Asdrúbal Paniagua Ramírez (born 29 July 1951, in San Rafael de Heredia[1]) is a retired professional football player from Costa Rica.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Asdrúbal Paniagua Ramírez | ||
| Date of birth | 29 July 1951 | ||
| Place of birth | San Rafael de Heredia | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1970–1976 | Saprissa | 245 | (44) |
| 1977–1984 | Herediano | ||
| 1985 | Curridabat | ||
| Total | 475 | (78) | |
| International career | |||
| 1971–1985 | Costa Rica | 36 | (3) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Better known as Yuba, he played most of his career for Deportivo Saprissa, where he is still remembered as an idol.
Career edit
Club career edit
Paniagua is vastly recalled for his great shooting skills, his excellent passing abilities and sense of team organizement inside the field. Overall, he was a short midfielder, with extraordinary talent, and was part of the famous Saprissa's midfield whose way of playing made history in the CONCACAF region.[citation needed]
Paniagua was part of the mythical Saprissa squad that won six consecutive championships from 1972 to 1977,[1] a record both in Costa Rica as well as in the Americas. He was the club's leading scorer with twelve goals in 1974.[2]
Paniagua also won three titles with Herediano.
International career edit
Paniagua appeared in 36 matches for the full Costa Rica national football team from 1971 to 1985,[1] scoring 3 goals,[3] and represented his country in 3 FIFA World Cup qualification matches.[4] He played for Costa Rica at the 1975 Pan American Games.[5]
Personal life edit
Paniagua is married to Ligia Fuentes and has fathered seven children; Andrea, Ana Lucrecia, Rebecca, Ana Sofia, Fiorela, Kevin Hasdrubal and Asley.[1] After retiring, he fell into a depression and became an alcoholic but he beat his addiction and worked as a sales agent for Grupo TACA.[6] Ironically, he survived a serious car crash after being hit by a drunk-driver in 1997.[7]
References edit
- ^ a b c d "Sentimiento dividido". Al Día. 2004-05-20.
- ^ "Buzón de Rodrigo". Nacion.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-24. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
- ^ Homenaje a 'Yuba' Paniagua Archived 2014-10-17 at the Wayback Machine - Herediano (in Spanish)
- ^ Asdrúbal Paniagua – FIFA competition record (archived)
- ^ "Pan-American Games 1975 (Mexico) - Match Details". RSSSF. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
- ^ ¿Qué hay de su vida?: El amor del "Maestrito" - Nación (in Spanish)
- ^ Yuba vuelve a nacer•Gambeteó el alcoholismo y ahora enseñará a los niños secretos del futbol - Nación (in Spanish)
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