Agustín Javier Delgado Chalá (born 23 December 1974) is an Ecuadorian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. Nicknamed ''Tín'', he was the all-time top scorer for the Ecuador national team with 31 goals in 71 games before being overtaken by

Enner Valencia Enner Remberto Valencia Lastra (born 4 November 1989) is an Ecuadorian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe and captains the Ecuador national team. He previously played for Emelec in Ecuador, where ...

. Delgado played professional club football in Ecuador, Mexico and England.

Club career

Early career

Delgado started his career in his native Ecuador with ESPOLI in 1991 before joining

Barcelona SC Barcelona Sporting Club () is an Ecuadorian sports club based in Guayaquil, known best for its professional football team. Internationally known as Barcelona de Ecuador, in Ecuador it is simply referred as Barcelona, El Idolo (BSC) or Barce. T ...

in 1994, where he played for one year, winning the

Ecuadorian Serie A The Liga Pro Betcris, simply known as the Liga Pro, or the Serie A, is a professional football league in Ecuador. At the top of the Ecuadorian football league system, it is the country's premier football competition. Contested by sixteen clubs, i ...

in 1995. He then joined El Nacional and again won the Ecuadorian league title, before returning to Barcelona and securing a third consecutive league winner's medal. In 1998, Delgado moved to Mexico where he had a brief spell at

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...

. He joined CONCACAF champions

Necaxa Impulsora del Deportivo Necaxa S.A. de C.V. (); often simply known as Necaxa, is a Mexican professional football club in Liga MX based in the city of Aguascalientes. It plays in the Estadio Victoria. History Foundation (Light and Power Comp ...

in 1999 and represented the club at the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship, scoring against

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...

in the group stage, and in the third-place play-off against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

he scored in normal time as well as the winning penalty in the shootout. In late 2001, after scoring nine times as Ecuador qualified for its first

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

, Necaxa accepted a £3.5m bid from English

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Southampton

Delgado moved to

in 2001. Unfortunately, he was dogged by injuries which restricted him to only a few games during his time with the Saints. Southampton tried to get him back to fitness after the injury he picked in Necaxa prior to the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

Qualifiers, but to no avail. It might have been a different story had the striker refused to play while injured during the

. The pressure on him to play was enormous, as Ecuadorians believed that, with 9 goals during the 2002 World cup qualifying campaign, he was indispensable; and naturally, Delgado dreamed of playing in a

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

. All that led to his decision to play despite injury while heavily medicated on painkillers. Upon return to England, it was found that his injury had become chronic, effectively destroying his future in Europe. He also alienated manager

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Cove ...

by refusing to learn English, and Strachan felt the player had been forced on the club and was very high maintenance. When pressed for his plans for the Ecuadorian, Strachan replied "I've got more important things to think about. I've got a yoghurt to finish by today, the expiry date is today. That can be my priority rather than Agustin Delgado." However, Delgado scored the winning goal for Southampton in a 3–2 home victory over the then Premiership champions

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. He also scored a goal against Liverpool in the League Cup.

Later career

After the unhappy spell at Southampton, he was released and returned to Ecuador to play for a

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...

based club Aucas, which was topping the Ecuador Serie A with the likes of

René Higuita José René Higuita Zapata (; born 27 August 1966) is a Colombian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was nicknamed ''El Loco'' ("The Madman") for his high-risk ' sweeper-keeper' playing style and his flair for the dr ...

and Gustavo Figueroa leading the way. He played an impressive half season and his return to form led to his joining Mexican club

UNAM The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

, where he helped the team win the league championship. Delgado was then transferred to

from

on 1 January 2005 for an undisclosed fee. While at

, he teamed up with his preferred Ecuador strike partner

Iván Kaviedes Jaime Iván Kaviedes Llorenty (born 24 October 1977) is an Ecuadorian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Club career Kaviedes rose to fame after scoring 43 goals in one season for Emelec in the 1998 Ecuadorian league. Thi ...

. With these two formidable strikers leading the attack, the

Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...

based club were expected to not only win championships, but to dominate the league. This did not happen. Delgado started strongly, but ended the season with only 7 goals. He was subsequently accused by the club president, Isidro Romero Carbo, of not taking the club seriously despite earning top wages. Following reports that Tin was partying late at wild clubs with teammates

Edwin Villafuerte Edwin Alberto Villafuerte Posligua (born 12 March 1979) is an Ecuadorian former goalkeeper who last played for Club Deportivo Quevedo. Club career Once dubbed ‘Ecuador’s New Hands’, goalkeeper Villafuerte found it difficult to sustain a f ...

and Walter Ayovi, prompting their exits from the prestigious club. Delgado then joined

L.D.U. Quito Liga Deportiva Universitaria (), often referred to as Liga de Quito, LDU, is an Ecuadorian professional football club based in Quito. They play in the Serie A, the highest level of the Ecuadorian professional football league. They play their ho ...

, a team regularly featuring in the

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...

and

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

. With his new club, Tin again returned to scoring form and with his goal exploits, he helped Liga surprisingly reach the quarterfinals of the

2006 Copa Libertadores The 2006 Copa Toyota Libertadores was the 47th edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's annual football club tournament. 38 teams from 11 football associations have taken part, starting with the first qualifying round played on 24 January 20 ...

. Delgado was one of eleven players banned for between 2 and 12 months for taking part in a vicious brawl at the end of LDU's 1–1 draw at home to Barcelona on 17 December 2006. Four Barcelona players were injured in the incident on the last day of the season which shocked the country and overshadowed the title won by El Nacional. The

Ecuadorian Football Federation The Ecuadorian Football Federation ( es, Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol or ) is the governing body of football in Ecuador. Its headquarters are in Quito, and it organizes the country's various football competitions and oversees the Ecuador ...

