs those special characters, that create bridges between our reality and the world of fantasy, because in the end, we watch football to feel things: to fall in love; to be amazed; to celebrate moments and these players, who are different, brings us closer to those dreams.
Argentina is a hotbed for these players, because passion and skill, attitude and romance, walk hand in hand and these geniuses are allowed to grow and flourish, which in turn gives us renewed chances to see them shine. Another point worth mentioning, is the fact these players, seem to find it easier to show their excellence playing for smaller clubs, Maradona at Napoli, Riquelme at Villarreal, Aimar at Valencia, Ortega at Valencia and Sampdoria, amongst other examples.
This is not a love letter to Riquelme. This is a thank you letter to my favourite player ever. Not the best, not the most amazing, but a truly unique genius, who did it his way, and that’s all any of us can dream of.
This piece was kindly written for @TFHBs by Jonee Joao. You can follow him on Twitter/X here - @Jonee13
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