Joaqun Del Olmo

Vocation

Lifestyle

Mexican retired football midfielder and current consultant for Real Oviedo. A defensive midfielder who occasionally played as a fullback at international level, he began his top-division career with Tampico in the 1988–89 season. Del Olmo joined Veracruz in 1990 and soon became a starter; in the 1993–94 season, he played 33 matches and scored 4 times. He joined America after the 1994 World Cup, staying for two years before moving to the Netherlands to Vitesse Arnhem in the 1996–97 season. Upon del Olmo's return to Mexico in 1997, he represented Necaxa, Tigres, Puebla, and Chiapas during the following six years. Most of that time was spent at Tigres, where he participated in the Invierno 2001 final. He closed his top-flight career with UNAM, playing on the Pumas team that won consecutive championships in 2004. Del Olmo also earned 51 caps and 3 goals for the Mexico national team. He made his international debut on 29 June 1993 against Costa Rica, in a 2–0 victory. Under coach Miguel Mejia Baron, del Olmo represented Mexico in that year's CONCACAF Gold Cup and made the squad for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where he played in Mexico's first-round games against Norway, Ireland, and Italy. He also appeared at the 1995 Copa América and 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup, as well as several qualifiers for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, but he missed out on Manuel Lapuente's final World Cup squad. After a long absence from the team, del Olmo was recalled at age 32 by Enrique Meza in 2001. He earned his last cap on 16 June 2001 in a 2–1 loss at Estadio Azteca to Costa Rica in a qualifier for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Link to Wikipedia biography