Julio César de León
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| Julio César de León | ||
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Julio César de León Dailey | |
| Date of birth | September 13, 1979 | |
| Place of birth | Puerto Cortes, Honduras  |
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| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 81⁄2 in) | |
| Playing position | Attacking midfielder | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Genoa CFC | |
| Number | 11 | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1996-2000 2000-2001 2001 2001-2007 2002-2003 2004-2005 2005 2005-2006 2006 2007-Present |
Platense FC Celaya Olimpia Reggina → Fiorentina (loan) → Catanzaro (loan) → Sambenedettese (loan) → Teramo (loan) → Avellino (loan) Genoa |
74 (18) ? (?) 12 (2) 65 (5) 4 (0) 7 (1) 18 (8) 12 (1) 12 (4) 21 (4) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1999-Present | Honduras | 64 (11) |
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1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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Julio Cesar de Leon is a soccer player born in Honduras, currently playing for Genoa, in Italian Serie A.
[edit] Career
At a very young age, Julio Cesar became part of Club Deportivo Platense of Puerto Cortes.
'Rambo', as he is often called, debuted for Platense in 1996 against Real Maya of Tegucigalpa, scoring his first National Soccer League goal. His last goal in the Honduran National League was playing for Olimpia on May 26, 2001 against Club Broncos of Choluteca.
Earning a good reputation in Honduras, 'Rambo' moved to Mexico's First Division, where he played for Atletico Celaya.
After the season was over, Atletico Celaya did not renew de Leon's contract, so he returned to Honduras and became part of Olimpia of Tegucigalpa.
Once Julio Cesar finished his one year contract with Olimpia, he left for Uruguay where he played for Deportivo Maldonado. From there, De Leon moved to Reggina of Serie B in Italy.
De Leon's started off very well for his new club. With his goals and assists, 'Rambo' helped his team to regain a place in the Italy's Serie A.
Once in the first division, de Leon's participation was intermittent, partly due to the acquisition of the Japanese international Shunsuke Nakamura. De Leon was relegated to the bench, playing on and off as a substitute player.
The following seasons in Italy proved to be frustrating for "Rambo". He was sent on loan back to Serie B where he played for a number of teams, including Fiorentina, Teramo and Catanzaro.
His lack of playing time continued to such degree, that he was sent to the third division or Serie C1, where he played for Sambenedettese.
In 2006, 'Rambo' was requested by coach Mazzarri to come back to Reggina Calcio. De Leon was given a new chance, and he took it. For a while de Leon was considered the team's most valuable player.
However, in January 16, 2007, Julio Cesar was transferred by Reggina Calcio once again, this time in a permanent deal. Genoa of Serie B paid $ 3.9 million for the transfer of the Honduran international, hoping that his services would help the team to regain a spot in the Serie A.
The fans of Reggina disapproved of the sale of de León, in a time when the team really needed Julio Cesar's talent. But the president of the team, Lillo Foti, justified the sale with economic reasons: "The offer was good and it was something that we could no refuse."
On June 10, 2007, de León's new team, Genoa, did regain a spot in Serie A, tying at home with Napoli 0-0. After this, his last game of the season, and some subsequent celebrations, de León quickly traveled to Houston, Texas where the Honduran national team would play Cuba on June 13, 2007. He helped Honduras reach the quarterfinals of the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
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