Iván René Valenciano Pérez (born 18 March 1972) is a Colombian 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 ...

who played as forward. He is the second top goalscorer of all-time in the Colombian Primera A with 217 goals, behind Argentine Sergio Galván Rey, who surpasses him with 224 goals. During his first spell at

Atlético Junior Club Deportivo Popular Junior F.C. S.A. (), commonly known as Junior de Barranquilla, by its old name Atlético Junior, or simply as Junior, is a Colombian professional football team based in Barranquilla, that currently plays in the Categoría ...

, he scored many goals and was visibly overweight. Due to this, he earned the nickname "El Gordito de Oro" (The Golden Fat Man).

Club career

Junior

Valenciano was born in Barranquilla. He debuted as a professional player in the

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

from Barranquilla, on 23 October 1988 in a match against Independiente Santa Fe played in Bogotá, in which he scored a goal. Since then, there would be the beginning of a long history of goals that covered two decades – he was the top goal scorer for Junior six times. In 1991, only being 19 years old, he scored 30 goals, winning his first Golden Boot award.

Atalanta (Italy)

He participated in the Italian

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 Cop ...

in 1992, playing for

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology ...

, where he was unable to score a goal, though he was assigned a goal erroneously. Due to his underperformance, he returned to Barranquilla in the middle of the following year.

Junior

In 1993, playing for

, he won his first title and was the team's top scorer with 18 goals. He then won his second Golden Boot award in 94–95 season, in which Junior won its fourth domestic title, scoring 24 goals in 30 matches. In the season 95–96, he scored 36 goals, breaking his own record and winning another Golden Boot award, the last of the three he won during his football career in Colombia.

Veracruz

Valenciano was signed for Mexican club

Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz Club Deportivo Veracruz, commonly known as Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz, was a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in the city of Veracruz, Veracruz, Veracruz. ''El Aston'' was founded in 1943, and played in the Liga M ...

. In the 1996–97 season, he made his debut in a match against ''Potros de Hierro'' from Atlante, to which he scored a goal on his debut. He then had an injury to his knee during a match against ''Panzas Verdes'' from León, leaving him out of the field for about 2 or 3 months. Given the relegation of his team, he was signed by Monarcas Morelia for which he played from 1997 to 1999. He then returned to Colombia.

Return to Colombia

In Colombia, besides

, he played for Deportivo Unicosta,

Independiente Medellín Deportivo Independiente Medellín, also known as Independiente Medellín or DIM, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at Estadio Atanasio Girardo ...

Atlético Bucaramanga Club Atlético Bucaramanga S.A., better known as Atlético Bucaramanga, is a Colombian professional football team based in Bucaramanga. The club plays its home games at the Alfonso López stadium. The club was founded on 11 May 1949 by Rafael ...

, Deportivo Cali,

Millonarios Millonarios Fútbol Club is a professional Colombian football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the El Campín stadium. Millonarios was initially created in 1937 by students f ...

Unión Magdalena Unión Magdalena () commonly known as El Unión, and nicknamed as El Ciclón Bananero (The Banana Cyclone) and also Los Samarios (The Samarios), is a Colombian football club from the city of Santa Marta, capital of the department of Magdalena, ...

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 ...

and

Alianza Petrolera Alianza Petrolera is a Colombian professional football team based in Barrancabermeja, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. The club was founded in 1991 and played in the Categoría Primera B until 2012. They play their home games at ...

Farewell Match

On 11 July 2009, a testimonial match was carried out for Iván René Valenciano in the Roberto Meléndez Stadium. For the friendly match, many recognised football players were invited such as the Dutch player Edgar Davids, the Chilean

Iván Zamorano Iván Luis Zamorano Zamora (; born 18 January 1967) is a Chilean former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is regarded as one of Chile's most recognized footballers, along with Marcelo Salas, Leonel Sánchez and Elias Figuer ...

, the Uruguayan Paolo Montero, the Argentinian

Sergio Goycochea Sergio Javier Goycochea (; born 17 October 1963) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is best known for helping his country reach the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final with his penalty kick saves. Career Goyco ...

, and the Colombians

Carlos Valderrama Carlos Alberto Valderrama Palacio (Colombian Spanish: ; born 2 September 1961), also known as ''El Pibe'' ("The Kid"), is a Colombian former professional footballer and sports commentator for Fútbol de Primera, who played as an attacking mid ...

Faustino Asprilla Faustino Hernán Asprilla Hinestroza (born 10 November 1969) is a Colombian former professional footballer who most notably played for Parma, Newcastle United and the Colombia national team as a forward. Club career Early years After starting ...

Arnoldo Iguarán Arnoldo Alberto Iguarán Zúñiga (born 18 January 1957), also known as ''El Guajiro'', is a Colombian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He earned 68 caps for the Colombia national team between 1979 and 1993, playing at ...

Mauricio Serna Mauricio Alberto "Chicho" Serna Valencia (born 22 January 1968) is a Colombian former professional footballer who played 51 games for the Colombia national team between 1993 and 2001 ''Chicho'' Serna played for a number of clubs, including D ...

, Víctor Hugo Aristizábal, among others. The match ended up with an 8–7 win for the foreign team and Valenciano scoring two goals.

International career

He played for the Colombia national football team and was a participant at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

and at the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

. For the national team he scored 13 goals in 29 games between 1991 and 2000. He made his debut for the national side on 15 July 1991 at the

1991 Copa América The 1991 Copa América football tournament was hosted by Chile, from 6 to 21 July. It was organized by CONMEBOL and all ten member nations participated. Until the 2021 edition, this was the last time that the tournament consisted of only CONMEBO ...

, when he replaced

in the 78th minute.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Colombia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Valenciano goal.''

Honours

;Junior * Colombian Championship: 1993,1995 Individual * All-time top scorer in

Junior de Barranquilla Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

(157 goals). * Second all-time top scorer Categoría Primera A. (2009–)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valenciano, Ivan 1972 births Living people Footballers from Barranquilla Men's association football forwards Colombian men's footballers Colombia men's under-20 international footballers Colombia men's international footballers 1994 FIFA World Cup players Footballers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Colombia 1991 Copa América players Categoría Primera A players Categoría Primera B players Serie A players Liga MX players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Ecuadorian Serie A players Atlético Junior footballers Atalanta BC players C.D. Veracruz footballers Atlético Morelia players Independiente Medellín footballers Atlético Bucaramanga footballers Sociedade Esportiva do Gama players Deportivo Cali footballers Millonarios F.C. players Real Cartagena footballers Unión Magdalena footballers Deportes Quindío footballers C.D. Olmedo footballers Centauros Villavicencio footballers Valledupar F.C. footballers Alianza Petrolera F.C. players Colombian expatriate men's footballers Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Ecuador Expatriate men's footballers in Ecuador