Iván Hurtado

Iván Hurtado
Personal information
Full name Iván Jacinto Hurtado Angulo
Date of birth (1974-08-16) 16 August 1974
Place of birth Esmeraldas, Ecuador
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Centre Back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1996 Emelec 102 (10)
1996–1999 Celaya 89 (2)
1999–2001 Tigres 79 (0)
2001 Emelec 14 (1)
2001–2002 Querétaro 18 (0)
2002–2004 Barcelona SC 57 (2)
2004 Murcia 15 (0)
2004–2005 Pachuca 26 (0)
2005–2006 Al Arabi 13 (3)
2006 Al-Ahly 0 (0)
2007 Atlético Nacional 38 (1)
2008 Barcelona SC 17 (0)
2008–2009 Millonarios 26 (2)
2009–2010 Deportivo Quito 49 (0)
2011 Barcelona SC 41 (0)
2012 Grecia 11 (1)
Total 595 (22)
National team‡
1992–2014 Ecuador 168 (5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 4 May 2009.
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 October 2014
Iván Hurtado
Member of the National Assembly for the National Constituency
Assumed office
14 May 2013
Personal details
Political party PAIS Alliance

Iván Jacinto Hurtado Angulo (born 16 August 1974 in Esmeraldas) is a retired Ecuadorian football centre back. With 168 international appearances for Ecuador between 1992 and 2014, he is the most capped South American male footballer of all time, and the sixth-most capped male international footballer in history.[1]

Club career

He started his career with the small club of his hometown, Esmeraldas Petrolero, at the age of 16. A year later he moved on to one of Ecuador's biggest clubs in Guayaquil, 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, where he led them to the Mexican league finals. He then moved to Tigres. He then moved on to the La Liga in Spain playing for Real Murcia.[2] After a mostly successful spell with Pachuca in Primera División de México, he moved on to Al Arabi in the Qatari League, impressing many over there.

After the FIFA World Cup in Germany, where Hurtado shone, it was reported that high-profile clubs such as English Premier League's Wigan Athletic, and Spanish La Liga's Recreativo Huelva and Villarreal 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, 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 for the remainder of their season. In 2011, he returned to play for Barcelona SC 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 FIFA World Cup qualification matches than any other player in history, and has more overall international caps than any other South American player. Hurtado was one of the key players who played a major role in securing a first ever World Cup berth for Ecuador in 2002.[3] He had such an impressive tournament, that he was appointed to succeed former Ecuadorian star Alex Aguinaga to be the captain of a new generation of an ever-improving Ecuador side.

His best performances came in Ecuador's dream tournament in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. His defence left stars such as Polish forward Jacek Krzynowek, Costa Rican striker Paulo Wanchope, and English players Wayne Rooney, Joe Cole, and Steven Gerrard desperate for goals.

However, his form declined in a space of just six months. Nevertheless, he played for Ecuador in Copa América 2007, where his performance was very low and criticized by many of his countrymen as the main reason for Ecuador's early elimination. Hurtado started the first two games against Chile and Mexico but was on the bench the whole game against Brazil.

Hurtado was called up for the first two 2010 World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela and Brazil, miserably losing both matches. As a consequence, he along with teammate Ulises de la Cruz, was excluded from the squad for the next round against Paraguay.[4][5]

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" referring to his replacements.[6]

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

In the Ecuadorian general election of 2013 Hurtado was chosen as member of the National Assembly for the National Constituency. Hurtado serves as member of PAIS Alliance. Agustín Delgado and Ulises de la Cruz, former teammates of Hurtado at the national team, also serve for the Pais Alliance in the National Assembly.[7]

Career statistics

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 24 May 1992 ?, Guatemala City, Guatemala  Guatemala 1–1 Draw Friendly
2. 24 May 1995 Athletic Recreation Park Stadium, Toyama City, Japan  Scotland 2–1 Lost 1995 Kirin Cup
3. 7 June 1997 Estadio José Pachencho Romero, Maracaibo, Venezuela  Venezuela 1–1 Draw 1998 World Cup Q.
4. 12 January 2002 Estadio Monumental Isidro Romero Carbo, Guayaquil, Ecuador  Guatemala 1–0 Win Friendly
5. 9 February 2003 Estadio Monumental Isidro Romero Carbo, Guayaquil, Ecuador  Estonia 1–0 Win Friendly
Correct as of 22 March 2012

Honours

Club

Emelec
Atlético Nacional

International

 Ecuador

References

  1. ↑ "Italia, prove di 4-2-4. Belotti-Immobile in avanti" (in Italian). Sky.it. 20 March 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  2. ↑ "El Murcia presenta a Iván Hurtado y Leonel Gancedo" (in Spanish). El Mundo. 29 December 2003. Retrieved 3 April 2008.
  3. ↑ "Ivan Hurtado's 2002 FIFA World Cup profile". BBC Sport. 3 May 2002. Retrieved 11 August 2007.
  4. ↑ "Ecuador snub Hurtado and De la Cruz". FIFA. 6 November 2007. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
  5. ↑ "World Cup: Troubled Ecuador try to break duck". ESPNsoccernet. 15 November 2007. Retrieved 15 November 2007.
  6. ↑ "Hurtado hoping for home comforts". FIFA. 6 March 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  7. ↑ Mariela Rosero (19 February 2013). "Alianza País podría controlar 2/3 de la Asamblea" (in Spanish). El Comercio. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
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