Everyone remembers Carlos "El Pibe" Valderrama from his days with Major League Soccer’s Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion just to name a few… Well, for those that don’t know, ‘El Pibe’ was all gung-ho about being a football coach and was dreaming of getting the chance to one day coach Colombia’s national team! So he got a gig with Colombian side Atletico Junior of Barranquilla, I guess to get a feel of what he was getting into. It didn’t turn out like he expected it to!
One night Mr. Valderrama called Referee Oscar Ruiz a "Crook" during a game versus America of Cali which isn’t all that crazy; because you’ve got to admit most refs mess up all the time! So get this… El Pibe pulls out a 50,000 peso bill (something like 25 bucks) and tries to hand it to the ref. Yeah, that didn’t go too well.
So Carlitos, now 46, said forget about that! He had a taste of what he was getting into and decided it was enough. He now wants to dedicate his life to his youth soccer school and occasional publicity jobs. Good for him!
Ex Colombia WC star Adolfo ‘Tren’ Valencia who once played for Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid and Italy’s Reginna has said he was better then Eto’o.
Valencia who just turned 40 was asked which player today plays most like he did back in his playing days and "El Tren" responded Samuel Eto’o. The modest "Train" said he was better then Eto’o in 4 fundamental categories he was better technically, better at dribbling, larger in size and, and, and, much calmer at the moment of scoring a goal. He claims they are equal in speed.
Valencia is now organizing his goodbye match where he will be joined by Colombian national teammates who played the brilliant qualifier back in 1993 where Colombia beat Argentina 5-0 in Buenos Aires. I wonder if ‘El Tren’ is going to invite Samuel Eto’o ?