Adolfo Valencia

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Adolfo Valencia
Personal information
Full name Adolfo José Valencia Mosquera
Date of birth February 6, 1968 (1968-02-06) (age 40)
Place of birth    Buenaventura, Colombia
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position Forward
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1988–1993
1993–1994
1994–1995
1995–1996
1996–1997
1997–1998
1998–1999
1999–2000
2000–2001
2002
2002
2003
2003–2004
Independiente Santa Fe
Bayern Munich
Atlético Madrid
Independiente (ARG)
Reggiana
América de Cali
Independiente Medellin
PAOK Thessaloniki FC
MetroStars
Independiente Santa Fe
Zhejiang Lucheng
Unión Atlético Maracaibo
Zhejiang Lucheng

26 (11)
24 0(6)

23 0(4)


27 (10)
48 (21)
07 0(1)
21 (12)

16 0(2)   
National team
1992–1998 Colombia 60 (31)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

Adolfo José Valencia Mosquera (born February 6, 1968 in Buenaventura, Colombia) is a soccer striker who has played all over the world. He is the top goalscorer of the Colombian national team and was a major part of the team during the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups.

Valencia, known as El Tren ("The Train") for his physique, has played for clubs in seven different countries: in his native Colombia (Independiente Santa Fe), Germany (Bayern Munich, where Franz Beckenbauer gave him the Nickname The Defoliator after witnessing several shots way over the goal into the woods during training sessions), Spain (Atlético Madrid), Italy (Reggiana), Greece (PAOK Thessaloniki FC), United States (MetroStars), and Venezuela (Maracaibo).

Valencia scored two goals in the 1994 World Cup, including the last goal in an ill-fated match against the United States that later cost teammate Andrés Escobar his life.

In Valencia's first season with the MetroStars, 2000, he set a team record by scoring 16 league goals (21 in all competitions).

Valencia is along with Bernardo Redin Colombia's top goalscorer in the World Cup.