Iván Jacinto Hurtado Angulo (born 16 August 1974) is an

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...

ian politician and 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 a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. With 168 international appearances for

between 1992 and 2014, he was the most capped South American male footballer of all time before

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

overtook him during the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first Wo ...

, and the 17th-most-capped male international footballer.

Club career

Hurtado started his career with the small club of his hometown,

Esmeraldas Petrolero Club Social, Cultural y Deportivo Esmeraldas Petrolero is a sports club based in Esmeraldas, Ecuador, Esmeraldas, Ecuador. It is best known for its professional football team, which has since folded after the 2017/2018 season. The club was founde ...

, at the age of 16. A year later he moved on to one of Ecuador's biggest clubs in

Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...

, Emelec, and had two stellar seasons, including two championships with the club, in one of them he scored the championship goal with a free kick he executed. His excellent play warranted a switch to the Mexican leagues where he even further developed his defending techniques and his intelligent reading of the game. Ivan made a big impact in his first club,

Celaya Celaya (; ) is a city and its surrounding municipality in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, located in the southeast quadrant of the state. It is the third most populous city in the state, with a 2005 census population of 310,413. The municipality f ...

, where he led them to the Mexican league finals. He then moved to Tigres. He then moved on to the

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' ...

in Spain playing for Real Murcia. After a mostly successful spell with

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 ...

Primera División de México The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in al ...

, he moved on to Al Arabi in the Qatari League, impressing many over there. After the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the ...

in Germany, where Hurtado shone, it was reported that high-profile clubs such as English

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 193 ...

, and Spanish

Recreativo Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football club based in Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 23 December 1889, 2 days before Christmas, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play i ...

and

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 ...

were highly interested in him. However none of these rumors were accurate, and after spending six more months with Al Arabi, Hurtado moved to Colombia where he played for

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

, he led the defence of the team, becoming captain in the back-to-back titles in 2007. In mid-2009, he returned to

Deportivo Quito Sociedad Deportivo Quito is an Ecuadorian non-professional club football club based in Quito. For most of its existence, it competed in Serie A, the highest level of the Ecuadorian professional football league. And currently competes in the Segu ...

for the remainder of their season. In 2011, he returned to play for

Barcelona SC Barcelona Sporting Club () is an Ecuadorian sports club based in Guayaquil, known best for its professional football team. Internationally known as Barcelona de Ecuador, in Ecuador it is simply referred as Barcelona, El Idolo (BSC) or Barce. T ...

for one year, then he finished his career with Grecia in 2012.

International career

Hurtado holds the record as the youngest Ecuadorian to play for his country at just 17 years and 285 days. He has appeared in more

qualification matches than any other player in history, and also held the record for most overall international caps by South American player until it was surpassed by

in December 2022. Hurtado was one of the key players who played a major role in securing a first ever

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

berth for Ecuador in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

. He had such an impressive tournament, that he was appointed to succeed former

ian star

Alex Aguinaga Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple pe ...

to be the captain of a new generation of an ever-improving Ecuador side. His best performances came in

's dream tournament in the

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

. His defence left stars such as Polish forward Jacek Krzynowek, Costa Rican striker

Paulo Wanchope Paulo César Wanchope Watson (; born 31 July 1976), more commonly known as Paulo Wanchope, is a Costa Rican football coach and former professional footballer As a player he was a striker who notably played in the Premier League for Derby Cou ...

, and English players

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while ...

Joe Cole Joseph John Cole (born 8 November 1981) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or winger in the Premier League, Ligue 1, League One and United Soccer League. He is regarded as on ...

and

Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player, who most recently managed club Aston Villa. Described by pundits and fellow professionals as one of his generation's greatest players, ...

desperate for goals. However, his form declined in a space of just six months. Nevertheless, he played for

at the

2007 Copa América The 2007 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, known simply as the 2007 Copa América or 2007 Copa América Venezuela, was the 42nd edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The c ...

