Faryd Mondragon

Faryd Mondragon
Mondragón playing for 1. FC Köln in 2008
Personal information
Full name	Faryd Camilo Mondragón Alí
Date of birth	(1971-06-21) 21 June 1971 (age 42)
Place of birth	Cali, Colombia
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Deportivo Cali
Number	1
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1990–1991	Deportivo Cali	1	(0)
1992	Real Cartagena	15	(0)
1992	Santa Fe	2	(0)
1993	Cerro Porteño	11	(0)
1993–1994	Argentinos Juniors	21	(0)
1994–1995	Independiente	0	(0)
1995	Santa Fe	8	(0)
1995–1998	Independiente	103	(1)
1999	Real Zaragoza	13	(0)
1999–2000	Independiente	16	(0)
2001	Metz	30	(0)
2001–2007	Galatasaray	185	(0)
2007–2010	1. FC Köln	106	(0)
2011	Philadelphia Union	27	(0)
2012–2014	Deportivo Cali	78	(0)
National team‡
1993–	Colombia	50	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of April 24, 2014. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of June 10, 2014

Faryd Camilo Mondragón Alí (born 21 June 1971) is a Colombian footballer who currently plays for Deportivo Cali in the Colombian First Division. He is also a long-time member of the Colombian national team, having played with them since 1993. This makes him one of the last active members of the original 1990s golden generation, while playing for the 2010s generation along with Mario Yepes.

Club career

He also had stints with Deportivo Cali, Independiente Santa Fe (Colombia), Cerro Porteño (Paraguay), Argentinos Juniors, Independiente (Argentina), Real Zaragoza (Spain) and FC Metz (France).

Faryd Mondragón in a match 27 Round, against rivals Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Mondragón playing time in South America, starting in his country at Deportivo Cali and the Independiente Santa Fe before moving to Cerro Porteño in Paraguay. His career took off when he joined the most exclusive championship of Argentina with Argentinos Juniors in 1993. He then received his first team selection in Colombia. The following year he joined the Independiente where he became the goalkeeper for four seasons

He was the man behind the maintenance of FC Metz in Ligue 1 at the end of the 2000–2001 season as he was accumulating each match to secure the victories or draws that allowed the continuance, the club narrowly escaping. Mondragón was convicted of using a false Greek passport and despite the mitigating circumstances (the passport would have been provided by shysters and FC Metz had not reached the limit of players outside the EU), Mondragón was not allowed to play in France and had to leave the country.

Mondragón represented Turkish power Galatasaray from 2001 to 2007, where he won two Süper Lig titles in 2002 and 2006. He was appreciated by the fans for his many saves and his commitment to the success of the team, and also become known for his prayers before and during games. He came to the fore in many European matches and was selected Player of the week in the Champions League two times.

Mondragón transferred from Istanbul to 1. FC Köln in May 2007. After arriving at his new club, he was forced to compete with established Köln goalkeeper Stefan Wessels for a spot in the starting eleven. One of the reasons that he chose 1. FC Köln it was because the current coach Christoph Daum was working there. After an intense pre-season, Mondragón was named as the new number one for 1. FC Köln. This resulted in Wessels leaving the club for Everton in England. Since Wessels departure, Mondragón established a first choice goalkeeper for the club until Mondragón was relegated to the bench after an altercation with Zvonimir Soldo over his desire to go on international duty. This resulted in Mondragón being sent home from the team hotel and being replaced by young Croatian stopper Miro Varvodić.^[2]

Mondragón in his second spell at Deportivo Cali.

His contract with Köln was terminated with effect from 31 December 2010,^[3] the reason being Mondragón's desire to play in the MLS.

He spent the 2011 season with Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer, where he was successful in providing leadership to a young team. On January 30, 2012, Deportivo Cali announced Mondragon had signed a one-year contract to finish his career with his original professional club.^[4]

International career

After making his debut against Venezuela in 1993,^[5] Mondragón was a member of the Colombian national teams that competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics and the 1998 FIFA World Cup. During the 1998 World Cup, he started in goal for all three of their games, including the final match against England. Despite conceding two goals, he made some impressive saves and in doing so kept the score down to 2–0, with the BBC's South American football correspondent Tim Vickery saying that Mondragón was "single-handedly responsible for the fact that England did not run up a cricket score".^[6] At the end of the game, Mondragón broke down in tears and David Seaman, England's goalkeeper, did his best to console him. According to German footballing legend Franz Beckenbauer, Mondragón had been the best goalkeeper of the first round.^[7]

Along with Carlos Valderrama, the country's most capped player, Mondragón is the only Colombian to have participated in five FIFA World Cup qualification campaigns.^[5] In 2010, he was recalled to the Colombian squad at the age of 39 after a five year absence from international football.^[8] In 2014, he was named in Colombia's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, making him the oldest player at the tournament at the age of 42, and the only player to be a a squad member at both the 1994 and 2014 World Cups.^[9]

Career statistics

Updated February 22, 2011

Honours

Independiente

• Recopa Sudamericana: 1995
• Supercopa Libertadores: 1995

Galatasaray

• Süper Lig: 2001–02, 2005–06
• Turkish Cup: 2004–05

Deportivo Cali

• Superliga Colombiana: 2014

Personal life

He was born to Colombian parents of Lebanese ancestry.

References

External links

• Faryd Mondragón at National-Football-Teams.com
• Argentine Primera statistics (Spanish)