Asdrúbal Paniagua

Asdrúbal Paniagua

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

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Paniagua and the second or maternal family name is Ramírez.

Asdrúbal Paniagua Ramírez (born 29 July 1951, in San Rafael de Heredia) 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

Club career

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.

Paniagua was part of the mythical Saprissa squad that won six consecutive championships from 1972 to 1977, a record both in Costa Rica as well as in the Americas. He was the club's leading scorer with twelve goals in 1974.

Paniagua also won three titles with Herediano.

International career

Paniagua appeared in 36 matches for the full Costa Rica national football team from 1971 to 1985, scoring 3 goals, and represented his country in 3 FIFA World Cup qualification matches. He played for Costa Rica at the 1975 Pan American Games.

Personal life

Paniagua is married to Ligia Fuentes and has fathered seven children; Andrea, Ana Lucrecia, Rebecca, Ana Sofia, Fiorela, Kevin Hasdrubal and Asley. 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. Ironically, he survived a serious car crash after being hit by a drunk-driver in 1997.