Esteban Óscar Fuertes (born 26 December 1972) is an Argentine former footballer.
 Fuertes in 2008 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Esteban Óscar Fuertes | ||
| Date of birth | 26 December 1972 | ||
| Place of birth | Coronel Dorrego, Buenos Aires, Argentina | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Sarmiento CR | |||
| Independiente CR | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1991 | Sporting Punta Alta | – | (–) |
| 1992 | Independiente | 1 | (0) |
| 1992–1993 | El Porvenir | 26 | (17) |
| 1993–1995 | Los Andes | 68 | (31) |
| 1995–1996 | Platense | 29 | (9) |
| 1996–1997 | Racing Club | 33 | (8) |
| 1997–1999 | Colón | 62 | (23) |
| 1999 | Derby County | 8 | (1) |
| 2000 | Colón | 18 | (17) |
| 2000 | Lens | 26 | (7) |
| 2001–2002 | Tenerife | 26 | (5) |
| 2002–2003 | River Plate | 34 | (12) |
| 2003–2006 | Colón | 81 | (35) |
| 2007 | Universidad Católica | 35 | (19) |
| 2008–2012 | Colón | 122 | (63) |
| 2013 | Sport Boys Warnes | 11 | (3) |
| Total | 577 | (250) | |
| International career | |||
| 2009 | Argentina | 1 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2017 | Huracán Las Heras | ||
| 2018 | Fernández Vial | ||
| 2019 | Colón (interim) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Club career
editIn July 1999, Fuertes was purchased for £2.3m by Jim Smith, manager of Derby County in England. He scored two early goals, including the winner against Everton in the league.[1] and another against Swansea City in the League Cup.[2] However, weeks later, he was refused entry back into Britain when immigration officials discovered that his Italian passport was forged. Derby were able to sell him on to Lens in France for £2.8m.[3]
Fuertes retired from professional football on 25 June 2012 in a match against Banfield, scoring two goals.[4] A year following his retirement, Fuertes signed a six-month contract for Bolivian side Sport Boys which had been recently promoted to the Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano.[5] He officially retired on 6 December 2013 after eleven appearances and three goals scored for the club.[6]
International career
editOn 20 May 2009, Fuertes made his international debut in a friendly match against Panama aged 36, making him the oldest player ever to make his debut for the Argentina national team.[7] The Argentina team made up of players based in the Primera División Argentina won the game 3–1.
Coaching career
editFuertes coached Huracán Las Heras [es][8] and Colón[9] in his homeland.
In 2018, Fuertes coached Chilean club Fernández Vial in the Segunda División Profesional.[10]
References
edit- ^ Andrews, Phil (28 August 1999). "Fuertes arrives with perfect timing". The Independent. London. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
- ^ "Sport: Football Everton slain by Oxford". BBC. 23 September 1999. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
- ^ News of the World 8 December 2002 The bung busters demanded to see every letter, fax and document involving Derby's foreign transfers
- ^ Fuertes' last professional match. Archived 30 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine at Diario Olé (in Spanish)
- ^ El Bichi Fuertes retorna al fútbol en el recién ascendido Sport Boys at bolivia.com (in Spanish)
- ^ Se acaba la era 'Bichi' Fuertes en Sport Boys at elsol.com.bo (in Spanish)
- ^ El "Bichi" Fuertes se convirtió en el jugador "más viejo" en debutar en la Selección Archived 16 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine at El Argento (in Spanish)
- ^ "Bichi Fuertes debutará como entrenador en Huracán Las Heras". ESPN (in Spanish). 9 May 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
- ^ "Sin poder ganar ningún partido como DT, asume el "Bichi" Fuertes en Colón". www.ellitoral.com (in Spanish). 22 February 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
- ^ "'Bichi' Fuertes es el nuevo entrenador de Fernández Vial". Diario AS (in Spanish). 27 January 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
External links
edit- Statistics at Irish Times at the Wayback Machine (archived 13 July 2011)
- Esteban Fuertes at BDFA (in Spanish)
- Esteban Fuertes – Argentine Primera statistics at Fútbol XXI (in Spanish) at the Wayback Machine (archived 8 April 2009)
- Esteban Fuertes at Soccerway
- Esteban Fuertes at Soccerbase
- Esteban Fuertes at PlaymakerStats.com