, where his performance was very poor and criticised by many of his countrymen as the main reason for Ecuador's early elimination. Hurtado started the first two games against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

and

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 Guate ...

but was on the bench the whole game against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Hurtado was called up for the first two 2010 World Cup qualifiers against

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

and

, miserably losing both matches. As a consequence, he along with teammate

Ulises de la Cruz Ulises Hernán de la Cruz Bernardo (born 8 February 1974 in Piquiucho, Carchi) is a retired Ecuadorian footballer, who since 2013 has been a member of his country's National Assembly for the governing PAIS Alliance. A defender, he played 101 ...

, was excluded from the squad for the next round against

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

. Hurtado announced that this would be his final qualifying campaign and possibly the World Cup should Ecuador qualify. He stated, "There are a crop of talented and personable youngsters coming through now, and they deserve to have their chance like I had mine."

Playing style

Once a top class defender, with good technique and an ability to read the game, he is known in Spanish by his fans as " Bam Bam" for ramming the football with his feet like the Hanna-Barbera character does with his club. Ivan's playing style differs from his national partner, Giovanny Espinoza. While Espinoza is a very large player who uses his size, power and speed to overwhelm his adversary, Hurtado is considered to be very classy and often needs no contact at all to dispossess his adversary. Ivan also makes very clean tackles, organizes his back line as well as the best of them, and can even display confidence with the ball at his feet, and he can occasionally make surprising dashes forward. A notable long and short passer, Hurtado has also taken free kicks well. Although not able to the bend the ball as well as other notable free kick takers, he has been known to strike the ball with such force that goalkeepers find it hard to judge and time his shots.

Political career

At the

2013 Ecuadorian general election General elections were held in Ecuador on 17 February 2013 to elect the President, the National Assembly, Provincial Assemblies and members of the Andean Parliament. The incumbent President Rafael Correa was re-elected by a wide margin. Correa's ...

, Hurtado was chosen as member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

for the National Constituency. Hurtado serves as member of

PAIS Alliance PAIS Alliance is a centre-left social democratic political party in Ecuador. In 2016, it had 979,691 members. Founded by Rafael Correa in April 2006, the party soon found success amid the " pink tide" period in Latin America. The party's early pe ...

Agustín Delgado Agustín Javier Delgado Chalá (born 23 December 1974) is an Ecuadorian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Nicknamed ''Tín'', he was the all-time top scorer for the Ecuador national team with 31 goals in 71 games befor ...

and

, former teammates of Hurtado at the national team, also serve for the Pais Alliance in the National Assembly.

Career statistics

International goals

Honours

Club

Emelec *

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 Copp ...

: 1993, 1994 Atlético Nacional * Primera A: 2007

International

Ecuador *

Canada Cup The Canada Cup (french: Coupe Canada) was an invitational international ice hockey tournament held on five occasions between 1976 and 1991. The brainchild of Toronto lawyer Alan Eagleson, the tournament was created to meet demand for a true worl ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

Korea Cup The Korea Cup ( ko, 코리아컵 국제축구대회) was an international football tournament held annually in South Korea from 1971 to 1999. History The Korea Cup was created with the name President's Cup Football Tournament ( ko, 박대� ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

References

External links

International statistics
at

rsssf The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around the ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurtado, Ivan 1974 births Living people Sportspeople from Esmeraldas, Ecuador Ecuadorian footballers FIFA Century Club Association football central defenders Ecuador international footballers Ecuadorian expatriate footballers 1993 Copa América players 1995 Copa América players 1999 Copa América players 2001 Copa América players 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2004 Copa América players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 Copa América players La Liga players C.S. Emelec footballers Club Celaya footballers Tigres UANL footballers Querétaro F.C. footballers Barcelona S.C. footballers Real Murcia players C.F. Pachuca players Al-Arabi SC (Qatar) players Al Ahli SC (Doha) players Atlético Nacional footballers Millonarios F.C. players S.D. Quito footballers Expatriate footballers in Colombia Expatriate footballers in Mexico Ecuadorian Serie A players Categoría Primera A players Liga MX players Qatar Stars League players Members of the second National Assembly (Ecuador) PAIS Alliance politicians Ecuadorian sportsperson-politicians Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Colombia Expatriate footballers in Qatar Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar