Tim Vickery on Riquelme

By Tim Vickery
South American football reporter

Riquelme joined Villarreal from Barcelona in June 2005

It has been claimed that not a single player used by Arsenal in their last Champions League fixture came up through the club's youth development system.

Whether or not Cesc Fabregas and Philippe Senderos are counted as Arsenal products, Wednesday's semi-final opponents would like to do things differently. Villarreal's long term aim is to produce their own top-class players.

But in the short term, the explanation for their remarkable rise lies in the option to turn themselves into Europe's most South American club.

From coach and keeper through defenders to strikers, Villarreal have the South American touch.

Their success is an outstanding example of what the continent's players can do if placed in a context that understands them.

By understanding him, by making him feel important, by building their attacking play around him, Villarreal have brought the wonderful best out of playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme.

If Villarreal are the yellow submarine then Riquelme is their periscope - head up, surveying everything around him. Then his passing is like the torpedoes, ripping holes in the opposing defence.

Riquelme is an old-fashioned Argentine foot-on-the-ball creative midfielder.

An idol back home with Boca Juniors, he struggled when he moved across the Atlantic to join Barcelona.

They played him out of position on the flank and asked him to chase around and win the ball back, which is not his game.

If Roman played in Brazil he'd be Riquelminho and would be the world number one Argentina coach Jose Pekerman

It begs an obvious question; if they were not looking for a player with his characteristics then why on earth did they buy him in the first place?

Riquelme was branded an expensive flop, but Villarreal then showed how to make him one of football's best investments - give him his head and he can take a small town club into the last four of the Champions League.

The consensus had been that in European football Riquelme lacked a vital half-yard of pace. Argentina coach Jose Pekerman had the perfect response.

"Some say that Riquelme is slow," he said. "But he's not slow when he's in possession. It's the ball that should do the running, not the player."

Amid football's physical development and frenetic search for ever-greater athleticism, players of his type are becoming an endangered species.

Riquelme is thoughtful when there is less time to think. He can slow the game down when such changes of rhythm are increasingly rare.

He can come up with a surprise pass and play his side through when most are trying to force their way through.

"If Roman played in Brazil he'd be Riquelminho and would be the world number one," said Pekerman. "I think the decision to choose Ronaldinho as the best in the world was unfair."

Perhaps this time Argentina's coach went too far in defence of his most important player. Even so, Riquelme's absence from the podium in Fifa's awards defies rational explanation.

There are plenty of chances coming up for Riquelme to gain the recognition his talent and intelligence deserve.

In June he will hope to pass Argentina's opponents into submission in the World Cup.

First he spearheads Villarreal's attempt to win the Champions League for South America.