Edwin Congo

Edwin Arturo Congo Murillo (born 7 October 1976) is a Colombian retired footballer who played as a striker.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Congo and the second or maternal family name is Murillo.

Edwin Congo
Personal information
Full name Edwin Arturo Congo Murillo
Date of birth (1976-10-07) 7 October 1976
Place of birth Bogotá, Colombia
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–1999 Once Caldas 110 (30)
1999–2002 Real Madrid 0 (0)
1999–2000 → Valladolid (loan) 12 (1)
2000–2001 → Vitória Guimarães (loan) 11 (4)
2001 → Toulouse (loan) 8 (1)
2002–2006 Levante 112 (21)
2006–2007 Sporting Gijón 34 (11)
2007–2008 Recreativo 6 (0)
2008–2009 Olímpic Xàtiva 2 (3)
2009 Benissa
Total 295 (71)
National team
1999–2004 Colombia 17 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Basing his game in physical display, he played most of his professional career in Spain, appearing for a host of clubs in various league levels and amassing league totals of 164 matches and 33 goals (44 games and three goals in La Liga) over eight seasons.

Congo represented Real Madrid amongst others, without any impact as he was loaned for most of the duration of his contract.

Club career

After impressive performances with Once Caldas, Bogotá-born Congo was acquired by La Liga giants Real Madrid in 1999. However, he would not register one single league appearance for the capital side during his stay there (his only season was 2001–02), while also serving loans to Real Valladolid, Vitória S.C. and Toulouse FC.

Congo's most steady period in Spain, and abroad overall, was lived at Levante UD – two top flight promotions, with eight goals scored in the 2003–04 campaign – while he also netted 11 in 2006–07 for Sporting de Gijón also in the second division.[1][2]

In 2007–08, Congo had an uneventful Spanish top flight stint with Recreativo de Huelva, being released at the end of the season. With the following campaign already started, he decided to join CD Olímpic de Xàtiva in the Valencian regional championships as he was residing in the area, while also trying to keep himself fit while waiting for an offer from a mid-to-high level team in Europe. He scored three times in his first two matches.[3]

Congo retired from football in 2009 at the age of 33, after another brief spell in amateur football also in Spain.

International career

A Colombian international, Congo represented the nation at the 1999 and 2004 Copa América tournaments, being capped a total of 17 times.[4]

Personal life

In May 2020, Congo was arrested in Spain for his alleged part in a drugs trafficking operation. He denied accusations and was released after being questioned by Spanish police.[5]

References
  1. "Congo se presenta en Gijón pero no debutará en Lorca" [Congo presents himself in Gijón but will not make debut in Lorca] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 30 August 2006. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  2. "El 'culebrón' Congo toca a su fín" [Congo 'soap opera' coming to an end] (PDF) (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 13 August 2007. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  3. Edwin Congo deslumbra... en la Regional Preferente (Edwin Congo shines... in Regional Preferente); Marca, 15 December 2008 (in Spanish)
  4. Colombia – Record International Players Archived 30 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine; at RSSSF
  5. Edwin Congo: Former Colombia international claims innocence following arrest - BBC
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.