Juan Pablo Ángel

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Ángel and the second or maternal family name is Arango.

Juan Pablo Ángel

Personal information
Full name	Juan Pablo Ángel Arango
Date of birth	(1975-10-24) October 24, 1975
Place of birth	Medellín, Colombia
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	Atlético Nacional
Number	9
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1993–1997	Atlético Nacional	147	(45)
1997–2001	River Plate	96	(46)
2001–2007	Aston Villa	175	(44)
2007–2010	New York Red Bulls	102	(58)
2011	Los Angeles Galaxy	22	(3)
2011–2012	Chivas USA	28	(11)
2013–	Atlético Nacional	7	(4)
Total		576	(210)
National team‡
1995–2005	Colombia	33	(9)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of March 23, 2013. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of March 23, 2013

Juan Pablo Ángel Arango (born October 24, 1975 in Medellín) is a Colombian footballer who plays for Atlético Nacional in Categoría Primera A.

Career

Atlético Nacional and River Plate

Ángel started playing professional football at Atlético Nacional in his home city of Medellín. Ángel began to make a name for himself when he scored the winning goal against local rival Independiente Medellín to help Nacional capture the 1994 Colombian title. During his time with his hometown club Ángel would appear in 147 league matches scoring 45 goals.

Ángel was sold to River Plate in Argentina in January 1998 as a replacement of the departed Hernán Crespo. River Plate spectators would often adorn angel wings to show their appreciation. During his time with the club, Ángel managed 62 goals in 132 games, including 16 goals in 25 Copa Libertadores matches.

Aston Villa

Ángel became Aston Villa's record signing at £9.5 million on 12 January 2001. In his time at Villa, he was reportedly Villa's highest earner. After an indifferent start to his Aston Villa career, and family difficulties, Ángel settled down and started to produce the form that persuaded Doug Ellis to shell out the massive transfer fee. He quickly became a fans favourite and is the 2nd most recent Villa player to have scored more than 20 goals in one season (behind Christian Benteke in the 2012-13 season) finishing as the club's top scorer in the 2003-04 season with 16 goals in the FA Premier League, (23 goals including cup competitions) but could not maintain that form as Villa struggled and he only managed seven goals in 2004-05. During his time with the club, Ángel managed 74 goals in 205 games. Only two players have scored equal to or more for Villa since 1991, that being Dwight Yorke (97 goals in 288 games) and Gabriel Agbonlahor (74 goals in 284 games) - as of 05/05/2013.

New York Red Bulls

On 17 April 2007, the New York Red Bulls announced the signing of Ángel as their second designated player, pending the approval of his work visa. After his visa was approved, Ángel made his Red Bull debut 8 May 2007 in a U.S. Open Cup qualifying match. Ángel came on as a substitute and scored from a free kick in extra time during the Red Bulls' 3-1 loss to Los Angeles Galaxy.

Ángel also recorded an assist and played an important role in a third goal to round off a performance that earned him that week's MLS Player of the Week award. His form showed no signs of letting up in the following game, as he weighed in with two goals and another assist as the Red Bulls overcame Chicago Fire to win 3-0, taking them to joint top of the Eastern Conference.

Ángel was voted MLS Player of the Month for May 2007. He became the first Red Bull to score in six straight games.

On August 18, 2007, Ángel added two more goals to his tally. His team defeated Los Angeles Galaxy 5-4. Ángel scored the first goal early on from a free kick before striking a late winner to seal the game for the Red Bulls. Ángel also scored the first goal of the 2007 MLS All-Star Game on July 19, 2007 against Celtic, and later was named MVP of the Match for his performance. On 29 September 2007, Ángel scored a penalty to tie the Red Bulls' game against Real Salt Lake and in doing so scored his 17th goal of the season in all competitions, setting a new franchise record. Ángel concluded his initial campaign in New York scoring 19 goals and 5 assists in 24 league matches (20 goals in 27 matches in all official competitions). His regular season goal total was one short of Luciano Emilio who led the league with 20 but who had also played more games.

Ángel had a slow start to the 2008 season due to an arthritic nerve-related injury in his lower back that caused him to have pain in his hamstring but he finally scored his first of the season in his fourth appearance - a 2-1 winner against LA Galaxy on May 10. On June 5 he fought through a still painful injury to score the only goal in New York's home win against Chivas USA. However, in doing so he also picked up another slight hamstring strain and after the final whistle he was seen limping off the pitch. As a result of this injury Ángel missed the Red Bulls' next 4 league games. Even through this injury-plagued season, his three goals were enough for coach Steve Nicol to name him to the 2008 MLS All-Star Game vs West Ham United in which he fed the pass that earned the game winning penalty kick and also scored a goal that was disallowed due to a controversial offside. Ángel concluded his second season in New York scoring 14 goals in 23 league matches (16 goals in 28 matches in official competitions).

Ángel's third season in New York was a major disappointment as the club had one of the worst seasons in club history. The club was quickly eliminated from play-off contention and failed to qualify to the group stages of the CONCACAF Champions League. However, Ángel still had his moments during the campaign as he became the clubs all-time leading goal scorer. On September 26, 2009 he scored the equalizing goal in a 1-1 draw at Chivas USA, that goal being the 46th of his career with New York and breaking Clint Mathis former record of 45. Ángel ended his season leading the club in scoring for the third straight year scoring 12 goals in 25 league matches.

Juan Pablo Ángel's 2010 season was greatly improved. He started off slow but slowly progressed during the first half of the season to claim a total of 11 goals from 19 games. He slumped in the second half of the season but concluded the season as the club's top scorer with 13 goals in 30 regular season appearances. On October 21, 2010 Ángel assisted Dane Richards on the opening goal in a 2-0 victory over New England Revolution which helped New York clinch its second ever regular season Eastern Conference title.

