| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Luciano Gabriel Figueroa Herrera | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1981-05-19)19 May 1981 (age 44) | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Santa Fe, Argentina | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | |||||||||||||
| Position | Striker | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 2001–2003 | Rosario Central | 57 | (35) | |||||||||||
| 2003 | Birmingham City | 1 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2004 | Cruz Azul | 33 | (21) | |||||||||||
| 2004–2006 | Villarreal | 26 | (5) | |||||||||||
| 2006 | River Plate | 7 | (3) | |||||||||||
| 2006–2010 | Genoa | 23 | (3) | |||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | →Boca Juniors (loan) | 17 | (7) | |||||||||||
| 2010–2012 | Rosario Central | 38 | (12) | |||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Emelec | 34 | (14) | |||||||||||
| 2013 | Panathinaikos | 15 | (6) | |||||||||||
| 2013–2015 | Johor Darul Ta'zim | 36 | (23) | |||||||||||
| 2018 | Johor Darul Ta'zim | 4 | (2) | |||||||||||
| Total | 291 | (131) | ||||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | Argentina | 15 | (9) | |||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2020 | Johor Darul Ta'zim | |||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 1 December 2015 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 14 October 2014 | ||||||||||||||
Luciano Gabriel"Lucho" Figueroa Herrera (Spanish pronunciation:[luˈsjanofiɣeˈɾoa]; born 19 May 1981) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as astriker.
Figueroa was born inSanta Fe. He began his professional career withPrimera División clubRosario Central, where he formed a partnership withCésar Delgado. In the 2003Clausura, Figueroa finished as Argentina's leading goalscorer with 17 goals,[2] which included five in the last match of the season against an under-strengthBoca Juniors.[3] This was his last season at Rosario Central. Both he and Delgado transferred overseas in the summer of 2003; Figueroa joined EnglishPremier League clubBirmingham City for a fee of £2.5 million.[4]
Controversy arose when Spanish clubOsasuna claimed that Figueroa had signed a contract with them before his move to Birmingham, thereby invalidating the transfer.[5] At the end of August 2003FIFA ruled provisionally in Birmingham's favour,[6] but it was not until October that this ruling was finally confirmed.[7] Figueroa had been close to joiningRangers earlier that summer but theGlasgow club pulled out of the deal.[8]
Though Figueroa was scoring freely for Birmingham'sreserve team, managerSteve Bruce believed he would struggle in the Premiership due to his physique.[9] After only one League appearance, as a latesubstitute in a 2–0 defeat ofPortsmouth,[10] and one outing in theLeague Cup,[11] his contract was annulled,[12] and he signed forCruz Azul of thePrimera División de México, where he was reunited with former teammate Delgado.
After a slow start, Figueroa returned to his old form with Cruz Azul, scoring 9 goals in the last 7 games of the2004 Clausura.[citation needed] He maintained his form in the2004 Apertura, scoring 10 goals in 14 games for the club.[13]
His exceptional performances for Cruz Azul led to a transfer to Spain, where he signed a five-and-a-half-year contract withVillarreal in November 2004.[14] The transfer fee was officially undisclosed, but was estimated in the media as €3 million.[15]
Figueroa made less of an impact at Villarreal. Even so, he helped the club to a third-place finish inLa Liga in the2004–05 season,[16] and scored their first everChampions League goal, againstEverton in the third qualifying round of the2005–06 competition,[17] but had left the club by the time they reached the semi-final.[18]
In January 2006, apparently concerned that his lack of playing time would adversely affect his chances of selection for Argentina at the2006 World Cup,[19] Figueroa returned to his home country. He joinedRiver Plate, who bought 50% of the rights to the player.[20] He started well there, scoring three goals in his first seven games of the 2006 Clausura, but on 5 March 2006 he suffered acruciate ligament injury which effectively put an end to his career with River.[13][19]
On 1 August 2006, Villarreal sold Figueroa toGenoa ofSerie B for a reported $13 million fee. He signed a four-year contract with the club.[21] Though still not fully recovered from his injury, medical opinion was that Figueroa should have been able to play again by mid-October. However it became clear that the knee reconstruction had not been completely successful and that another operation would be needed. It was predicted that this further surgery would keep him from playing that season.[22]
Figueroa eventually made his debut for Genoa, by this time inSerie A, on 28 October 2007 as a second-half substitute againstFiorentina,[23] and scored his first goal for the club some six weeks later, astoppage-time consolation in a 3–1 defeat at home toSiena.[24]
Figueroa was loaned from Genoa toBoca Juniors in October 2008. He played an important role during the Torneo Apertura by scoring important goals as the title race was between Boca Juniors,Tigre andSan Lorenzo, who were level on points at the top of the table. Eventually, Figueroa's performances helped Boca to win the Torneo Apertura.[citation needed]
After Genoa released the player, he returned to his first club,Rosario Central. After passing a medical examination on his knee, he signed a two-and-a-half-year contract on 20 January 2010.[25][13][26]
On 6 February 2013, he was released on a free transfer by Emelec and joined Greek clubPanathinaikos until the end of the season. He made his debut in a crucial game againstAEK Athens that Panathinaikos won 2–0. On 9 March 2013 he scored his first goal for the Greens, with a successful penalty kick againstAO Kerkyra. He scored a goal in an away match againstOlympiacos in a match that ended 1–1.
