With England’s upcoming match against Colombia on Tuesday, here’s a look back at the Hammers’ only first team Colombian player.
Pablo Armero was born on 2nd November 1986 in Tumaco, a port city in the Narino Department by the Pacific Ocean located on the southwestern corner of Colombia, near the border with Ecuador. He began his career with America de Cali in his home country, scoring six goals in 108 appearances before moving to Brazilian club Palmeiras in 2009. Armero played for the Colombian Under-17 team in the 2003 FIFA Under-17 World Championship and was promoted to the senior team in 2008 for his form with America de Cali. He received his first cap in Colombia’s 5-2 win over Venezuela. He made 48 appearances for Palmeiras during the 2009/10 season, scoring one goal against Nautico on 11th July 2009. He was also sent off for two yellow cards in a 2-1 win at Cruzeiro on 23rd September 2009.
Armero moved to Europe in August 2010, signing for Italian Serie A side Udinese. Playing left wing-back, he made 33 appearances in 2010/11, scoring two goals – the first in a 2-1 home win over Fiorentina on 11th December 2010 and the second in a 4-2 win at Genoa on 16th January 2011. Udinese finished fourth, qualifying for the Champions League and Armero was named in the Serie A Team of the Year. The club would lose to Arsenal in the qualification round though, entering the 2011/12 Europe League instead. Armero played 39 matches for Udinese in 2011/12, scoring one goal in a 2-1 home win over French club Rennes in the Europa League group stage on 15th September 2011.
Udinese finished third in 2011/12, again qualifying for the Champions League Play-Off round, where they would be knocked out on penalties by Portuguese club Braga. Armero would score in the home leg of the Champions League Play-Off. After four goals in 91 appearances for Udinese, Armero signed for Serie A rivals Napoli in January 2013, making 15 appearances for the club before the end of the season. Napoli finished second in Serie A in 2012/13, qualifying for the Champions League group stage. On 22nd March 2013, Armero scored his first goal for Colombia, the fifth in a 5-0 home victory over Bolivia. Armero played four matches at left-back in the 2013/14 Champions League and also played 14 matches in Serie A.
In January 2014, the 27-year-old Armero moved to the Premier League, joining Sam Allardyce’s West Ham United on loan. The free transfer signing of Razvan Rat the previous summer had not worked out, with the Romanian signing for Rayo Vallecano in the winter window. Armero also found it difficult to dislodge the ever-reliable George McCartney though and didn’t make his Hammers debut until 15th March 2014 when he came off the bench for the final seven minutes of a 3-1 defeat at Stoke. He appeared again from the bench in a 2-1 win at Sunderland on 31st March, this time playing the second half in what would be his only taste of victory in claret and blue. Armero made his first start in his home debut for the club in a 2-1 defeat to Liverpool on 6th April and would make two further starts for the Irons, in a 3-1 defeat at Arsenal and a 1-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace. Armero would be held responsible by Allardyce for the loss to the Eagles on 19th April 2014 as he conceded the match-winning penalty for a foul on Cameron Jerome. It would be Armero’s fifth and final appearance for the club.
In June 2014, Armero was named in Colombia’s squad for the 2014 World Cup Finals; the left-back scored Colombia’s first goal in a 3-0 win against Greece in their opening group game. His goal, and his leading of team-mates in a celebratory dance, can be seen in the video below. Armero left Napoli permanently to return to Udinese in the summer of 2014 but he would join Milan on loan for the 2014/15 season, with whom he would make eight appearances. At the end of the Italian Serie A campaign, Armero returned to Brazil, joining Flamengo on loan. He made four appearances for the Rio-based club.
Armero returned to Udinese for the second half of the 2015/16 season, making five appearances and scoring one goal, in a 1-1 draw against Milan at the San Siro on 7th February 2016. He made two further appearances for Udinese in the first half of the 2016/17 season before signing for Brazilian club Bahia, with whom he made five appearances.
Now 31, Armero re-signed for his first club, America de Cali, earlier this year. He has made five appearances so far in his second spell with the club. He has won 68 caps for Colombia, scoring two goals. He is not part of the 2018 World Cup squad.