On November 11, 2010 it was announced that he would not be returning to the Red Bulls for the 2011 Major League Soccer season. Ángel holds the club record for goals scored in all competitions with 62.

Play-offs

On 26 October 2007, Ángel told the New York Daily News, "It's very American, in every sport the playoff system ... I think there should be more credit to the guys who do well in the regular season. It's interesting. It's a little bit unfair. I'm trying to understand it. I might answer you in a different way in a couple of weeks." A week later, Ángel and the Red Bulls were knocked out of contention for the 2007 MLS Cup by the New England Revolution on a 1-0 aggregate score as Ángel pleaded to his manager to be brought back on after coming off for treatment to a head injury received during the match which turned out to be a concussion.

The following season Ángel would help lead the Red Bulls to their first ever MLS Cup final. On the way they defeated Houston Dynamo 3-0 (4-1 Aggregate) and Real Salt Lake 1-0, but ultimately lost the final to Columbus Crew 3-1. After a poor 2009 season the Red Bulls failed to qualify for the post season for the first time since Ángel's arrival.

The New York Red Bulls qualified the next season for the playoffs, with Ángel doing extremely well during the regular season. They ended up losing in the first round of the playoffs, losing 3-2 on aggregate, where Ángel scored a late goal to make the intense game 2-1 (2-2 aggregate) but Chris Wondolowski scored an even later goal to win it. This game was Juan Agudelo's () breakout game in the MLS.

Los Angeles Galaxy

After the 2010 MLS season New York declined Ángel's contract option and Ángel elected to participate in the 2010 MLS Re-Entry Draft. On December 15, 2010 Ángel was selected by Los Angeles Galaxy in Stage 2 of the Re-Entry draft. On January 19, 2011 the club announced that they had signed Ángel to a multi-year contract which would make him the Galaxy's third designated player. He scored his first goal of his 2011 Galaxy campaign in a 4-1 loss against Real Salt Lake.

Chivas USA

On August 17, 2011, Ángel was traded to Chivas USA to make room for new Los Angeles designated player Robbie Keane. Ángel scored his first goal for 'the Goats' in his debut against the Colorado Rapids. Returning to form, he would go on to finish the 2011 season with 7 goals in just 9 games.

Ángel remained with Chivas USA through the 2012 season. His contract expired after 2012 and he made himself eligible for the 2012 MLS Re-Entry Draft in December 2012. Ángel became a free agent after he went undrafted in both rounds.

Atlético Nacional

Ángel's career did a full circle in January 2013 when he signed a one-year contract to play for his original club, Atlético Nacional., a team which he had already been crowned champion in 1994. Angel arrived as a reinforcement to try to solve the goal drought in the tenure of coach Juan Carlos Osorio. As a sign of the commitment to the team, his wage is 30 million pesos per month compared to his former salary in the U.S. was 300 million pesos a month.

On February 2, 2013 Angel wears green again as a starter at Atanasio Girardot stadium where he scored a goal in his team's victory 3-0 against Atletico Huila (Colombia) for the Apertura 2013 league.

Career statistics

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Colombia			League		Cup		League Cup		South America		Total
1993	Atlético Nacional	Primera A	3	1							3	1
1994			32	8							32	8
1995			22	0					4	4	26	4
1996
1997
Argentina			League		Cup		League Cup		South America		Total
1997–98	River Plate	Primera División	12	2							12	2
1998–99			31	11							31	11
1999–00			35	20							35	20
2000–01			18	13							18	13
England			League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
2000–01	Aston Villa	Premier League	9	1	1	0	1	0	-	-	11	1
2001–02			29	12	1	0	0	0	4	4	34	16
2002–03			15	1	1	1	3	1	-	-	19	3
2003–04			33	16	1	0	5	7	-	-	39	23
2004–05			35	7	1	0	2	2	-	-	38	9
2005–06			31	3	3	0	3	0	-	-	37	3
2006–07			23	4	1	0	3	3	-	-	27	7
USA			League		Open Cup		Playoffs		North America		Total
2007	New York Red Bulls	Major League Soccer	24	19	1	1	2	0	-	-	27	20
2008			23	14	0	0	4	2	-	-	28	16
2009			25	12	0	0	-	-	1	0	26	12
2010			30	13	0	0	2	1	-	-	32	14
2011	Los Angeles Galaxy		22	3	0	0	-	-	-	-	22	3
	Chivas USA		9	7	-	-	-	-	-	-	9	7
2012			19	4	4	1	-	-	-	-	23	5
Colombia			League		Cup		League Cup		South America		Total
2013	Atlético Nacional	Primera A	3	2	1	1	-	-	-	-	4	3
Total	Colombia		153	48	2	1			4	4	159	53
	Argentina		96	46					36	16	132	62
	England		175	44	9	1	17	13	4	4	205	62
	USA		152	72	5	2	8	3	1	0	166	77
Career total			576	210	16	4	25	16	45	24	662	254

Titles

Season	Team	Title
1994	Atlético Nacional	Colombian league
1995	Atlético Nacional	Copa Interamericana
Apertura 1997	River Plate	Primera División Argentina
Apertura 1999	River Plate	Primera División Argentina
Clausura 2000	River Plate	Primera División Argentina
UEFA Intertoto Cup 2001	Aston Villa	UEFA Intertoto Cup 2001
2008	New York Red Bulls	Western Conference Championship

Individual

• MLS Best XI: 2007

See also

• List of current MLS players

External links

• MLS player profile
• Juan Pablo Ángel at National-Football-Teams.com
• Argentine League Statistics