Juan Román Riquelme (born June 26, 1978 in San Fernando, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina) currently plays for the Villarreal CF of Spain. Being a Boca fan, he moved to that team and was offered 800.000 US dollars for his contract in 1995. A year later, November 10, 1996, Romy played his first professional match (Boca Juniors 2 - 0 Unión de Santa Fe) and two weeks later he scored his first goal (Boca Juniors 6 - 0 Huracán). With the Argentina national football team, Romy played 21 matches, scoring 5 goals. He also won the Southamerican Youth Championship, and the Football World Youth Championship, both in 1997.

In 2002, after seven successful years with Boca Juniors, the central midfielder was transferred to FC Barcelona for 9 million Euros. He was later loaned to Villareal a year later. He is regarded as a talented player with excellent field vision, and often noted as the main factor in Villareal's explosive 2005 campaign, with 15 goals and 11 assists. At the end of that season, Spanish sports newspaper Marca awarded him the title for Most Artistic Player.