Nelson Haedo Valdez

Nelson Haedo Valdez

Nelson Antonio Haedo Valdez (born 28 November 1983 in Caaguazú, Paraguay) is a Paraguayan football striker who currently plays for La Liga side Valencia CF and the Paraguayan national team.

Valdez started his career with Atlético Tembetary, progressing through their youth system to the first-team squad where he made his debut at the age of 16 in Paraguayan División Intermedia in 2000. He finished his career with the club having scored 11 goals in 22 league appearances. In 2001, he was scouted to Germany's Werder Bremen II where he scored 15 goals in 30 Regionalliga Nord appearances in his second season before joining the club's first-team. In 2003, Valdez was selected for the Paraguay under-20 national team where he scored 1 goal in 4 appearances at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship. In his second season with Werder Bremen, he claimed the 2003–04 Fußball-Bundesliga and 2003–04 DFB-Pokal, having scored 5 goals in 21 league appearances that season. Valdez debuted in the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League on 14 September 2004 and scored his first two Champions League goals in a 2–0 victory against Valencia in December. During his years at Werder Bremen, Valdez had his appearances limited due to competition from team mates Aílton Gonçalves da Silva, Angelos Charisteas, and both Miroslav Klose and Ivan Klasnić, who were the Bundesliga's top striking duo at the time.

Valdez left Werdern Bremen in August 2006 to join fellow Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund for a fee of €4.7million on a four-year contract, where he was given the number 9 shirt. Within that four years, Valdez scored 16 goals in 113 Bundesliga appearances, and helped Borrussia Dortmunt to qualify for the 2010–11 Europa League. After an impressive performance at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Valdez joined La Liga side Hércules for €3.5million on a three-year contract where he partnered up with French striker David Trezeguet. He became the most expensive signing in the club's history and scored a double on his debut in a 2–0 win at the Nou Camp against Barcelona on 11 September. After 8 goals in 25 league appearances in the 2010-11 La Liga season, Hércules were regelated to the Segunda División and Valdez was then transferred to Russian Premier League side Rubin Kazan for €4million, where he competed in the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League.

Valdez has represented Paraguay at the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cup tournaments, he also participated at the 2004 Copa América and the 2011 Copa América, where Paraguay finished runners-up.