Hámilton Ricard

Hámilton Ricard Cuesta (born 12 January 1974, in Quibdó) is a Colombian footballer who plays for Colombian team Cortuluá as a striker, and has played for Deportivo Cali, Middlesbrough, CSKA Sofia, Independiente, Emelec, Shonan Bellmare, APOEL, Numancia, Danubio and Concepción over the course of his career.

Career

Ricard was signed by Bryan Robson for a fee of £2 million in 1998, and scored 33 goals in 92 starts (with 23 substitute appearances) over a four-year Middlesbrough career. He was twice Middlesbrough's top scorer. When Steve McClaren took over the reins, Ricard was deemed surplus to requirements and allowed to move to CSKA Sofia on a free transfer.^[1] After one season in Bulgaria, Ricard moved to Japan, where he joined Second Division side Shonan Bellmare.^[2]

Since leaving Middlesbrough, Ricard courted controversy both on and off the pitch. In 2002, he was involved in a car accident that killed a passenger,^[3] and was banned from football for twelve months for attacking a referee and making obscene gestures to the crowd while playing for Guayaquil side Emelec. The ban was reduced on appeal, and since then, Ricard attempted to move back to Europe to rejuvenate his career. He briefly played in Cyprus for APOEL, before signing a year's deal with Numancia for the 2005–06 season. He played 16 times, scoring two goals.

After he moved to Danubio in Uruguay where he scored 12 goals and played a key role helping Danubio to win the Uruguayan 2006–07 season. In June 2007 he trialled with Chinese Super League team Shanghai Shenhua, subsequently signing a contract with the Chinese club.

Ricard has represented Colombia 27 times, scoring five goals.

On 24 January 2007, Ricard was sentenced by a Colombian court to three years in prison for the 2002 car incident. His lawyers have indicated an appeal is likely. He has not yet served the sentence.^[4][5]

Club statistics

Personal life

Ricard has a daughter,^[6] and currently lives in Colombia.

International goals

#	Date	Stadium	Rival	Goal	Result	Competition
1	8-6-1997	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo	Uruguay	1-1	1-1	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	13-6-1997	Estadio Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera, Santa Cruz	Mexico	1-2	1-2	Copa América 1997
3	5-7-1997	Nacional de Chile, Chile	Chile	1-3	1-4	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
4	7-7-1999	Estadio Feliciano Cáceres	Ecuador	2-0	2-1	Copa América 1999

Honours

Club

• Shanghai Shenhua:
  • A3 Champions Cup: 2007

References

• Hámilton Ricard at National-Football-Teams.com

Colombia squad – 1997 Copa América
1 Mondragón 2 Córdoba 3 C. Asprilla 4 Santa 5 Bermúdez 6 Pérez 7 Zuleta 8 Estrada 9 Aristizábal 10 Mafla 11 F. Asprilla 12 Calero 13 Cabrera 14 Gaviria 15 Mosquera 16 Moreno 17 Ricard 18 Bonilla 19 Escobar 20 Pacheco 21 Zapata 22 Morantes Coach: Gómez

Colombia squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup
1 Ó. Córdoba 2 I. Córdoba 3 Palacios 4 Santa 5 Bermúdez 6 Serna 7 De Ávila 8 Lozano 9 Valencia 10 Valderrama (c) 11 Asprilla 12 Calero 13 Cabrera 14 Bolaño 15 Aristizábal 16 Moreno 17 Estrada 18 Pérez 19 Rincón 20 Ricard 21 Preciado 22 Mondragón Coach: Gómez

Colombia squad – 1999 Copa América
1 Calero 2 I. Córdoba 3 Cortés 4 Viveros 5 Bermúdez 6 Ramírez 7 Congo 8 Lozano 9 Bonilla 10 Morantes 11 Zambrano 12 Higuita 13 Bolaño 14 Betancourth 15 Portocarrero 16 González 17 Montaño 18 Quintana 19 Ricard 20 Grisales 21 Julio 22 Yepes Coach: Álvarez