Iván Valenciano

Iván Valenciano

Personal information
Full name	Iván René Valenciano Pérez
Date of birth	(1972-03-18) 18 March 1972 (age 52)
Place of birth	Barranquilla, Colombia
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1988–1992	Atlético Junior	96	(47)
1992–1993	Atalanta	5	(0)
1993–1996	Atlético Junior	64	(93)
1997	Veracruz[2]	10	(6)
1998–2001	Morelia[3]	30	(9)
1998	→ Unicosta (loan)[4]	6	(3)
1999	→ Atlético Junior (loan)	10	(6)
1999	→ Independiente Medellín (loan)	50	(35)
2000	→ Bucaramanga (loan)	19	(9)
2001	→ Gama (loan)	4	(0)
2001	→ Deportivo Cali (loan)	13	(5)
2002	Millonarios[5]	5	(0)
2002	Real Cartagena[6]	1	(2)
2003	Unión Magdalena	17	(6)
2003	Deportes Quindío	14	(4)
2004	Olmedo	17	(3)
2005	Deportes Quindío	15	(0)
2005	Millonarios	8	(1)
2006	Atlético Junior	6	(1)
2006	Olmedo	11	(1)
2007	Independiente Medellín[7]	0	(0)
2007	→ Centauros (loan)	13	(5)
2007	Valledupar	0	(0)
2008	Alianza Petrolera	8	(2)
Total		422	(238)
International career
1989–1991	Colombia U20[1]	6	(2)
1991–2000	Colombia	29	(13)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Iván René Valenciano Pérez (born 18 March 1972) is a Colombian former professional footballer who played as forward.^[8] He is the second top goalscorer of all-time in the Colombian Primera A with 217 goals, behind Argentine Sergio Galván Rey, who surpasses him with 224 goals.^[9][10]

During his first spell at Atlético Junior, he scored many goals and was visibly overweight. Due to this, he earned the nickname "El Gordito de Oro" (The Golden Fat Man).

Valenciano was born in Barranquilla. He debuted as a professional player in the Junior from Barranquilla, on 23 October 1988 in a match against Independiente Santa Fe played in Bogotá, in which he scored a goal. Since then, there would be the beginning of a long history of goals that covered two decades – he was the top goal scorer for Junior six times. In 1991, only being 19 years old, he scored 30 goals, winning his first Golden Boot award.

He participated in the Italian Serie A in 1992, playing for Atalanta, where he was unable to score a goal, though he was assigned a goal erroneously. Due to his underperformance, he returned to Barranquilla in the middle of the following year.

In 1993, playing for Junior, he won his first title and was the team's top scorer with 18 goals. He then won his second Golden Boot award in 94–95 season, in which Junior won its fourth domestic title, scoring 24 goals in 30 matches. In the season 95–96, he scored 36 goals, breaking his own record and winning another Golden Boot award, the last of the three he won during his football career in Colombia.

Valenciano was signed for Mexican club Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz. In the 1996–97 season, he made his debut in a match against Potros de Hierro from Atlante, to which he scored a goal on his debut. He then had an injury to his knee during a match against Panzas Verdes from León, leaving him out of the field for about 2 or 3 months. Given the relegation of his team, he was signed by Monarcas Morelia for which he played from 1997 to 1999. He then returned to Colombia.

In Colombia, besides Junior, he played for Deportivo Unicosta, Independiente Medellín, Atlético Bucaramanga, Deportivo Cali, Millonarios, Unión Magdalena, Deportes Quindío and Alianza Petrolera.

On 11 July 2009, a testimonial match was carried out for Iván René Valenciano in the Roberto Meléndez Stadium.^[11] For the friendly match, many recognised football players were invited such as the Dutch player Edgar Davids, the Chilean Iván Zamorano, the Uruguayan Paolo Montero, the Argentinian Sergio Goycochea, and the Colombians Carlos Valderrama, Faustino Asprilla, Arnoldo Iguarán, Mauricio Serna, Víctor Hugo Aristizábal, among others. The match ended up with an 8–7 win for the foreign team and Valenciano scoring two goals.^[12]

He played for the Colombia national football team and was a participant at the 1992 Summer Olympics and at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. For the national team he scored 13 goals in 29 games between 1991 and 2000. He made his debut for the national side on 15 July 1991 at the 1991 Copa América, when he replaced Arnoldo Iguarán in the 78th minute.^[13]

Scores and results list Colombia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Valenciano goal.

List of international goals scored by Iván Valenciano^[1][14]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	15 Aug 1993	Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla, Colombia	Argentina	1–0	2–1	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	29 Aug 1993	Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Barranquilla, Colombia	Peru	1–0	4–0
3	28 Jan 1994	Estadio Agustín Tovar, Barinas, Venezuela	Venezuela	2–1	2–1	Friendly
4	6 Feb 1994	Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia	Saudi Arabia	1–0	1–1	Friendly
5	5 May 1994	Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, United States	El Salvador	3–0	3–0	1994 Miami Cup
6	30 Nov 1995	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States	Mexico	1–1	2–2	Friendly
7	6 Mar 1996	Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, United States	Honduras	1–1	2–1	Friendly
8				2–1
9	15 Dec 1996	Estadio Polideportivo de Pueblo Nuevo, San Cristóbal, Venezuela	Venezuela	2–0	2–0	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
10	8 Sep 1999	Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, United States	Trinidad and Tobago	1–0	3–4	Friendly
11				2–3
12				3–3
13	4 Jun 2000	Estadio Nemesio Camacho, Bogotá, Colombia	Venezuela	3–0	3–0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification

Valenciano who is currently a resident of Weston, Florida was arrested on 30 of October 2023 for driving while intoxicated. He was detained but no bail was set for his release. The state of Florida however has suspended his driving license for the offense.^[16]

Junior

• Colombian Championship: 1993,1995

Individual

• All-time top scorer in Junior de Barranquilla (157 goals).
• Second all-time top scorer Categoría Primera A. (2009–)