Córdoba Returns To Colombia

by user Juanchogol

Former Colombian international Oscar Córdoba has agreed to delay his retirement and return to his native Colombia to play for Deportivo Cali.

After playing with Turkish side Antalyaspor for a season, the goalkeeper announced that he was calling it a career. Two weeks later, he made a U-turn and decided to go back to Colombia and play for one of his former teams.

Córdoba, 37, started his career with Atletico Nacional back in 1988 and then bounced from Cali to Millonarios, Quindio and Once Caldas. He would arrive in Cali once again but with cross-town rivals Amérca where he won his a domestic title as and ended up just one game away from the Copa Libertadores title.

But his most successful period was when he made his move to Argentina and joined Boca Juniors. After a rocky start, he became one of the stalwarts of the Xeneize defense leading them to an Apertura title in 1998, two Clausuras (1999, 2000), two Copa Libertadores (2000,01), and an Intercontinental Cup (2000).

He was then transferred to Perugia and then headed to Besiktas where he won a domestic title with them.

He also earned 71 caps for Colombia, but retired suddenly after making a mistake against Argentina during the 2006 World Cup qualifiers. Even though he has been out of the loop in the national team, coach Jorge Luis Pinto mentioned that he would consider Córdoba for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers for South Africa 2010.

Córdoba will be taking over for David González who left the club as soon as the club was eliminated from the Colombian playoff.