Ariel José Graziani Lentini (born June 7, 1971) is a former football player. He is a naturalized

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

ian striker who represented the Ecuador national team on 34 occasions between 1997 and 2000. After retiring in Ecuador he is only able to play amateur football, he has chosen to play for Argentinian fifth-level club Atlético Empalme since May, 2007.

Career

Graziani has been a top goalscorer for practically every team for which he has played. He made his professional debut in 1993 with

Newell's Old Boys Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football. A ...

of Argentina, where he was a teammate with

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...

until he transferred later that year to

Sport Boys Sport Boys Association, commonly referred to as Sport Boys or simply Boys, is a Peruvian football club based in the port city of Callao. It was founded on 28 July 1927. Its classic and historic rival is the Atlético Chalaco against whom dispute ...

of the

Peruvian First Division Peruvians ( es, peruanos) are the citizens of Peru. There were Andean and coastal ancient civilizations like Caral, which inhabited what is now Peruvian territory for several millennia before the Spanish conquest of Peru, Spanish conquest in th ...

. Graziani transferred to the Ecuadorian First Division to play for Aucas in 1995, and moved a year later to join Emelec. During his two years with the club, 1996 and 1997, he led the league in scoring while helping Emelec earn league titles. His standout play earned him a transfer to

Morelia Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid) is a city and municipal seat of the municipality of Morelia in the north-central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. The city is in the Guayangareo Valley and is the capital and larg ...

of the

Mexican Primera División The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in al ...

. Again he was one of the top goalscorers for his club and the league. In 1999, Ariel was acquired by

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 ...

for a transfer fee of slightly less than $2 million, which at the time was the highest transfer fee ever paid by the league. Graziani was allocated to

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

but played in only three games for the Revolution before he was traded to the

Dallas Burn Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

for Colombian international Leonel Álvarez. Ariel was the leading goalscorer for the Burn in 2000 with 15 goals and 2001 with 11 goals until he was traded to the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

for

Salvadoran Salvadorans (Spanish: ''Salvadoreños''), also known as Salvadorians (alternate spelling: Salvadoreans), are citizens of El Salvador, a country in Central America. Most Salvadorans live in El Salvador, although there is also a significant Salvado ...

international

Ronald Cerritos Ronald Osvaldo Cerritos Flores (born January 3, 1975, in San Salvador) is a Salvadoran former professional footballer who played as a striker. Cerritos is the all-time leader in assists of the Major League Soccer team, the San Jose Earthquakes ...

. In 2002 with the Earthquakes, Graziani, while the team's leading goalscorer with 15 goals, failed to connect adequately with strike partner

Landon Donovan Landon Timothy Donovan (born March 4, 1982) is an American former professional soccer player. Donovan is also the co-founder and vice-president of soccer operations for USL Championship side San Diego Loyal SC, and serves as strategic advisor fo ...

. MLS loaned out the final year of his contract. A bidding war between Emelec and

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 ...

ensued where, in the end, Barcelona offered MLS more money. In 2003, Graziani, was the top scorer in Ecuador with Barcelona SC. He also scored what was voted the top goal in that year's

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 ...

against the eventual winners

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

. In 2004, he signed with Lanús in Argentina but only managed 4 goals in 17 games and eventually left the same year to return to

and scored 8 goals from 18 games. In 2005, Graziani signed for

LDU 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 ...

. He played there until December, 2006, when he officially retired. Nevertheless, in May, 2007, he signed with Atlético Empalme, where he started his career. Empalme in 2007 played for

Santa Fe Province The Province of Santa Fe ( es, Provincia de Santa Fe, ) is a Provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco Province, Chaco (divided by the 28th ...

in zone 9 of the '' Torneo del Interior C'', a complex regional fifth-level tournament. Nowadays, Graziani holds a political position in his country of birth Argentina. He is the vice-mayor of a small town called Empalme Villa Constitución where he is trying to help the poorest people in his town.

Honours

Club

Club Sport Emelec Club Sport Emelec is an Ecuadorian sports club based in Guayaquil that is best known for their professional football team. The football team plays in the Ecuadorian Serie A, the highest level of professional football in the country. Emelec has ...

Serie A de Ecuador 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 ...

: 1996 *

: 2005

Nation

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 ...

Achievements

Graziani has played in 33 games for the Ecuador national team during his career, scoring 15 goals for his adopted country. He became top scorer at the 1999 Canada Cup, scoring three goals in three matches.

References

External links

*
Major League Soccer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graziani, Ariel 1971 births Living people Argentine emigrants to Ecuador Ecuadorian footballers Argentine footballers Ecuadorian people of Italian descent Argentine people of Italian descent Ecuador international footballers Ecuadorian expatriate footballers 1997 Copa América players 1999 Copa América players Newell's Old Boys footballers Sport Boys footballers S.D. Aucas footballers C.S. Emelec footballers C.D. Veracruz footballers Atlético Morelia players New England Revolution players FC Dallas players San Jose Earthquakes players Barcelona S.C. footballers Club Atlético Lanús footballers L.D.U. Quito footballers Argentine Primera División players Expatriate footballers in Ecuador Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Peru Expatriate soccer players in the United States Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Ecuadorian football managers Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars Liga MX players Peruvian Primera División players Naturalized citizens of Ecuador Association football forwards Sportspeople from Santa Fe Province C.D. Olmedo managers