Paraguayan striker Roberto Ovelar has confirmed that he will leave Colombian outfit, Atletico Junior, later this month. Millonarios, another Colombian team, appears to be his destination.
This in and of itself, is not so unusual. Players move from team to team all the time.
However, it is the reason that Ovelar is moving that makes this transfer newsworthy.
Teammate Teófilo Gutiérrez tried to seduce his wife last month ahead of Atletico Junior’s loss to Flamengo in the Copa Sudamericana semi-final. Ovelar produced damning audio evidence from his wife’s cell phone of the attempted seduction.
It is debatable whether this discord between the striking duo led to Atletico Junior’s defeat to the Brazilian team. Either way, it would not be the first time Gutiérrez’s misbehaviour has led to his team missing out on glory.
The 2014 South American footballer of the year has no lack of talent, but always seems to find a way to undermine his brilliant knack for scoring goals.
After a promising start to his career, in which he scored 58 goals in 115 matches for Atletico Junior and their youth team, Barranquilla FC, Gutiérrez got a dream move to Europe for the 2009/10 campaign.
Gutiérrez struggles to adjust in Turkey
The 21-year-old, went to Turkey to play for the six-time Super League champions, Trabzonspor.
Gutiérrez never settled in Turkey. He had trouble adjusting to life in a new country as well as a new style of play. He struggled for first team appearances in his first year there, but rebounded in the 2010/11 campaign.
He scored eight goals in 16 league appearances as well as bagging a hat trick against rivals Bursaspor in the 2010 Turkish Super Cup and hitting the back of the net against Liverpool in a Europa League fixture. Not bad form by any means.
In spite of all this, he remained unhappy at the club and simply left, returning to Colombia without the permission of his manager or Trabzonspor.
Trabzonspor nearly won the Super League that year for the first time in almost two decades and Gutiérrez’s goal production certainly helped.
However, the team were left without their number nine upon his departure and could not keep the pace, falling to Fenerbahce in the final weeks of the season.
Gutiérrez returns to South America
Trabzonspor sold Gutiérrez to Racing Club in Argentina’s first division, but not before they fined him an exorbitant amount of money in order to recoup some of his transfer fee. He lasted only 387 days with the Turkish outfit.
Gutiérrez returned to South America and saw an immediate uptick in his form. He scored 22 goals in 40 appearances with Racing Club. However, his behaviour remained as poor as ever and his prolific scoring record was constantly overshadowed by incidents both on and off the pitch.
In the 2011 season, Gutiérrez was sent off in a key match between Racing Club and Boca Juniors after arguing with the referee about what he believed to be a penalty in the box. The match was billed as a potential title decider and Racing Club had not won the the Argentine first division in a decade.
The match ended scoreless and Racing Club finished in second place that year. Boca Juniors, meanwhile, went on to win the title.
However, the final straw came the following year in another big match against Independiente. Before the game tensions were running high.
“If I saw [Gutiérrez] in the street, I’d fight him hand to hand,” an Independiente defender told the press ahead of the match.
“As soon as Teo scores a goal against us, I’ll snap his leg,” another Independiente player said.
Such statements to the press are very rare. Gutiérrez did score Racing Club’s only goal in the four to one defeat and his leg was not snapped. However, he still managed to get himself sent off for screaming an obscenity at the referee.
In the locker room teammates attempted to reprimand Gutiérrez, blaming him for what was an embarrassing loss for the title contenders. Fists started flying. During the fracas, Gutiérrez went over to his locker and brandished a gun at his teammates.
It turned out to be a paintball gun, but at the time no one knew that. After the incident, teammates shunned Gutiérrez, going so far as refusing to even share a bus with him.
Gutiérrez continues career as a journeyman
Racing Club fell well short of winning the title that year, finishing in fifth. The man they had brought in to do just that was the one getting in the way.
As a result, Gutiérrez went on loan to Lanús, another Argentinian team. He only made two appearances, but still managed to score a goal. No one has ever doubted his quality.
It was his behaviour that got in the way, yet again. He immediately made a nuisance of himself by showing up to watch one of the team’s matches wearing the jersey of a different team (River Plate); something deemed unacceptable across all of sports.
Then during an international break, he lied to the management of Lanús and went home to Colombia under the pretence of being called up to the national team.
Catching wind of this, his contract was immediately terminated. Lanús had agreed to bring the wayward striker on in order to add some firepower to the front line.
Lanús too capitulated and finished second that year. They lost or drew 11 matches by just one goal. Gutiérrez could have made all the difference.
After this third consecutive falling out, Gutiérrez bounced around. He returned to Atletico Junior for a season, moved to Mexican side Cruz Azul before returning to Argentina and playing for River Plate.
Gutiérrez seemed to be reviving his career at River Plate. He scored 22 goals in 47 appearances and helped the team win the Primera Division. He also helped secure a Copa Sudamericana and a Copa Libertadores title in consecutive years for the Argentinian side. Things were going well.
His revival sparked interest in Europe and earned him a move to Portuguese side Sporting CP, where he flopped again within one year and went back to Argentina. After seeing a dip in form there for Rosario Central, he finally returned to Atletico Junior.
Now, Gutiérrez has let down yet another team. His rampant misbehaviour continues to cost teams more than his prolific goalscoring provides them.
At 32, his best years are certainly behind him and his abilities on the pitch continue to be overshadowed by his misbehaviour.
Daniel Dawson Writes 
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