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

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. He played as a striker who was efficient in front of goal with either foot and from any range. More recently, in 2021, Cavenaghi was the co-owner, along with Alejandro Domínguez, of Uruguayan football club

Racing Club de Montevideo Racing Club de Montevideo is a professional football club from Montevideo in Uruguay. It currently participates in the Uruguayan Primera División since winning the Torneo Competencia in 2022. Racing CM is known as "La Escuelita" (The Little Sc ...

, until 2023 when the club was sold to

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

. 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 The 2014 Copa Sudamericana (officially the 2014 Copa Total Sudamericana for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary international club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. Lanús were the ...

and the

2015 Copa Libertadores The 2015 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2015 Copa Bridgestone Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 56th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. ...

. Abroad, he had his best successes with

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, whom he helped win a

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

title and two each of the

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

and

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super cup, super cups found in many other count ...

. He also had short spells in Spain, Brazil, Mexico and Cyprus, finishing as the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

's top scorer as APOEL won it in his final year as a professional. Cavenaghi was part of the Argentina under-20 team that won the

2003 South American Youth Championship The 2003 South American Youth Football Championship, South American Youth Championship (Sudamericana sub-20) is a association football, football competition contested by all ten U-20 national football teams of CONMEBOL. The tournament was held in U ...

, 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 The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

, and was joint top scorer with four goals. He earned four caps for the senior team in 2008.

Club career

River Plate

Born in O'Brien,

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...

, Cavenaghi played for Rivadavia de Chacabuco and Bravado in the regional leagues between the ages of nine and twelve. 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.

Spartak Moscow

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.

Girondins de Bordeaux

On 22 January 2007, Cavenaghi was sold to French club

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

Italian passport An Italian passport () is issued upon request to an Italian nationality law, Italian citizen for the purpose of international travel. It is valid for 10, 5 or 3 years, depending on the applicant's age. Its Biometric passports, biometric version ...

earned by his ancestry, he could work freely in the European Union. On 3 February he played his first

match against

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

with a 1–0 win over

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, with Cavenaghi an unused substitute. During the 2007–08 season he scored 22 goals in 35 appearances for Bordeaux. 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 Stade Chaban-Delmas is a sporting stadium located in the city of Bordeaux, France. It was the home ground of FC Girondins de Bordeaux. Since 2011, it has also hosted matches of Top 14 rugby team Union Bordeaux Bègles. Until 2001, the stadium's ...

. Though both he and David Bellion had their attempts saved by

Grégory Coupet Grégory Coupet (born 31 December 1972) is a French former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Coupet is most well known for his lengthy career at Lyon where he won seven Ligue 1 titles. He also played for Saint-Étienne, Atlét ...

in the

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

, Bordeaux were victorious. In the

2008–09 Ligue 1 The 2008–09 Ligue 1 season was the 71st since its establishment. Bordeaux became champions for the sixth time on the last weekend of the season. The fixtures were announced on 23 May 2008. The season began on 9 August 2008 and ended on 30 May ...

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 Guingamp (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. With a population of 7,115 as of 2020, Guingamp is one of the smallest towns in Europe to have a top-tier professional football team: En Avant Guin ...

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 Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Cavaneghi scoring the opening goal for

Laurent Blanc Laurent Robert Blanc (; born 19 November 1965) is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back and is the manager of Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad Club (J ...

's team. Cavenaghi signed for Spanish club

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

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 Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

, and

Sporting Gijón Sporting may refer to: *Sport, recreational games and play *Sporting (neighborhood), in Alexandria, Egypt Sports clubs *Alexandria Sporting Club, a sports club from Alexandria, Egypt *BFA Sporting, a football club from Beirut, Lebanon *Real Sporti ...

and

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of Almería, province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia on the Mediterranean S ...

in the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

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

Return to River Plate

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.

Villarreal

Cavenaghi returned to Spain in August 2012 by signing for

Villarreal Villarreal (officially, in ) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's capital ( ...

