Froylán Greing Ledezma Stephens (born 2 January 1978) is a retired Costa Rican international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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. He is nicknamed as ''El Cachorro'' which means "The Puppy".

Club career

A strong, quick and explosive striker, he debuted in the Costa Rican league on 14 January 1995 at the age of 17 with

Alajuelense Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA, ), commonly known as Alajuelense and nicknamed La Liga (), is a Costa Rican multisport club based in the borough of El Llano, Alajuela, Alajuela province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Al ...

against

Municipal Pérez Zeledón A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the gov ...

. In the 1995–96 season, he scored 14 goals and played 41 games, and followed up the next season with 21 goals in 27 matches.

Ajax

He was scouted by Dutch club

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

and after that, invited for a trial by their big rivals

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

. But Ajax signed him in 1997 for around 4.5 million euros in spectacular fashion after 'kidnapping' him from Amsterdam Airport under Feyenoord's nose. However, the promising youngster was not a success in Dutch football, only playing twice for Ajax. He was suspended by Ajax for indiscipline after his first season until his contract ended (almost three years later).

South America

In 2001, he signed for

Cerro Porteño Club Cerro Porteño is a professional Paraguayan Association football, football club, based in the neighbourhood of Obrero (Asunción), Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1912, Cerro has won 34 Paraguayan Primera División, Primera División titles ...

but was not eligible to play immediately since Ajax had not formally released him. In February 2002, overweight and lacking match fitness, Ledezma broke his foot in a warm-up match in Chile. In May 2002, he was taken in custody after an altercation with traffic police outside a bar where he had illegally parked his car. Ledezma returned to

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

where he surprisingly signed for

Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. Their colours are burgundy and white. It ...

(Alajuelense's archrival). He then joined

Bolivian Bolivian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Bolivia ** Bolivian people ** Demographics of Bolivia ** Culture of Bolivia * SS Bolivian, SS ''Bolivian'', later SS ''Alfios'', a British-built standard cargo ship {{disambiguation ...

side,

The Strongest Club The Strongest is a Bolivian professional football club based in La Paz, that currently plays in the Bolivian Primera División. Founded in 1908, their team colours are yellow and black. Although they have a home ground, Estadio Rafael Me ...

, regularly appearing in the starting line-up, and playing in the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

. He was only the third Costa Rican to score in the Libertadores after netting in February 2003 against Uruguayan side Fénix.

Alajuelense

Afterwards he returned to

amid more controversy when The Strongest claimed Ledezma owed them money for his rights after he walked out on the club. At Alajuelense he became

CONCACAF Champions' Cup The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, a ...

's champion in 2004 and led the team to their league championship in the 2004–05 season. He started the 2005–06 season with Alajuelense but was suspended by the Costa Rican FA for three months in June 2005 for leaving the national team set-up without permission. He then was loaned to Greek team Akratitos for six months (January – June 2006), then he was bought by Austrian club Rheindorf Altach. He had an acceptable campaign and by the end of the season he was sold again to

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. T ...

Admira Wacker

On a quick transaction he was transferred to

Admira Wacker Admira Wacker is an Austrian professional Association football, football club based in Maria Enzersdorf, a town in the Mödling District of Lower Austria. The team competes in the 2. Liga (Austria), 2. Liga, the second tier of the Football in Au ...

. More controversy ensued, however, as he was sent back to the reserve team in October 2009 claiming the club owed him 3 months wages. In 2009, after Costa Rica's national team's poor performance under Hernán Medford's direction, a new head coach,

Rodrigo Kenton Rodrigo Kenton Johnson (born March 5, 1955) is a Costa Rican football coach and former player. He is known as ''La Bomba'' Kenton ''("The Kenton Bomb")''. Playing career Kenton started his playing career in Costa Rica's first division, playin ...

, was hired and he called Ledezma back to the national team where he performed well. Ledezma was released from

and joined Costa Rican club Herediano in June 2010, only to leave them after just five months as he rejoined

. He started playing well in Austrian second division, his club winning promotion to the 1st league. He played just a few games as substitute in the 2011 season, but then suffered a shoulder injury, which sidelined him for four months.

Final season

After he recovered from the injury, he decided to end his contract with

and to move back to Costa Rica to play with

. He announced his retirement in August 2012, after failing to regain full fitness.

International career

Ledezma played for Costa Rica in the

1997 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship, known as the 1997 FIFA/Coca-Cola World Youth Championship for sponsorship purposes, was the 11th staging of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA World Youth Championship. It was held from 16 June to 5 July 1997 i ...

held in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. He made his senior debut for

in a September 1997

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

match against

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

and earned a total of 22 caps, scoring 6 goals. He helped his country win the

UNCAF Nations Cup 1999 The 1999 UNCAF Nations Cup was a UNCAF Nations Cup held in San Jose, Costa Rica in March 1999. The host team won the tournament's final group. Costa Rica then qualified automatically, alongside second-placed Guatemala and third-placed Honduras ...

and has also appeared in three qualifying matches for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

and 6 qualifying matches for the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

. He also played at the

2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the tenth edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the twentieth soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was played from July 3 to 26, 2009 in the United Stat ...

. His final international was a September 2009 FIFA World Cup qualification match against

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

Retirement

Ledezma retired after the 2012 summer tournament. In January 2014, he was injured in a car accident near

Orotina Orotina is a district of the Orotina canton, in the Alajuela province of Costa Rica. Geography Orotina has an area of km2 and an elevation of metres. It is in a relatively flat section on the west side of the coastal mountain range of Costa ...

.Froylán Ledezma resulta herido tras chocar su vehículo contra tráiler en Orotina
- Nación

Honours

Primera División de Costa Rica The Primera División of Costa Rica, commonly known as Liga de Fútbol de Primera División (Liga FPD), and Liga Promerica for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional association football division in Costa Rica. It is administered by the Uni ...

: **1995–96, 1996–97, 2004–05 *

Copa Interclubes UNCAF The UNCAF Interclub Cup was an annual international football competition held in the UNCAF region (Central America). The competition was open to the leading domestic club teams in the region. The winners of each national league qualified automatic ...

: **1996, 2005 *

UNCAF Nations Cup The Copa Centroamericana () was an association football competition organized by UNCAF as its top regional tournament for men's senior national teams from Central America. The tournament was held from 1991 to 2017, every two years in the years be ...

: **

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano Liga (Spanish and Portuguese: ''League'') or LIGA may refer to: Sports Basketball * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Liga Femenina de Baloncesto, women's professional basketball league in Spain Football Latin Amer ...

: **2003-C *

: **2004

Career statistics

International goals

:''Scores and results list. Costa Rica's goal tally first.''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ledezma, Froylan 1978 births Living people Footballers from San José, Costa Rica Men's association football forwards Costa Rican men's footballers Costa Rica men's under-20 international footballers Costa Rica men's international footballers 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Liga Deportiva Alajuelense footballers AFC Ajax players Cerro Porteño players Deportivo Saprissa players The Strongest players A.P.O. Akratitos Ano Liosia players SC Rheindorf Altach players FC Augsburg players Admira Wacker players C.S. Herediano footballers Liga FPD players Eredivisie players 2. Bundesliga players Costa Rican expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Paraguay Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Paraguay Expatriate men's footballers in Bolivia Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Bolivia Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Germany CONCACAF Champions Cup–winning players