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Asdrúbal Paniagua

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Asdrúbal Paniagua
Personal information
Full name Asdrúbal Paniagua Ramírez
Date of birth (1951-07-29) 29 July 1951 (age 73)
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

Asdrúbal Paniagua Ramírez (born 29 July 1951, in San Rafael de Heredia[1]) is a retired professional football player from Costa Rica.

Better known as Yuba, he played most of his career for Deportivo Saprissa, where he is still remembered as an idol.

Career

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Club career

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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

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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

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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

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  1. ^ a b c d "Sentimiento dividido". Al Día. 20 May 2004.
  2. ^ "Buzón de Rodrigo". Nacion.com. Archived from the original on 24 October 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
  3. ^ Homenaje a 'Yuba' Paniagua Archived 2014-10-17 at the Wayback Machine - Herediano (in Spanish)
  4. ^ Asdrúbal PaniaguaFIFA competition record (archived)
  5. ^ "Pan-American Games 1975 (Mexico) - Match Details". RSSSF. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  6. ^ ¿Qué hay de su vida?: El amor del "Maestrito" - Nación (in Spanish)
  7. ^ Yuba vuelve a nacer•Gambeteó el alcoholismo y ahora enseñará a los niños secretos del futbol - Nación (in Spanish)