, who themselves had fallen into the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

. On his debut on 17 August, he scored in each half of a 2–1 win over

Real Madrid Castilla Real Madrid Castilla Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team that plays in . It is Real Madrid's reserve team. They play their home games at the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium with a capacity of 6,000 seats. Reserve teams in Spain play in the ...

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 Pachuca (; ), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the east-central Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Hidalgo (state), Hidalgo, located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca Municipality, Pach ...

of the Mexican

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

Third stint at River Plate

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:

, 2015 Recopa Sudamericana and the

. Included in these campaigns were two eliminations of arch-rival

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

, first in the Sudamericana and later in Libertadores. Winning the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

would make River Plate eligible to play in the

2015 FIFA Club World Cup The 2015 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2015 presented by Alibaba E-Auto for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised international club football tournament betw ...

in Japan representing

CONMEBOL CONMEBOL ( ) or CSF (; ; ), is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Parag ...

. He was the second-highest scorer in Argentina's Primera División 2015 with 11 goals.

APOEL and retirement

On 25 August 2015, Cavenaghi moved back to Europe signing a two-year contract with

club

APOEL FC APOEL FC (; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") is a Cypriot professio ...

. Five days later, he scored twice on his debut in a 6–2 home victory against

Pafos FC Pafos F.C. () is a Cypriot professional football club based in Paphos. It was established in 2014 following the merger of two local clubs, AEP Paphos and AEK Kouklia, with the aim of creating a stronger and more competitive team to represent ...

for the

. He scored in each of his first seven league appearances, totalling twelve goals in that sequence. He helped APOEL to win the

title, and despite playing his last match on 10 February 2016, missing the last three months of the season due to his injury, he also won the top goalscorer award with 19 goals in only 18 league appearances. Cavenaghi appeared in 26 matches and scored 23 goals in all competitions with APOEL, before a serious knee injury forced him to mutually terminate his contract with the club on 2 April 2016, as his recovery from the knee surgery was estimated to take more than eight months to complete. His serious knee injury eventually forced Cavenaghi to retire from the professional scene, making the official announcement through a YouTube video on 27 December 2016 at River Plate's El Monumental in Buenos Aires.

International career

In December 2002, manager Hugo Tocalli named Cavenaghi in the Argentina under-20 team for the 2003 South American U-20 Championship in Uruguay. He was top scorer with eight goals – four in each stage – as the Argentines won the title, and scored the only one against

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

on 28 January to seal the Championship. In October, Cavenaghi was again called up by Tocalli for the squad at the 2003 FIFA U-20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. In the last 16 against

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, he scored both goals, including the

golden goal The golden goal is a sports rule used in association football, Australian rules football, bandy, field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, and rugby league to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the ...

, in a 2–1 victory. He scored a golden goal again in the quarter-finals against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

. Argentina finished fourth and Cavenaghi was one of four top scorers with four goals apiece, though the Golden Shoe award went to Eddie Johnson of the United States. However, due to not being released by River Plate for the

2004 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament The 2004 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament began on 7 January 2004, and is the 12th CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament. This was the 4th tournament is open to players under the age of 23 without any other restriction. There is no qualification stage and ...

, Cavenaghi would not get any chances with

Marcelo Bielsa Marcelo Alberto Bielsa Caldera (, nicknamed ''El Loco Bielsa'' , meaning 'The Madman Bielsa'; born 21 July 1955) is an Argentine professional Association football, football manager who is the current manager of the Uruguay national football team ...

. He had then the fifth better goal average in River Plate history, very close to

Alfredo Di Stéfano Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé (; 4 July 1926 – 7 July 2014) was an Argentine professional footballer and coach who played as a forward, widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time. Nicknamed "Saeta Rubia" ("Blond A ...

