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Tegucigalpa, Dec 14 (EFE).- Honduran Julio César ‘Rambo’ de León, who played for more than 20 teams in America, Europe and Asia, said goodbye to football this Thursday in a friendly match between the World Cup and Gold teams. which had as a special guest the Colombian former World Cup player Carlos ‘el Pibe’ Valderrama.
The party at the José de la Paz Herrera Stadium in Tegucigalpa was emotional, with spectators applauding the 44-year-old former midfielder, who played more than 70 games for the Honduras national team.
The match ended 9-2 in favor of the World Cup team with goals from ‘Rambo’ (2), Carlos Pavón (3), Carlo Costly, Amado Guevara, Julián de León and Dani Turcios, while for La Dorada Eduardo Benneth and Milton ‘Tyson’ Núñez.
The game was divided into two parts, one of 45 minutes in which ‘Rambo’ played with the World Cup team made up of his compatriots Amado Guevara, Carlos Pavón, Wilson Palacios, Emilio Izaguirre and Carlo Costly, among others.
In the second half he put on the shirt of the Golden team, in which ‘el Pibe’ Valderrama and the Hondurans Árnold Cruz, César Obando, Milton “Tyson” Núñez and the popular singer-songwriter and publicist Paul Hughes played, although ‘Rambo’ was He stayed until the 69th minute, when he left the field crying to applause.
“I did it, I managed to get to Italy and I was one of the best and I played with the best (…), I believed it,” said ‘Rambo’ with tears in his eyes after leaving the field.
“They didn’t play for me, I played for them. It’s difficult to say goodbye to professional football,” stressed the former midfielder born 44 years ago in the Caribbean city of Puerto Cortés.
The World Cup team was led by Argentine Gustavo Reggi, assistant to Olimpia coach Pedro Troglio, while La Dorada had Honduran Ramón Maradiaga, who as a player was the captain of Honduras in the 1982 World Cup in Spain.
As a professional ‘Rambo’ played for the teams Atlético Celaya, from Mexico; Deportivo Maldonado, from Uruguay; Reggina, Fiorentina, Catanzaro, Sambenedettese, Messina, Avellino, Teramo Calcio, Genoa, Parma and Torino, from Italy; Shandong Luneng, from China, and Municipal, from Guatemala.
He also played for Municipal Limeño, from El Salvador, and the Honduran teams Olimpia, Motagua, Olancho, Parrillas One, Platense, Broncos, San Juan, until finishing with Atlético Júnior, from the Honduras Promotion League.
‘Rambo’, a nickname he earned for being a warrior on the field, began his soccer career at the age of 16 in Platense, his hometown.
With the Honduran national team ‘Rambo’, who was characterized by his technique, skill and being a specialist in free throws, played more than 70 games.
On August 20, 2008, in a qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, ‘Rambo’ scored a great goal against Mexico at the Azteca Stadium, from outside the area, something that the Hondurans will not forget.
Julio César, also known as ‘The Rambo of the people’, is now dedicated to training players in lower categories.
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