Ricardo Javier Tavarelli Paiva (born 2 August 1970) is a former Paraguayan

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 ...

, who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

Career

Tavarelli started his career in the youth divisions of

Tacuary Tacuary Football Club is a Paraguayan First Division football team, based in the neighborhood of Jara, Asunción. The club was founded in 1923. Tacuary qualified for the Copa Libertadores tournament twice (in 2005 and 2007) and the Copa Suda ...

and then moved to the youth divisions of

Club Olimpia Club Olimpia is a Paraguayan sports club based in the city of Asunción. The club promotes the practice of various sports with most importance given to the football, rugby and basketball sides, the former being the highest priority and mos ...

, where he made his debut in the first team squad in 1992, playing the Torneo Republica. In Olimpia he would go on to win several national and international championships, becoming a fan-favorite. Tavarelli was a pivotal part of the 2002 Olimpia team that won the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

. His skills helped Olimpia win two key penalty shoot-outs against Grêmio of Porto Alegre (semi-finals) and São Caetano (finals). In 2004, he played for Grêmio of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

with little success. Tavarelli returned to

and also had a brief sting playing for

Sportivo Luqueño Club Sportivo Luqueño is a Paraguayan football club, based in the city of Luque on the outskirts of the capital Asunción. The club has won two Paraguayan championships. History The club was founded in 1921 when three teams from the city of Lu ...

before finally retiring. He earned the nickname "Mono" (

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incom ...

) because of his quick goalkeeping skills. He was also called "Lettuce Hands". Tavarelli was also part of the Paraguay national team in the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea ...

, playing the team's first two matches following the suspension of captain

José Luis Chilavert José Luis Félix Chilavert González (; born 27 July 1965) is a Paraguayan former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Sportivo Luqueño, Guaraní, San Lorenzo de Almagro, Real Zaragoza, Vélez Sarsfield, RC Strasbourg, P ...

prior to the tournament.FIFA Profile
/ref> Tavarelli's sister, Giselle, is married to Paraguayan footballer

Roque Santa Cruz Roque Luis Santa Cruz Cantero (; born 16 August 1981) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Paraguayan club Club Libertad. He is the record goal scorer and has earned over 100 caps for the Paraguay national team ...

Titles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tavarelli, Ricardo 1970 births Living people Paraguayan men's footballers Club Olimpia footballers Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense players Sportivo Luqueño players Paraguayan Primera División players Paraguay men's international footballers 1999 Copa América players 2001 Copa América players 2002 FIFA World Cup players Paraguayan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Paraguayan people of Italian descent Men's association football goalkeepers