Edwin Arturo Congo Murillo (born 7 October 1976) is a Colombian retired 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 ...

. Basing his game in physical display, he played most of his professional career in Spain, appearing for a host of clubs in various league levels and amassing league totals of 164 matches and 33 goals (44 games and three goals in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

) over eight seasons. Congo represented

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 ...

amongst others, without any impact as he was loaned for most of the duration of his contract.

Club career

After impressive performances with

Once Caldas Once Caldas S.A., simply known as Once Caldas, is a professional Colombian football team based in Manizales, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Palogrande stadium. They were the surprise winners ...

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

-born Congo was acquired by

giants

in 1999. However, he would not register one single league appearance for the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

side during his stay there (his only season was 2001–02), while also serving loans to

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club colo ...

Vitória S.C. Vitória Sport Clube, commonly known as Vitória de Guimarães, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Guimarães that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top-flight of football in Portugal. Vitória de Guimarães have finished thir ...

and

Toulouse FC Toulouse Football Club is French professional football club based in Toulouse. The club was founded in 1970 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the premier division of French football. Toulouse plays its home matches at the Stadium de Toulouse lo ...

. Congo's most steady period in Spain, and abroad overall, was lived at

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante ...

– two top flight promotions, with eight goals scored in the 2003–04 campaign – while he also netted 11 in 2006–07 for

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, P ...

also in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. In 2007–08, Congo had an uneventful Spanish top flight stint with

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football club based in Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 23 December 1889, 2 days before Christmas, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play i ...

, being released at the end of the season. With the following campaign already started, he decided to join

CD Olímpic de Xàtiva Club Deportivo Olímpic de Xàtiva is a Spanish football team based in Xàtiva, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1932 it currently plays in Regional Preferente, holding home games at Campo de Futbol La Murta. History Football in Xàtiv ...

in the Valencian regional championships as he was residing in the area, while also trying to keep himself fit while waiting for an offer from a mid-to-high level team in Europe. He scored three times in his first two matches. Congo retired from football in 2009 at the age of 33, after another brief spell in amateur football also in Spain.

International career

A Colombian international, Congo represented the nation at the

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 ...

and

2004 Copa América The 2004 Copa América was the 41st edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body, and was held in P ...

tournaments, being

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

a total of 17 times.

Personal life

In May 2020, Congo was arrested in Spain for his alleged part in a drugs trafficking operation. He denied accusations and was released after being questioned by Spanish police.Edwin Congo: Former Colombia international claims innocence following arrest
- BBC

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Congo, Edwin 1976 births Living people Footballers from Bogotá Colombian footballers Men's association football forwards Categoría Primera A players Once Caldas footballers La Liga players Segunda División players Real Madrid CF players Real Valladolid players Levante UD footballers Sporting de Gijón players Recreativo de Huelva players CD Olímpic de Xàtiva footballers Primeira Liga players Vitória S.C. players Ligue 1 players Toulouse FC players Colombia men's international footballers 1999 Copa América players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2004 Copa América players Colombian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in France Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Colombian expatriate sportspeople in France