Club Career
Arango's parents are Colombian, having emigrated to Venezuela before he was born, in the city of Maracay. He started playing as a professional at the age of sixteen with Nueva Cádiz FC, which ascended to the Venezuelan first division the following season under the name Zulianos FC.
The following year he joined Caracas Fútbol Club but, after six months playing with the team, was bought by Mexico's Club de Fútbol Monterrey.
Arango played for two other Mexican clubs, C.F. Pachuca and Puebla FC, until 2004, when he joined La Liga side RCD Mallorca in Spain (coached by Benito Floro, also his boss at Monterrey) on a one-year link, with an option for a further three. Earlier that summer, he appeared in all three group stage matches during the Copa América.
On 20 March 2005, Arango suffered a serious injury after a brutal collision with Sevilla FC's defender Javi Navarro. He fell unconscious, broke his cheekbone, swallowed his tongue and got serious cuts in his face; he returned to play a month later and, in 2005–06, was the team's top scorer with 11 league goals.
In 2006, EFE chose Arango as the third best Latin American player in the Spanish league, with the first place taken by Pablo Aimar. The following year, he also obtained a Spanish passport, in March. On 9 March 2008 he scored his first hat-trick for Mallorca, in a 7–1 home thrashing of Recreativo de Huelva, with teammate Daniel Güiza – who finished as the season's Pichichi – adding two; he only missed one league game from 2005–08 combined.
On 26 June 2009, as his contract was due to expire at the end of 2009–10, Arango was sold to Borussia Mönchengladbach for €3.3 million, penning a three-year contract. In his third season in the Bundesliga he netted six goals in 34 games and also provided 12 assists, as his team finished fourth and qualified for the UEFA Champions League.
Read more about this topic: Juan Arango
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