Luciano Figueroa

Figueroa was born in Santa Fe. He began his professional career with Primera División club Rosario Central, where he formed a partnership with César Delgado. In the 2003 Clausura, Figueroa finished as Argentina's leading goalscorer with 17 goals, which included five in the last match of the season against an under-strength Boca Juniors. This was his last season at Rosario Central. Both he and Delgado transferred overseas in the summer of 2003; Figueroa joined English Premier League club Birmingham City for a fee of £2.5 million. Controversy arose when Spanish club Osasuna claimed that Figueroa had signed a contract with them before his move to Birmingham, thereby invalidating the transfer. At the end of August 2003 FIFA ruled provisionally in Birmingham's favour, but it was not until October that this ruling was finally confirmed. Figueroa had been close to joining Rangers earlier that summer but the Glasgow club pulled out of the deal. Though Figueroa was scoring freely for Birmingham's reserve team, manager Steve Bruce believed he would struggle in the Premiership due to his physique. After only one League appearance, as a late substitute in a 2–0 defeat of Portsmouth, and one outing in the League Cup, his contract was annulled, and he signed for Cruz Azul of the Primera División de México, where he was reunited with former teammate Delgado. After a slow start, Figueroa returned to his old form with Cruz Azul, scoring 9 goals in the last 7 games of the 2004 Clausura. He…

Figueroa has appeared for the Argentina national football team while playing for Cruz Azul and Villarreal, performing impressively in the Copa América 2004 and the 2005 Confederations Cup – where only the Brazilian Adriano outscored him – and was part of the gold medal-winning Argentina team at the 2004 Summer Olympics. At international level, he boasts a strike-rate of 60%, with 9 goals from 15 appearances, the same stats as Martín Palermo. The cruciate injury deprived him of the chance to represent his country at the 2006 World Cup.

International

Player

Boca Juniors

Primera División: 2008 Apertura Johor Darul Ta'zim

Malaysia Super League: 2014, 2015, 2018 Malaysia Cup: runner-up 2014 Piala Sumbangsih: 2015, 2018 AFC Cup: 2015 Argentina

Olympic Gold Medal: 2004 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament: 2004 Copa América: runner-up 2004 FIFA Confederations Cup: runner-up 2005

Individual

Primera División Argentina top scorer: 2003 Clausura PFAM Player of the Month: July 2015 FAM Football Awards Best Foreign Player: 2015

Manager

Johor Darul Ta'zim

Malaysia Super League: 2019, 2020 Malaysia Cup: 2019 Piala Sumbangsih: 2019, 2020