Fernando Cavenaghi · Biography

In July 2004, River Plate sold Fernando Ezequiel Cavenaghi to Spartak Moscow for a fee that was a record for Russian football at the time. That move closed the forward's first spell at River, where he had won three league titles and one scoring title. Cavenaghi was born on 21 September 1983 in the Bragado district of Buenos Aires Province and grew up in O'Brien, a small town in the same district. He was a penalty-box number nine. His career took him to Argentina, Russia, France, Spain, Brazil, Mexico and Cyprus, and he went back to River twice more.

Youth football and the move to River

Between the ages of nine and twelve he played in the youth sides of Club Rivadavia in Chacabuco and Bragado Club. At thirteen he left O'Brien to join River's academy. He made his first-division debut on 11 February 2001, in that year's Clausura, coming on for Javier Saviola in the second half as River beat Estudiantes de La Plata 6-2. On 6 March 2001 he played his first Copa Libertadores match, against Guaraní.

Goals and titles at River (2001-2004)

It did not take him long to become a starter. He was the league's top scorer in the 2002 Clausura with 15 goals, and River won the title. They won the Clausura again in 2003 and 2004, so he had three league titles in three and a half years. Those goals were what persuaded Spartak Moscow to sign him in mid-2004.

Russia and France

He never scored freely in Moscow, finishing with seventeen goals in a little over sixty competitive games. On 22 January 2007 he joined Girondins de Bordeaux. He won the French League Cup in 2007, and in 2008-09 Bordeaux did the double: the Ligue 1 title, to which he contributed 13 goals in 29 league games, and a second League Cup. He also won the Trophée des Champions in 2008 and 2009. In August 2010 Bordeaux loaned him to Mallorca for the season, with a €3.5 million option to buy. In January 2011 he went on loan to Internacional of Porto Alegre and won the 2011 Campeonato Gaúcho.

Captain in the second tier

River were relegated to the Primera B Nacional in June 2011, and Cavenaghi came back to play for them in the second division. He was made captain. He scored 19 goals in 37 league games as River won the 2011-12 Primera B Nacional, which took them back to the top flight after a single season. In August 2012 he signed for Villarreal, then in the Spanish second division. He left in January 2013 to join Pachuca in Liga MX.

Third spell at River and the Libertadores

At the end of December 2013 he signed for River again. In May 2014 he won the Copa Campeonato when River beat San Lorenzo in the Superfinal. On 30 November 2014, in a 3-2 win over Banfield at the Monumental, he reached 100 goals for River. River won the 2014 Copa Sudamericana that same semester under Marcelo Gallardo, and added the Recopa Sudamericana in 2015. On 5 August 2015 he started the second leg of the Copa Libertadores final against Tigres as captain. He was substituted in the second half and lifted the trophy with Marcelo Barovero. It was his last game for River.

Argentina national team

With the under-20s he won the 2003 South American Championship and was its top scorer, with 8 goals in 7 games. Later that year he played at the Under-20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. Argentina finished fourth, and his 4 goals left him level at the top of the scoring chart. He made his senior debut on 26 March 2008 in a friendly against Egypt, with Alfio Basile as coach. He played four friendlies, all as a substitute, and did not score.

Cyprus and retirement

In August 2015 he signed a two-year deal with APOEL Nicosia. He scored 19 goals in 18 games in the 2015-16 Cypriot First Division, finishing as the league's top scorer as APOEL won the title. A knee injury led to his contract being ended by mutual consent on 2 April 2016. On 27 December 2016 he announced his retirement in a video filmed at the Monumental.