Fernando Ezequiel Cavenaghi (; born 21 September 1983) is a retired Argentine 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 ...

. He played as a striker who was efficient in front of goal with either foot and from any range. He spent most of his career with River Plate in three separate spells, playing 210 games and scoring 112 goals, while winning honours including the 2014 Copa Sudamericana and the

2015 Copa Libertadores The 2015 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2015 Copa Bridgestone Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 56th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. ...

. Abroad, he had his best successes with

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

, whom he helped win a Ligue 1 title and two each of the Coupe de la Ligue and

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the super cups found in many other countries. His ...

. He also had short spells in Spain, Brazil, Mexico and Cyprus, finishing as the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

's top scorer as

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") ...

won it in his final year as a professional. Cavenaghi was part of the Argentina under-20 team that won the 2003 South American Youth Championship, finishing as its top scorer with eight goals. In the same year, he was part of the team that reached the semi-finals at the

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 whe ...

, and was joint top scorer with four goals. He earned four caps for the senior team in 2008.

Club career

River Plate / Spartak

Born in O'Brien, Buenos Aires Province, Cavenaghi played for Rivadavia de Chacabuco and Bravado in the regional leagues between the ages of nine and twelve. Cavenaghi made his professional debut for River Plate in the 2000–01 season in which he scored one goal in five appearances. In his first full season he scored 17 goals in 23 appearances, including a hat-trick against Estudiantes. In July 2004, Cavenaghi moved abroad for the first time, joining

Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based or formerly based in Moscow, Russia: * FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club * HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team * Spartak GM Moscow, a semi-professional rugby club * WB ...

for a fee of US$12 million, then a record for a Russian team. He failed to adapt to Russian football, and was frozen out of the team following the arrival of manager

Vladimir Fedotov Vladimir Grigoryevich Fedotov (russian: Владимир Григорьевич Федотов; 18 January 1943 – 29 March 2009) was a Soviet football striker and manager who holds the all-time record of caps for CSKA Moscow. He was the son of ...

in April 2006, whom he publicly criticised for his tactics. He was put up for sale that December.

Bordeaux

On 22 January 2007, Cavenaghi was sold to French club

. He signed a four-and-a-half-year deal for a €7 million fee. Through an

Italian passport An Italian passport is issued upon request to an Italian citizen for the purpose of international travel. It is valid for 10, 5 or 3 years, depending on the applicant's age. Its biometric version has been available since 2006. It is ranked as ...

earned by his ancestry, he could work freely in the European Union. On 3 February he played his first Ligue 1 match against

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

. In his first season, Bordeaux won the Coupe de la Ligue with a 1–0 win over

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

, with Cavenaghi an unused substitute. During the 2007–08 season he scored 22 goals in 35 appearances for Bordeaux. In the 2008 Trophée des Champions, Cavenaghi came on as a 70th-minute substitute for

Alou Diarra Alou Diarra (born 15 July 1981) is a French former professional footballer. He was a France international from 2004 until 2012. As of the 2022–23 season, he is the manager of Troyes' under-19 side in the Championnat National U19. He primari ...

in a goalless draw against Lyon at the

Stade Chaban-Delmas Stade Chaban-Delmas is a sporting stadium located in the city of Bordeaux, France. It was the home ground of FC Girondins de Bordeaux. Since 2011, it has also hosted matches of Top 14 rugby team Union Bordeaux Bègles. Until 2001, the stadium' ...

. Though both he and

David Bellion David Bellion (born 27 November 1982) is a French former professional footballer who played as a striker. His previous clubs include Cannes, Sunderland, Manchester United, West Ham United, Nice, Bordeaux and Red Star. Club career Cannes Bellio ...

had their attempts saved by

Grégory Coupet Grégory Coupet (born 31 December 1972) is a French former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Throughout his playing career, he represented Saint-Étienne, Lyon, Atlético Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, as well as the Franc ...

in the

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

, Bordeaux were victorious. In the

2008–09 Ligue 1 The 2008–09 Ligue 1 season was the 71st since its establishment. Bordeaux became champions for the sixth time on the last weekend of the season. The fixtures were announced on 23 May 2008. The season began on 9 August 2008 and ended on 30 May ...

season Cavenaghi helped Bordeaux to its first league title in ten years, scoring 13 goals in 29 league matches. The team also won the Coupe de la Ligue in the same season, with Cavenaghi scoring in a 4–2 home win over

Guingamp Guingamp (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. With a population of 6,895 as of 2017, Guingamp is one of the smallest towns in Europe to have a top-tier professional football team: En Avant Gui ...

in the last 16. The ''Girondins'' won their third honour of the calendar year on 25 July 2009 as they retained the Trophée des Champions with a 2–0 win over Guingamp in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, Cavaneghi scoring the opening goal for

Laurent Blanc Laurent Robert Blanc (born 19 November 1965) is a French professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back, and is currently the manager of Ligue 1 club Lyon. He has the nickname ''Le Président'', which was given to him ...

