Fabricio Fabio Fuentes (born 13 October 1976) is an
Argentine
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...
retired
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
central defender
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
.
He competed professionally, other than in his country, in France, Mexico and Spain, amassing Primera División totals of 218 games and 18 goals over the course of ten seasons.
Club career
Fuentes was born in Las Acequias. He began his career playing for
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 ...
in 1996, leaving the following year for
Quilmes Atlético Club
Quilmes Atlético Club () is an Argentine sports club based in the Quilmes district of Greater Buenos Aires. Established in 1887 (although the date of foundation is still under dispute), Quilmes is the oldest club of Argentina still competing i ...
in the
Argentine second division
Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, in English "National B Division", and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 37 tea ...
before rejoining Newell's in 1998.
In 2001, Fuentes was signed for his first spell at
Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea''
Brands and enterprises
...
, on a
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
450,000 fee (for 50% of his transfer rights). In January 2003 he was sold to
Mexican
Mexican may refer to:
Mexico and its culture
*Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America
** People
*** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants
*** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
club
Querétaro F.C.
Querétaro Fútbol Club, also called ''Gallos Blancos de Querétaro'', is a Mexican professional football club based in Querétaro City. Querétaro plays in the Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football league system. Their colors are blue, ...
for US$1,200,000 but, in the transfer agreement, it was established that the player would stay with Vélez until the end of the season.
However, after a good last months as Vélez's
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
, Fuentes' value increased, and he was immediately sold by Querétaro to
En Avant Guingamp
En Avant Guingamp (, en, Forward Guingamp), commonly referred to as EA Guingamp, EAG, or simply Guingamp (), is a professional Football in France, football club based in the Communes of France, commune of Guingamp in France's Brittany region. ...
for US$2,000,000, before having playing any official game in Mexico. After half a season in France he returned to Vélez, helping the team win the
league
League or The League may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band
* ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football
Sports
* Sports league
* Rugby league, full contact footba ...
's ''
Clausura
The ' and ' tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is div ...
'' in
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
.
Following this success, Fuentes returned to Mexico with
F.C. Atlas
Atlas Fútbol Club () is a Mexican professional football club based in Guadalajara, Jalisco that currently plays in Liga MX. It plays home matches at the Estadio Jalisco.
Founded in 1916, Atlas has won three league titles and four domestic ...
, but he only stayed one season before moving again, this time to
Villarreal CF
Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, th ...
in Spain, where he re-joined former Vélez teammate
Leandro Somoza
Leandro Daniel Somoza (born 26 January 1981) is an Argentine football coach and former player who played as a defensive midfielder.
Club career
Somoza began his professional career playing for Vélez Sársfield in the Argentine Primera in 2001 ...
as well as fellow Argentines
Rodolfo Arruabarrena
Rodolfo Martín Arruabarrena (born 20 July 1975) is an Argentine professional football manager and former footballer, who is the current head coach of the United Arab Emirates national football team.
As a footballer, he played as a left back ...
Juan Román Riquelme
Juan Román Riquelme (; born 24 June 1978) is an Argentine former professional footballer and current vice-president of Boca Juniors, the club where he spent the majority of his playing career.Gonzalo Rodríguez. During his debut campaign he benefited from a serious knee injury to the latter and scored four times in 33
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 ...
games; the following years, however, he returned to the bench, but continued to be used regularly even though he also suffered serious knee problems in January 2008.
On 4 January 2010, Fuentes was released by Villarreal upon the player's request, signing with Atlas and thus returning to the side after three-and-a-half years.
International career
Fuentes played once for
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
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 ...
on 9 March 2005 in which the former only fielded players from the domestic league. He scored in his own net, in an eventual 1–1 draw.
Honours
;Vélez
*
Argentine Primera División
The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA).
Th ...