It was reported in June 2013 that Figueroa was to sign forBrazilian Série A sideNáutico, but the deal fell through.[27]
On 12 September 2013, Figueroa signed once again with Panathinaikos for one year.[28]
Figueroa signed a three-year contract, reportedly worth $1.5 million annually, withMalaysia Super League teamJohor Darul Ta'zim in December 2013. The transfer fee was $1 million.[29] Figueroa scored his first goal in the 88th minute after a through pass fromSafiq Rahim to give Johor Darul Ta'zim their first win, 2–0 againstPerak FA in the season opener. His previous experiences with clubs in Europe and South America helped Johor Darul Ta'zim to win their first league title in the 2014 season with 11 league goals (22 goals overall).
On 22 August 2015, he won his second league title with Johor. On 31 October 2015, Figueroa won the club's first everAFC Cup title after defeatingIstiklol 1–0 in thefinal.
After his playing contract with Johor Darul Ta'zim ended in 2015, Figueroa decided to retire as a football player. In 2017, he returned to become the new Johor Darul Ta'zim football club ambassador, and came out of retirement in November of that year to play for Johor Darul Ta'zim in the2018 Malaysia Super League.[30] In May 2018, he returned to his ambassadorial role and retired again as a professional football player.[31] In August 2018, Figueroa was appointed as the team manager of Johor Darul Ta'zim.[32] Club ownerTunku Ismail Ibrahim later also announced Figueroa as head coach of JDT, with JDT II head coachBenjamin Mora as his assistant.[33]
Figueroa has appeared for theArgentina national football team while playing for Cruz Azul and Villarreal, performing impressively in theCopa América 2004 and the2005 Confederations Cup – where only the BrazilianAdriano outscored him – and was part of the gold medal-winning Argentina team at the2004 Summer Olympics. At international level, he boasts a strike-rate of 60%, with 9 goals from 15 appearances, the same stats asMartín Palermo. The cruciate injury deprived him of the chance to represent his country at the 2006 World Cup.[19]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 2004 | 9 | 4 |
| 2005 | 6 | 5 | |
| Total | 15 | 9 |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 13 July 2004 | Estadio Miguel Grau,Piura, Peru |  Uruguay | 2–1 | 4–2 | 2004 Copa América | [35] |
| 2. | 4–2 | ||||||
| 3. | 10 September 2004 | El Monumental,Buenos Aires, Argentina | Uruguay | 2–0 | 4–2 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification | [36] |
| 4. | 4–0 | ||||||
| 5. | 26 March 2005 | Estadio Hernando Siles,La Paz, Bolivia |  Bolivia | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification | [36] |
| 6. | 18 June 2005 | Frankenstadion,Nuremberg, Germany |  Australia | 1–0 | 4–2 | 2005 Confederations Cup | [37] |
| 7. | 3–0 | ||||||
| 8. | 4–2 | ||||||
| 9. | 26 June 2005 | FIFA World Cup Stadium,Hanover, Germany |  Mexico | 1–1 | 1–1 (7–6pen.) | 2005 Confederations Cup | [37] |
Boca Juniors
Johor Darul Ta'zim
Argentina
Johor Darul Ta'zim
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