's team. Cavenaghi signed for Spanish club Mallorca on 26 August 2010 a season-long loan with the option to purchase for €3.5 million. He scored six goals in 13 total games for the Balearic club, all in the form of braces against Real Sociedad 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' ...

, and

Sporting Gijón Sporting may refer to: *Sport, recreational games and play * Sporting (neighborhood), in Alexandria, Egypt Sports clubs *AC Sporting, a football club from Beirut, Lebanon * Alexandria Sporting Club, a sports club from Alexandria, Egypt *Real Sport ...

and

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city g ...

in the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

. In January 2011 Cavenaghi joined Brazil's

Internacional Sport Club Internacional (), commonly known as Internacional or simply Inter, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Porto Alegre. They play in the Série A, the first division of the Brazilian league, as well as in Campeonat ...

on a year-long loan, with option to make it permanent for €2.5 million.

Return to River Plate / Villarreal

In July 2011, after leaving his contract at Bordeaux a year early, Cavenaghi returned to River Plate. He was appointed captain of the club, who had been relegated. He scored 19 goals in 37 league matches that season, including a notable performance against Gimnasia de Jujuy where he scored four goals. In his one-season back he helped the club capture the 2011-12 Primera B Nacional and gain promotion back to the first division. Cavenaghi returned to Spain in August 2012 by signing for

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

, who themselves had fallen into the Segunda División. On his debut on 17 August, he scored in each half of a 2–1 win over Real Madrid Castilla at the

Estadio El Madrigal A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

. He totalled 19 appearances and four goals for the "Yellow Submarine", but cut his stay short in January 2013 Cavenaghi when he signed for

Pachuca Pachuca (; ote, Nju̱nthe), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Hidalgo. It is located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca de Soto is also the name of the municipality of whi ...

of the Mexican Liga MX. In early 2014, Cavenaghi joined River Plate for the third time. He would wear his number 9 throughout his 3rd stay. River Plate became Champion in Argentina's Primera División 2014, making them eligible to several continental/international tournaments in 2014-15. As captain, Cavenaghi led River Plate to achieve a sweep of all three international championships: 2014 Copa Sudamericana, 2015 Recopa Sudamericana and the

. Included in these campaigns were two eliminations of arch-rival Boca Juniors, first in the Sudamericana and later in Libertadores. Winning the Copa Libertadores would make River Plate eligible to play in the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan representing CONMEBOL. He was the second-highest scorer in Argentina's Primera División 2015 with 11 goals.

APOEL and retirement

On 25 August 2015, Cavenaghi moved back to Europe signing a two-year contract with

club

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

. Five days later, he scored twice on his debut in a 6–2 home victory against

Pafos FC Pafos FC ( el, Πάφος FC) is a Cypriot football club based in Paphos. The club was created in 2014, by the merger of the two biggest teams of Paphos, AEP Paphos and AEK Kouklia. They play their home games at the Stelios Kyriakides Stadium, ...

for the

. He scored in each of his first seven

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 ...

appearances, totalling twelve goals in that sequence. He helped APOEL to win the

title, and despite playing his last match on 10 February 2016, missing the last three months of the season due to his injury, he also won the top goalscorer award with 19 goals in only 18 league appearances. Cavenaghi appeared in 26 matches and scored 23 goals in all competitions with APOEL, before a serious knee injury forced him to mutually terminate his contract with the club on 2 April 2016, as his recovery from the knee surgery was estimated to take more than eight months to complete. His serious knee injury eventually forced Cavenaghi to retire from the professional scene, making the official announcement through a YouTube video on 27 December 2016 at River Plate's El Monumental in Buenos Aires.

International career

In December 2002, manager

Hugo Tocalli Hugo Daniel Tocalli (born 21 January 1948) is an Argentine former professional football player and coach. He played over 400 games as a goalkeeper, and went on to coach a number of clubs as well as the Argentina under-20 team. Playing career To ...

named Cavenaghi in the Argentina under-20 team for the

2003 South American U-20 Championship The 2003 South American Youth Championship (Sudamericana sub-20) is a football competition contested by all ten U-20 national football teams of CONMEBOL. The tournament was held in Uruguay between 4 January and 28 January 2003, it was the 21st ti ...

in Uruguay. He was top scorer with eight goals – four in each stage – as the Argentines won the title, and scored the only one against Colombia on 28 January to seal the Championship. In October, Cavenaghi was again called up by Tocalli for the squad at the

2003 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in United Arab Emirates between 27 November and 19 December 2003. U20 Brazil claimed their fourth title. The 2003 championship was the 14th contested. The tournament was originally planned to be ...

in the United Arab Emirates. In the last 16 against

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

, he scored both goals, including the

golden goal The golden goal or golden point is a rule used in association football, lacrosse, field hockey, and ice hockey to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the end of normal time. It is a type of sud ...

