Fernando Cavenaghi

Fernando Ezequiel Cavenaghi (born 21 September 1983) is a retired Argentine professional footballer.

He played as a striker who was efficient in front of goal with either foot and from any range.

Cavenaghi made his professional debut for River Plate in the 2000–01 season in which he scored one goal in five appearances.

In his first full season he scored 17 goals in 23 appearances, including a hat-trick against Estudiantes.

Cavenaghi was part of the Argentina under-20 team that won the 2003 South American Youth Championship, finishing as its top scorer with eight goals.

In the same year, he was part of the team that reached the semi-finals at the FIFA U-20 World Cup, and was joint top scorer with four goals.

In July 2004, Cavenaghi moved abroad for the first time, joining Spartak Moscow for a fee of US$12 million, then a record for a Russian team.

He failed to adapt to Russian football, and was frozen out of the team following the arrival of manager Vladimir Fedotov in April 2006, whom he publicly criticised for his tactics.

He was put up for sale that December.

On 22 January 2007, Cavenaghi was sold to French club Bordeaux.

He signed a four-and-a-half-year deal for a €7 million fee.

Through an Italian passport earned by his ancestry, he could work freely in the European Union.

On 3 February he played his first Ligue 1 match against Nice.

In his first season, Bordeaux won the Coupe de la Ligue with a 1–0 win over Lyon in the final, with Cavenaghi an unused substitute.

During the 2007–08 season he scored 22 goals in 35 appearances for Bordeaux.

He earned four caps for the senior team in 2008.

Born in O'Brien, Buenos Aires Province, Cavenaghi played for Rivadavia de Chacabuco and Bravado in the regional leagues between the ages of nine and twelve.

In the 2008 Trophée des Champions, Cavenaghi came on as a 70th-minute substitute for Alou Diarra in a goalless draw against Lyon at the Stade Chaban-Delmas.

Though both he and David Bellion had their attempts saved by Grégory Coupet in the penalty shootout, Bordeaux were victorious.

In the 2008–09 Ligue 1 season Cavenaghi helped Bordeaux to its first league title in ten years, scoring 13 goals in 29 league matches.

The team also won the Coupe de la Ligue in the same season, with Cavenaghi scoring in a 4–2 home win over Guingamp in the last 16.

The Girondins won their third honour of the calendar year on 25 July 2009 as they retained the Trophée des Champions with a 2–0 win over Guingamp in Montreal, Cavaneghi scoring the opening goal for Laurent Blanc's team.

Cavenaghi signed for Spanish club Mallorca on 26 August 2010 a season-long loan with the option to purchase for €3.5 million.

He scored six goals in 13 total games for the Balearic club, all in the form of braces against Real Sociedad in La Liga, and Sporting Gijón and Almería in the Copa del Rey.

In January 2011 Cavenaghi joined Brazil's Internacional on a year-long loan, with option to make it permanent for €2.5 million.

In July 2011, after leaving his contract at Bordeaux a year early, Cavenaghi returned to River Plate.

He was appointed captain of the club, who had been relegated.

He scored 19 goals in 37 league matches that season, including a notable performance against Gimnasia de Jujuy where he scored four goals.

In his one-season back he helped the club capture the 2011-12 Primera B Nacional and gain promotion back to the first division.

Cavenaghi returned to Spain in August 2012 by signing for Villarreal, who themselves had fallen into the Segunda División.

On his debut on 17 August, he scored in each half of a 2–1 win over Real Madrid Castilla at the Estadio El Madrigal.

He totalled 19 appearances and four goals for the "Yellow Submarine", but cut his stay short in January 2013 Cavenaghi when he signed for Pachuca of the Mexican Liga MX.

He spent most of his career with River Plate in three separate spells, playing 210 games and scoring 112 goals, while winning honours including the 2014 Copa Sudamericana and the 2015 Copa Libertadores.

Abroad, he had his best successes with Bordeaux, whom he helped win a Ligue 1 title and two each of the Coupe de la Ligue and Trophée des Champions.

He also had short spells in Spain, Brazil, Mexico and Cyprus, finishing as the Cypriot First Division's top scorer as APOEL won it in his final year as a professional.

In early 2014, Cavenaghi joined River Plate for the third time.

He would wear his number 9 throughout his 3rd stay.

River Plate became Champion in Argentina's Primera División 2014, making them eligible to several continental/international tournaments in 2014-15.

As captain, Cavenaghi led River Plate to achieve a sweep of all three international championships: 2014 Copa Sudamericana, 2015 Recopa Sudamericana and the 2015 Copa Libertadores.

Included in these campaigns were two eliminations of arch-rival Boca Juniors, first in the Sudamericana and later in Libertadores.