Miguel Ángel Calero Rodríguez (14 April 1971 – 4 December 2012) was a Colombian 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 a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He played 50 times for the Colombia national team between 1995 and 2007. While playing in Colombia, Calero won two championships, one with Deportivo Cali (1996) and another one with

Atlético Nacional Atlético Nacional S. A., best known as Atlético Nacional, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín. The club is one of only three clubs to have played in every first division tournament in the country's history, the oth ...

(1998). In Mexico, he played 23 tournaments with Club Pachuca and won 10 cups with the team. At an international level, Calero won four CONCACAF Champions Leagues and the Copa Sudamericana in 2006; he also won the

2001 Copa América The 2001 Copa América was held in Colombia, from 11 to 29 July. It was organised by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. Colombia won the tournament for the 1st time without conceding a goal. Brazil were the defending champions wh ...

with Colombia's national team.

Career

Calero was born in Ginebra, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, but later became a Mexican citizen. He played for Deportivo Cali winning the 1996 Copa Mustang Division Mayor: Primera A championship title and

Colombia, then moving to

C.F. Pachuca Club de Fútbol Pachuca is a Mexican professional football team based in Pachuca, Hidalgo, that competes in Liga MX. Founded by Cornish miners from Camborne and Redruth in 1901, it is one of the oldest football clubs in the Americas, and was ...

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 ...

, where he was captain of the team. With Pachuca, he won four national championships, three CONCACAF Champions Cups, one Copa Sudamericana and one SuperLiga title. He scored a goal against Chiapas on 11 August 2002. He played for the Colombia national 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 1998 FIFA World Cup. In 2001 he was part of the Colombia team that won their first ever Copa América championship. He was known for wearing a baseball cap as a goalkeeper and a bandana, and for having a pair of wings on the back of his jersey around his number, 1. These wings symbolize his nickname, " El Cóndor". After a poor performance in

Copa América 2007 Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Computer Operator Programming Assistant. trade of ITI * Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet * Canadian Owners and Pilots Asso ...

, which included a 5–0 loss to Paraguay, Calero announced his retirement from the Colombia national team. On 23 October 2011, Calero played his last game with Pachuca and retired from football.

Health deterioration and death

Calero was hospitalized on 26 November 2012 after he suffered from a cerebral thrombosis at his home in Pachuca. After suffering from a second cerebral thrombosis episode, Calero was pronounced clinically

brain dead Brain death is the permanent, irreversible, and complete loss of brain function which may include cessation of involuntary activity necessary to sustain life. It differs from persistent vegetative state, in which the person is alive and some aut ...

on 3 December 2012. For the rest of the day, he remained on life support but the injuries were irreversible. At a public conference on noon of 4 December, Calero was declared dead. His funeral was held in

Pachuca, Hidalgo 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 which ...

, home of his tenured club

CF Pachuca Club de Fútbol Pachuca is a Mexican professional football team based in Pachuca, Hidalgo, that competes in Liga MX. Founded by Cornish miners from Camborne and Redruth in 1901, it is one of the oldest football clubs in the Americas, and was o ...

. After the ceremonies Calero was later cremated and his remains were divided with one half of it sent to his native Colombia, whereas the rest stayed in Mexico.

Honors

Deportivo Cali * Categoría Primera A: 1996 Atletico Nacional * Categoría Primera A: 1999 Pachuca * Mexican Championship: Invierno 2001, Apertura 2003, Clausura 2006, Clausura 2007. * CONCACAF Champions' Cup: 2002, 2007, 2008, 2010. * Copa Nissan Sudamericana: 2006 *

North American SuperLiga The SuperLiga was an official North American association football competition between teams from the Liga MX of Mexico and Major League Soccer of the United States and Canada, the top divisions in each country. The competition was sanctioned by C ...

: 2007 Colombia * Copa América: 2001

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Calero, Miguel 1971 births 2012 deaths Colombian footballers Association football goalkeepers Colombia international footballers Colombia under-20 international footballers Deportivo Cali footballers Atlético Nacional footballers C.F. Pachuca players Categoría Primera A players Liga MX players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1991 Copa América players 1995 Copa América players 1997 Copa América players 1999 Copa América players 2001 Copa América players 2007 Copa América players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Footballers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Colombia Colombian expatriate footballers Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Mexico Colombian emigrants to Mexico Naturalized citizens of Mexico Copa América-winning players Deaths from cerebral thrombosis Neurological disease deaths in Mexico Sportspeople from Valle del Cauca Department