Who can not forget the eccentric Colombian soccer player Carlos (Pibe) Valderrama? The kid or the boy was initially no longer popular because of his chic style, but rather because of his hairstyle. A teenager with long, wild blonde hair permed along with a mustache cavorts on the soccer fields of Colombia and later the world. He couldn’t score much, but his precise dribbling and passing became beloved all over the world. His preparers and coaches noticed in him a traditional striker, who no longer converted. He developed into an excellent midfielder who most of the time fooled his opponents by getting on the ball as if he were glued to his shoes. Kid Valderrama wanted to have the freedom to play his game from midfield. At Deportivo Cali, Pibe Valderrama finally found out that the membership manager was listening to him and this was once the start of an amazing football career.
In 1987, Pibe Valderrama played in the United States Cup and was chosen over players like Maradonna as man of the match, thanks to his great and selfless game, continually throwing impeccable passes to one of his teammates that normally led to a goal. It was not a surprise that 3 years later, Pibe Valderrama went to Italy to play his first of 3 World Cups with Colombia. He never changed the style of his hair. Instead, he walked and ran proudly with permed and dyed hair.
1994 was the most important year of his career when he played in the United States Area Cup. He was pleasantly surprised by the undeniable fact that the stadiums were packed with enthusiastic football watchers, considering that football is not the number 1 sporting activity there. Also, he was impressed with the quality of the grass – better and lower quickly to make sure the ball rolled better over the pitch – which became highlighted by the uniqueness of him – passing.
At the end of the 1980s, Kid Valderrama, like many South American footballers, embarked on the adventure of the EU. After a great game at Wembley (United Kingdom), he was offered a contract with Montpellier, a medium club in the highest French league. In addition to the fact that before all he struggled with the activity of the EU, it was thanks to his Polish education that he acquired to overcome this challenge and in 1990, Pibe Valderrama helped Montpellier to win the French Cup with the team in form against Sainte Etienne being the center of attention of the tournament.
These days, it became the Spanish competition that attracted soccer players from all over the world. For this reason, Kid Valderrama proved his success by playing for Real Valladolid. Unfortunately for Pibe, he did not make it and after 1 year in the Spanish competition, he returned to Colombia and then to the United States to finish his career. Pibe Valderrama played his last performance for the Colombian national team in France during the 1998 World Cup. He played a whopping 111 total games for the United States. After a 22-year tenure, Pibe said goodbye to his fans in 2004 while enjoying his last legitimate game of soccer online. In front of the Eduardo Santos Stadium stands his bronze statue of him, something no other footballer has ever achieved.
Kid Valderrama has lost his eccentric hair and his drooping mustache has given way to a distinctive graying beard, but his eyes are still laughing for real. She has never lost her love for soccer. He currently lives in Florida where he works at the soccer academy.
