World Goalkeeper Day is celebrated on Friday 14 April, a tribute to football players who are often responsible for defeat or who save their team in the most important moments. Goalkeepers are remembered on this date for the story of Colombian goalkeeper Miguel Calero.
An idol in Colombian and Mexican football, Calero passed away at the age of 41, on December 4, 2012, one year after his retirement. He was nicknamed ‘the Condor’ because of the wings he had on the back of his shirt.
The Valle del Cauca player started playing for Real Independiente de Ginebra, the municipality where he was born. He completed his training process at the Carlos Sarmiento Lora Soccer School, where he was joined by other historic Colombian goalkeepers: Faryd Mondragón and Óscar Córdoba.
Sporting de Barranquilla was Calero’s first team in his professional career. He made a big mark on Deportivo Cali, replaced Carlos Trucco and became an idol of the club, especially for winning the Colombian league in 1996. The Geneva-born man surprised people with his saves and kicks.
His transfer to Atlético Nacional was the most expensive in Colombian football at the time (around 1,300,000 dollars, today that would be 1.2 million euros). He won the league title again in 1998 and moved to Mexico to play at Pachuca, a club where he was 11 years old, wearing the captain’s ribbon and winning four league titles, four CONCACAF champions and one Copa Sudamericana.
With the Colombian national team, he defended goal in 50 matches between 1995 and 2007. He was called up to one World Cup and six Copa América (including the 2001 one with ‘la Tricolor’ as champion). Calero played in the game against Chile, which ended with a 2-0 win.
Miguel Ángel Calero retired on October 23, 2011 and later became Pachuca’s goalkeeping coach. In 2012, he died in Mexico City from a stroke, having suffered an embolism two weeks earlier at his home in Pachuca.
Calero was cremated and his ashes were divided between Colombia and Mexico. His death caused great pain in football, mainly in his country and Central American territory. Pachuca, a club in which he is an idol, dedicated a monument to him.
Later, Rinat, a glove brand sponsored by Miguel Calero, led a campaign so that April 14, the date of birth of the Colombian goalkeeper, would be declared International Goalkeeper’s Day. This has been a fact since 2013.
Source: El heraldo
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