(FEF) said on its web site that the incident started with a clash between Delgado and his marker, Víctor Montoya. Montoya later denied that he had deliberately kicked Delgado's injured knee and received no sanction from the FEF. Delgado later said in the

National Congress of Ecuador National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

that he had been persecuted by the FEF. Delgado was then involved in a scandal at a night club on New Year's Eve and left the country to try to continue his career in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. However,

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

later blocked this by extending the playing ban internationally. The suspension was subsequently changed at an Extraordinary Congress of the FEF, and Delgado was allowed to resume his playing career after 6 months' suspension. In 2008, he was part of the squad that won the

, although he did not play in the final decisive game. In March 2009, the forward signed for Emelec until December 2009. During the 2010 season, he was a player/administrator at Valle de Chota in his native town. He helped guide the club to promotion from the Segunda Categoria to the

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

for the 2011 season. In February 2011, he announced his retirement from professional football to focus on administering the club.

International career

Delgado's first goal at the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

was also the first goal for the Ecuadorian team in a World Cup, against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Delgado was joint top scorer (with

Hernán Crespo Hernán Jorge Crespo (; born 5 July 1975) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player. He is the current manager of Qatari club Al-Duhail. A prolific striker, Crespo scored over 300 goals in a career spanning 19 years. At in ...

) in the

CONMEBOL The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL, , or CSF; es, Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol; pt, Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol) is the continental governing body of football in South America (apart from Guyana, Suri ...

qualifiers for the tournament with 9 goals. Delgado was known for being a strong player and an excellent finisher with either foot, but especially for his aerial prowess towering over opposing defences. He had a superb sense of positioning in the box and excellent field awareness. All this has given Tin an iconic status in Ecuador, and he obtained a reputation as one of the most feared South American strikers. He helped Ecuador qualify once again for the World Cup, contributing 5 goals in 10 games but stated that Germany 06 would be his last. In the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

, Delgado scored in the 80th minute in Ecuador's shock 2–0 win in their opening match against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. In the following game, he scored in the 55th-minute goal in their 3–0 victory over

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, enabling Ecuador to qualify alongside hosts

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

for the last 16. After the 2006 World Cup, Delgado announced his retirement from international football. He finished his international career with 71 caps and a record 31 goals for the national team.

Political career

In the Ecuadorian general election of 2013 Delgado was chosen as member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

for

Imbabura Province Imbabura () is a province located in the Andes of northern Ecuador. The capital is Ibarra. The people of the province speak Spanish, and a large portion of the population also speaks the Imbaburan Kichwa variety of the Quechua language. The s ...

. Delgado serves as member of

PAIS Alliance PAIS Alliance is a centre-left social democratic political party in Ecuador. In 2016, it had 979,691 members. Founded by Rafael Correa in April 2006, the party soon found success amid the "pink tide" period in Latin America. The party's early pe ...

Ulises de la Cruz Ulises Hernán de la Cruz Bernardo (born 8 February 1974 in Piquiucho, Carchi) is a retired Ecuadorian footballer, who since 2013 has been a member of his country's National Assembly for the governing PAIS Alliance. A defender, he played 10 ...

and

Iván Hurtado Iván Jacinto Hurtado Angulo (born 16 August 1974) is an Ecuadorian politician and former professional footballer who played as a centre back. With 168 international appearances for Ecuador between 1992 and 2014, he was the most capped South A ...

, former teammates of Delgado at the national team also serve for the Pais Alliance in the National Assembly. Delgado, who has African ancestry, stutters and has been the object of ridicule on

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

and by the cartoonist Xavier Bonilla in the newspaper ''

El Universo ''El Universo'' (Spanish for "The Universe") is one of the largest daily newspapers in Ecuador. It was founded in 1921 and the first edition was published September 16 of the same year. Its headquarters are located in Guayaquil. The newspaper ha ...

.'' The cartoonist and the newspaper were sanctioned by La SUPERCOM, La Superintendencia de la Información y Comunicación, an Ecuadorean agency that regulates communications. According to

Freedom House Freedom House is a non-profit, majority U.S. government funded organization in Washington, D.C., that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Wil ...

, a Washington, DC based NGO, the sanction was evidence of

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

by the Correa government.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

Honours

Barcelona SC *

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

: 1995, 1997 El Nacional *

: 1996 UNAM * Primera División: 2004 Apertura L.D.U. Quito *

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Ecuador *

Canada Cup The Canada Cup (french: Coupe Canada) was an invitational international ice hockey tournament held on five occasions between 1976 and 1991. The brainchild of Toronto lawyer Alan Eagleson, the tournament was created to meet demand for a true world ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

References

External links

* *
International statistics
at

rsssf The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around the ...

Agustín Delgado shot a goal against Costa Rica at Worldcup 2006Player's own website (Spanish)Official Myspace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delgado, Agustin 1974 births Living people People from Piquiucho Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in England Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Association football forwards Ecuadorian footballers Ecuador international footballers 1997 Copa América players 1999 Copa América players 2001 Copa América players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2004 Copa América players 2006 FIFA World Cup players C.D. ESPOLI footballers Barcelona S.C. footballers Independiente Medellín footballers C.D. El Nacional footballers Cruz Azul footballers Club Necaxa footballers Southampton F.C. players S.D. Aucas footballers Club Universidad Nacional footballers L.D.U. Quito footballers C.S. Emelec footballers Liga MX players Premier League players Ecuadorian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Mexico Members of the second National Assembly (Ecuador) PAIS Alliance politicians Ecuadorian sportsperson-politicians