, in a 2–1 victory. He scored a golden goal again in the quarter-finals against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in Abu Dhabi. Argentina finished fourth and Cavenaghi was one of four top scorers with four goals apiece, though the Golden Shoe award went to Eddie Johnson of the United States. However, due to not being released by River Plate for the

2004 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament The 2004 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament began on 7 January 2004, and is the 12th CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament. This was the 4th tournament is open to players under the age of 23 without any other restriction. There is no qualification stage and ...

, Cavenaghi would not get any chances with

Marcelo Bielsa Marcelo Alberto Bielsa Caldera (, nicknamed ''El Loco Bielsa'' , meaning "The Crazy Bielsa"; born 21 July 1955) is an Argentine professional football manager who was most recently the head coach of Premier League club Leeds United. He is a forme ...

. He had then the fifth better goal average in River Plate history, very close to

Alfredo Di Stéfano Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxon name Alfred and a common Italian, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name. People with the given name include: *Alfredo (born 1946), Brazilian footballer born as Alfredo Mostarda Fil ...

, but he missed the 2004 Summer Olympics, won by Bielsa's team. Bielsa resigned soon after the gold medal and Cavenaghi got a first chance in Argentina senior team in 29 December, in a non-official match against

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

José Pekerman José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacu ...

, the new Argentina coach, used him as a substitute for

Diego Milito Diego Alberto Milito (born 12 June 1979) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is currently a sports manager. Milito began his club career in Argentina with Racing Club in 1999, and later moved to Italian ...

. The game was a 3-0 win at the Camp Nou. In March 2008, Cavenaghi's form for Bordeaux earned him a first official call up to the senior national side by

Alfio Basile Alfio () is an Italian given name. Notable people with the name include: * Alfio Basile, Argentina football coach * Alfio Bonanno, Australian tenor * Alfio Caltabiano, Italian actor * Alfio Contini, Italian cinematographer * Alfio Fazio, Italian ...

, ahead of a friendly against

on 26 March. He made his debut in the 2–0 win at the

Cairo International Stadium The Cairo International Stadium ( ar, ستاد القاهرة الدولي), formerly known as Nasser Stadium, is an Olympic-standard, multi-use stadium with an all-seated capacity of 75,000. The architect of the stadium is the German Werner March ...

as a 69th-minute substitute for Julio Cruz and played three more friendlies that year. He would get just four more caps, saying that "at my best moment in France, I was called up to a few games, but Messi, Agüero and Higuaín were already there and it was very difficult to find a place among these players".

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;River Plate *

Argentina Primera Division 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 ...

: 2002 Clausura, 2003 Clausura, 2004 Clausura, 2014 Final *

Primera B Nacional 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 team ...

2011–12 Primera B Nacional The 2011–12 Argentine Primera B Nacional was the 26th season of second division professional of football in Argentina. A total of 20 teams competed; the champion and runner-up were promoted to Argentine Primera División. Club information ...

* Copa Sudamericana:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

* Recopa Sudamericana: 2015 * Copa Libertadores: 2015 ;Internacional *

Campeonato Gaúcho The Campeonato Gaúcho Série A1 (Gaúcho Championship A1 Series or Série A1), officially named as Campeonato da Primeira Divisão de Futebol Profissional da FGF - Divisão Especial - Série A1 and commonly known as Campeonato Gaúcho or Gauchã ...

: 2011 ;Bordeaux * Ligue 1: 2008–09 *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, 2009 * Coupe de la Ligue: 2006–07, 2008–09 ;APOEL *

: 2015–16

International

;Argentina Under-20 *

South American Youth Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as U-20 South American Championship and es, Torneo Juventudes de América, "Campeonato Sudamericano Sub 20" or pt, Juventude da América (English: "America's Youth") is a South American f ...

: 2003

Individual

South American U-20 Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as U-20 South American Championship and es, Torneo Juventudes de América, "Campeonato Sudamericano Sub 20" or pt, Juventude da América (English: "America's Youth") is a South American a ...

Golden Shoe: 2003 * Argentine Primera División top scorer: 2001–02 Clausura *

top scorer: 2015–16

References

External links

* * * * *
Cavenaghi vuelve a River

Video : Cave in France

Video : Cave in Argentina
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cavenaghi, Fernando 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Buenos Aires Province Association football forwards Argentine footballers Argentina international footballers Argentina under-20 international footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers FC Spartak Moscow players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players RCD Mallorca players Sport Club Internacional players Villarreal CF players C.F. Pachuca players APOEL FC players Ligue 1 players Russian Premier League players Argentine Primera División players Primera Nacional players La Liga players Segunda División players Liga MX players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Cypriot First Division players Expatriate footballers in Russia Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Brazil Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Argentine expatriate footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Russia Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Argentine people of Irish descent