Agustín Delgado

Early career

Delgado started his career in his native Ecuador with ESPOLI in 1991 before joining Barcelona SC in 1994, where he played for one year, winning the Ecuadorian Serie A in 1995. He then joined El Nacional and again won the Ecuadorian league title, before returning to Barcelona and securing a third consecutive league winner's medal. In 1998, Delgado moved to Mexico where he had a brief spell at Cruz Azul. He joined CONCACAF champions Necaxa in 1999 and represented the club at the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship, scoring against South Melbourne in the group stage, and in the third-place play-off against Real Madrid he scored in normal time as well as the winning penalty in the shootout. In late 2001, after scoring nine times as Ecuador qualified for its first World Cup, Necaxa accepted a £3.5m bid from English Premier League club Southampton.

Southampton

Delgado moved to Southampton in 2001. Unfortunately, he was dogged by injuries which restricted him to only a few games during his time with the Saints. Southampton unsuccessfully tried to get him back to fitness after he was injured in Necaxa prior to the 2002 World Cup Qualifiers. It might have been a different story had the striker refused to play while injured during the 2002 World Cup. The pressure on him to play was enormous, as Ecuadorians believed that, with nine goals during the 2002 World cup qualifying campaign, he was indispensable; and naturally, Delgado dreamed of playing in a FIFA…

Delgado's first goal at the 2002 FIFA World Cup was also the first goal for the Ecuadorian team in a World Cup, against Mexico. Delgado was joint top scorer (with Hernán Crespo) in the CONMEBOL qualifiers for the tournament with nine goals. Delgado helped Ecuador qualify once again for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, contributing five goals in ten games, but stated that the 2006 tournament would be his last. Delgado scored in the 80th minute in Ecuador's shock 2–0 win in their opening match against Poland. In the following game, he scored in the 55th minute of a 3–0 victory over Costa Rica, enabling Ecuador to qualify alongside hosts Germany for the last 16. After the 2006 World Cup, Delgado announced his retirement from international football. He returned for a farewell match against Costa Rica in September 2011 where he played the final five minutes, finishing his international career with 72 caps and a then-record 31 goals for Ecuador.

In the Ecuadorian general election of 2013 Delgado was chosen as member of the National Assembly for Imbabura Province. Delgado serves as member of PAIS Alliance. Ulises de la Cruz and Iván Hurtado, former teammates of Delgado at the national team also serve for the Pais Alliance in the National Assembly. Delgado, who has African ancestry, stutters and has been the object of ridicule on social media and by the cartoonist Xavier Bonilla in the newspaper El Universo. The cartoonist and the newspaper were sanctioned by La SUPERCOM, La Superintendencia de la Información y Comunicación, an Ecuadorean agency that regulates communications. According to Freedom House, a Washington, DC–based NGO, the sanction was evidence of censorship by the Correa government.

Club

International

Scores and results list Ecuador's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Delgado goal.