, but he missed the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, won by Bielsa's team. Bielsa resigned soon after the gold medal and Cavenaghi got a first chance in Argentina senior team on 29 December, in a non-official match against

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

. José Pekerman, the new Argentina coach, used him as a substitute for

Diego Milito Diego Alberto Milito (born 12 June 1979) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was nicknamed ''El Principe'' ("The Prince" in Spanish) because of his physical resemblance with former Uruguayan footballer En ...

. The game was a 3–0 win at the

Camp Nou Camp Nou (), meaning ''New Field'' and often referred to in English as the Nou Camp, is a stadium in Barcelona and the home of La Liga club FC Barcelona since its opening in 1957. It is currently undergoing renovation, and with a planned increa ...

. In March 2008, Cavenaghi's form for Bordeaux earned him a first official call up to the senior national side by Alfio Basile, ahead of a friendly against

on 26 March. He made his debut in the 2–0 win at the

Cairo International Stadium The Cairo International Stadium (), formerly known as Nasser Stadium, is an Olympic-standard, multi-use stadium with an all-seated capacity of 75,000. The architect of the stadium is the German Werner March, who designed the Olympiastadion (Berli ...

as a 69th-minute substitute for Julio Cruz and played three more friendlies that year. He would get just four more caps, saying that "at my best moment in France, I was called up to a few games, but Messi, Agüero and Higuaín were already there and it was very difficult to find a place among these players".

Personal life

Cavenaghi is the oldest of four brothers (Marcos, Belén, and Nicolás) to Edgardo Cavenaghi and Mónica Ferrero and has been a River Plate fan since his infancy. Cavenaghi married his wife, Soledad Gaynor, in 2007 and had his first child, Benjamín, on 2 October 2008. Benjamín currently plays in the youth system of Uruguayan club

Deportivo Maldonado Club Deportivo Maldonado is a football club from Maldonado, Uruguay. They currently play in the Uruguayan Segunda División following their relegation from the Uruguayan Primera División The Liga Profesional de Primera División (American ...

and was called up in 2024 to represent Uruguay in the under-17 national team. In 2010, Cavenaghi's daughter, Sofie, was born.

Career statistics

Honours

River Plate * Argentina Primera Division: 2002 Clausura, 2003 Clausura, 2004 Clausura, 2014 Final *

Primera B Nacional Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, (English "National B Division"), and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 38 team ...

: 2011–12 Primera B Nacional *

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana (), also known as Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club Association football, football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1988. It ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Internacional *

Campeonato Gaúcho The Campeonato Gaúcho (English: Gaúcho Championship), officially named as Campeonato Gaúcho de Futebol Série A and commonly known as the Gauchão or the Gauchão Ipiranga (company), Ipiranga for sponsorship reasons, is the top-flight profess ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Bordeaux *

: 2008–09 *

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

: 2006–07, 2008–09 APOEL *

: 2015–16 Argentina U20 *

South American Youth Championship South American Youth Championships may refer to: * South American Youth Football Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as South American U-20 Championship (; ), branded as CONMEBOL Sub 20, is a South American foo ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Individual *

South American U-20 Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as South American U-20 Championship (; ), branded as CONMEBOL Sub 20, is a South American football tournament organized by the CONMEBOL for South American national teams of men under age o ...

Golden Shoe:

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

top scorer: 2001–02 Clausura *

top scorer: 2015–16

References

External links

* * * * *
Cavenaghi vuelve a River

Video : Cave in France

Video : Cave in Argentina
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavenaghi, Fernando 1983 births Living people Footballers from Buenos Aires Province Men's association football forwards Argentine men's footballers Argentina men's international footballers Argentina men's under-20 international footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers FC Spartak Moscow players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players RCD Mallorca players SC Internacional players Villarreal CF players C.F. Pachuca players APOEL FC players Ligue 1 players Russian Premier League players Argentine Primera División players Primera Nacional players La Liga players Segunda División players Liga MX players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Cypriot First Division players Copa Libertadores–winning players Copa Sudamericana–winning players Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Russia Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Argentine people of Italian descent 21st-century Argentine sportsmen