Hámilton Ricard Cuesta (; born 12 January 1974) is a Colombian former

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 ...

who played as a striker. He played for clubs in 10 different countries over the course of his career, including Colombian sides Deportivo Cali,

Cortuluá Cortuluá, officially named Cortuluá Fútbol Club S. A. and previously known as Corporación Club Deportivo Tuluá, is a Colombian football club from the municipality of Tuluá in the Valle del Cauca. It was founded in 1967 and plays in the Cate ...

, Independiente Santa Fe and

Deportes Quindío Deportes Quindío is a professional Colombian football club based in Armenia that currently plays in the Categoría Primera B. The club was founded on 8 January 1951, and its best achievement was winning the 1956 league tournament. They play thei ...

, English club

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia ( bg, ЦСКА София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sport ...

in Bulgaria, Emelec in Ecuador, Japanese side

Shonan Bellmare is a Japanese professional football club based in Hiratsuka, in the west of Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Hiratsuka ...

APOEL APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...

in Cyprus, Spanish side Numancia, Uruguayan club Danubio and Concepción in Chile.

Career

Ricard was signed for

by manager

Bryan Robson Bryan Robson OBE (born 11 January 1957) is an English football manager and former player. He began his career with West Bromwich Albion in 1972, where he amassed over 200 appearances and was club captain before moving to Manchester United in ...

for a fee of £2 million in 1998. He signed his signature on a napkin because Middlesbrough had no documents. Over a four-year Middlesbrough career, he scored 33 goals in 115 appearances. He was twice Middlesbrough's top scorer. When

Steve McClaren Stephen McClaren (born 3 May 1961) is an English former professional footballer and coach who currently serves as an assistant coach for Premier League club Manchester United, in his second spell at the club. McClaren began his coaching caree ...

took over the reins, Ricard was deemed surplus to requirements and allowed to move to

on a free transfer. After one season in Bulgaria, Ricard moved to Japan, where he joined Second Division side

. Since leaving Middlesbrough, Ricard courted controversy both on and off the pitch. In 2002, he was involved in a car accident that killed a passenger, and was banned from football for 12 months for attacking a referee and making obscene gestures to the crowd while playing for Guayaquil side Emelec. The ban was reduced on appeal, and since then, Ricard attempted to move back to Europe to rejuvenate his career. He briefly played in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

for

, before signing a year's deal with Numancia for the 2005–06 season. He played 16 times, scoring two goals. After he moved to Danubio in Uruguay where he scored 12 goals and was voted as one of their best players of the decade. In June 2007 he trialled with

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional association ...

team

Shanghai Shenhua Shanghai Shenhua F.C. () is a Chinese professional football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under license from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The term ''shen hua'' literally translates as "the Flower of Shanghai" in ...

, subsequently signing a contract with the Chinese club. Ricard has represented Colombia 27 times, scoring five goals.

Club statistics

Personal life

Ricard has a daughter.

International goals

Honours

Club

: **

A3 Champions Cup A3 Champions Cup (also known as East Asian Champions Cup) was an annual football (soccer) tournament jointly organized by the China PR, Japan and Korea Republic football Association. It began in 2003, involving the league champions of China, Japan ...

: 2007

References

External links