Nelson Valdez

Nelson Antonio Haedo Valdez was born 1983 in Caaguazú, Paraguay.

When Valdez was 15 he lined up with the youth team of Atlético Tembetary and then joined the first team. He had very difficult time there because the salaries were not enough for a living and his family wasn’t able to fund him. Sometimes Nelson had to sleep in a cardboard bed under the grandstand. Jürgen Born, who was in the Werder Bremen’s management and worked for Deutsche Bank in Latin America noticed the talented guy and bought him a ticket to Germany, where Neslon travelled for a trial in December 2001. After the trial he was offered to sign a contract with SV Werder Bremen II.

During the 2002/03 season Valdez appeared in 30 Regionalliga Nord matches and netted 15 goals and eventually he was invited to the first team. He made his Bundesliga debut in February 2003 in a 1-0 loss at Energie Cottbus. In October 2003, Vadez signed a four-year contract with the first team.

In July 2006, the Paraguayan signed a four-year contract for or a fee of €4.7m with Borussia Dortmund. During four seasons with the club he made 113 Bundesliga appearances and scored 16 goals.

In August 2010, Nelson moved to a Spanish side Hércules CF. He made his debut in a 2-0 win against FC Barcelona. All in all he appeared in 25 La Liga matches and scored 8 goals but the team suffered relegation and he left them for Russian Premier League side Rubin Kazan for a fee of €4m. There he played during a season and in 2012 he was loaned to Valencia CF.

At the end of the loan spell Valdez was offered a lucrative contract with UAE side Al Jazira.

After a loan spell with Olympiacos in 2013/2014 season, Valdez penned a deal with Eintracht Frankfurt.

Valdez is a part of the Paraguay national team since 2004. He represented the country at the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cup championships; he was a part of the team at the 2004 Copa América and the 2011 Copa América, when Paraguay finished runners-up.