Luis Amaranto Perea

Not to be confused with Luis Carlos Perea.
Luis Perea

Perea playing for Atlético Madrid in 2010
Personal information
Full name Luis Amaranto Perea Mosquera
Date of birth (1979-01-30) 30 January 1979
Place of birth Turbo, Colombia
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1999–2003 Independiente Medellín 117 (0)
2003–2004 Boca Juniors 16 (0)
2004–2012 Atlético Madrid 224 (0)
2012–2014 Cruz Azul 70 (5)
Total 427 (5)
National team
2002–2014 Colombia 76 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (goals)
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Perea and the second or maternal family name is Mosquera.

Luis Amaranto Perea Mosquera (born 30 January 1979) is a Colombian retired footballer. Gifted with incredible stamina and pace,[1] the central defender could also be adapted at right back.

He played most of his senior career with Atlético Madrid, appearing in 306 official games over the course of eight La Liga seasons. In 2012, he signed with Cruz Azul.

Perea gained 76 caps for the Colombian national team, during more than one decade.

Club career

Perea was born in Turbo. He began his professional career with Independiente Medellín, moving in 2003 to Argentina with Boca Juniors, with whom he won that year's Intercontinental Cup.

In June 2004 Perea signed for Atlético Madrid on a four-year deal,[2] as another centre-back, Pablo Ibáñez, also arrived that season. Both were the starters as the Colchoneros returned to the UEFA Champions League in 2008–09 after a 12-year absence, with Perea appearing in 30 La Liga matches; after the campaign kicked off, he received his Spanish passport.[3]

After the signing of ACF Fiorentina's Tomáš Ujfaluši for the 2008–09, Perea saw some additional time as a right back, but eventually lost that place to another newly signed, John Heitinga. From 2009 to 2011, with the latter departed to Everton, he managed to appear in 56 league games for the club combined, with qualification to the UEFA Europa League in his second season after a seventh-place finish.

On 29 September 2011, following a Europa League match against Stade Rennais FC, Perea became the foreign player with most official appearances for Atlético Madrid with 289, surpassing Argentine Jorge Griffa.[4] He left the club at the end of the 2011–12 campaign at the age of 33, after having contributed with 34 games the league and the Europa League combined (19+15) as the club won the latter competition.

Perea signed as a free agent with Mexico's Cruz Azul in June 2012,[5] winning the following year's Copa MX[6] and the 2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League.[7][8] In December 2015, after one year out of football due to injury, the 36-year-old chose to retire, settling in Madrid and focusing on becoming a coach.[9]

International career

A Colombian international since 20 November 2002, in a 0–1 friendly loss with Honduras played in San Pedro Sula, Perea appeared at the 2007 and 2011 Copa América tournaments. He was named team captain before the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Bolivia in La Paz, in a first-ever win in that country (2–1), and represented his nation for nearly 12 years.[10]

Honours

Independiente Medellín
Boca Juniors
Atlético Madrid
Cruz Azul

References

  1. ↑ No hay peor astilla que la del mismo palo (Nothing worse than the apple who does not fall far from the tree); ESPN Deportes, 11 March 2004 (Spanish)
  2. ↑ Atlético sign defender Perea; UEFA.com, 11 June 2004
  3. ↑ Atlético allowed to register Cléber; UEFA.com, 2 August 2007
  4. ↑ Perea, el extranjero con más partidos (Perea, foreign with more games); UEFA.com, 29 September 2011 (Spanish)
  5. ↑ Luis Amaranto Perea deja Atlético de Madrid y ficha por Cruz Azul (Luis Amaranto Perea leaves Atlético de Madrid and signs for Cruz Azul); Goal.com, 15 June 2012 (Spanish)
  6. ↑ Campeon Cruz Azul al derrotar 4–2 al Atlante – Copa MX – Vídeo con los goles (Cruz Azul after defeating Atlante 4–2 – MX Cup – Video with goals); Sitios Total, 11 April 2013 (Spanish)
  7. ↑ Cruz Azul, a Marruecos (Cruz Azul, to Morocco); Marca, 24 April 2014 (Spanish)
  8. ↑ Luis Amaranto Perea se siente agradecido con Cruz Azul (Luis Amaranto Perea shows appreciation towards Cruz Azul); Goal.com, 6 September 2015 (Spanish)
  9. ↑ Luis Amaranto Perea se retira del fútbol (Luis Amaranto Perea retires from football); Marca, 4 December 2015 (Spanish)
  10. ↑ Luis Amaranto Perea – International Appearances; at RSSSF

External links

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