Luciano Gabriel "Lucho" Figueroa Herrera (born 19 May, 1981 in Santa Fe, Argentina) is an Argentine association football player who currently plays as a striker for Genoa.

[edit] Club career

Figueroa began his professional career with Rosario Central of Argentina, where he formed a partnership with César Delgado. In the 2003 Clausura, Figueroa finished as Argentina's leading goalscorer with 17 goals,^[1] including scoring five in the last match of the season against an under-strength Boca Juniors.^[2] This was his last season at Rosario Central, for both he and Delgado moved overseas in the summer of 2003, with Figueroa joining English Premier League club Birmingham City for a fee of £2.5 million.

Controversy arose when Spanish club Osasuna claimed that Figueroa had signed a contract with them before moving to Birmingham, thereby invalidating the transfer.^[3] At the end of August 2003 FIFA ruled provisionally in Birmingham's favour,^[4] but it was not until October that this ruling was finally confirmed.^[5]

Though Figueroa was scoring freely for Birmingham's reserve team, manager Steve Bruce believed he would struggle in the Premiership due to his physique,^[6] so after only one League appearance as a late substitute for Birmingham, his contract was annulled^[7] and he moved to Cruz Azul of Mexico, where he was reunited with former teammate Delgado.

After a slow start Figueroa returned to his old form with Cruz Azul, scoring 9 goals in the last 7 games of the 2004 Clausura. He maintained his form in the 2004 Apertura, scoring 10 goals in 14 games for the club. His exceptional performances for Cruz Azul led to a transfer to Spain, signing for Villarreal in November 2004^[8] for a fee of £2.1 million.

Figueroa made less of an impact at Villarreal, though he helped the club to a third-place finish in La Liga in 2004–05 and contributed in the early rounds of Villarreal's progression to the semi-final of the 2005–06 Champions League – including scoring the club's first ever Champions League goal, against Everton in the third qualifying round.

In January 2006, apparently concerned that his lack of playing time would adversely affect his chances of going to the 2006 World Cup,^[9] Figueroa returned to his home country on loan to River Plate. He started well, scoring three goals in his first seven games in the 2006 Clausura, but on March 5, 2006 he suffered a cruciate ligament injury which effectively put paid to his career at River.

On August 1, 2006, Villarreal sold Figueroa to Genoa of Serie B for a reported fee of $13 million; he signed a four-year contract with the club.^[10] Though still not recovered from his injury, medical opinion was that he should be fit to resume playing by mid-October. However it became clear that the knee reconstruction had not been completely successful and that another operation would be needed. It was predicted that this further surgery would keep him out for the season.^[11]

Figueroa eventually made his debut for Genoa, by this time in Serie A, on October 28, 2007 as a second-half substitute against Fiorentina,^[12] and scored his first goal for the club some six weeks later, a stoppage time consolation in a 3–1 defeat at home to Siena.^[13]

He was then loaned to Boca Juniors from Genoa, having been transferred in October 2008. He played an important role during the Torneo Apertura by scoring important goals as the title race was between Boca Juniors, Tigre and San Lorenzo, who were level with points at the top of the table. Figueroa's performances helped Boca to win the Torneo Apertura.

[edit] International career

Figueroa has appeared for the Argentina national football team, performing impressively in the Copa América 2004 and the 2005 Confederations Cup - where only the Brazilian Adriano outscored him - and was part of the gold medal-winning Argentina team at the 2004 Summer Olympics. At international level, he boasts a strike-rate of 60%, with 9 goals from 15 appearances. The cruciate injury deprived him of the chance to represent his country at the 2006 World Cup.^[9]

[edit] Honours

Olympic medal record
Competitor for  Argentina
Men's Football
Gold	2004 Athens	Team Competition

Apertura 2008 with Boca Juniors

2004 Summer Olympics: Gold Medal

2005 FIFA Confederations Cup: Runner-up

2004 Copa América: Runner-up

2003 Clausura (Argentina): Top Scorer

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• (Spanish) Argentine Primera statistics
• Luciano Figueroa career stats at Soccerbase
• Statistics at Guardian Stats Centre
• Player profile and stats at FootballDatabase

Argentina Squad v • d • e Argentina squad – Copa América 2004 Runners-up 1 Abbondanzieri • 2 Ayala • 3 Sorín • 4 Quiroga • 5 Mascherano • 6 Heinze • 7 Saviola • 8 Zanetti • 9 Figueroa • 10 D'Alessandro • 11 Tévez • 12 Cavallero • 13 Placente • 14 Rodriguez • 15 Fernández • 16 L.González • 17 M.González • 18 K.González • 19 Delgado • 20 Medina • 21 Rosales • 22 Coloccini • Coach: Bielsa v • d • e Argentina squad – 2004 Olympic Gold Medalists 1 Caballero • 2 Ayala • 3 Heinze • 4 Fernández • 5 K. Gonzalez • 6 Coloccini • 7 Saviola • 8 Mascherano • 9 Figueroa • 10 Tévez • 11 Delgado • 12 Rosales • 13 Rodríguez • 14 Medina • 15 D'Alessandro • 16 L. González • 17 M. González • 18 Lux • Coach: Bielsa v • d • e Argentina squad – 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup Runners-up 1 Franco • 2 Samuel • 3 Sorín • 4 Zanetti • 5 Cambiasso • 6 Heinze • 7 Tévez • 8 Riquelme • 9 Saviola • 10 Aimar • 11 Delgado • 12 Lux • 13 G.J. Rodríguez • 14 Milito • 15 Placente • 16 Coloccini • 17 Bernardi • 18 Santana • 19 Maxi Rodríguez • 20 Demichelis • 21 Figueroa • 22 Galletti • 23 Caballero • Coach: Pekerman