Armando Javier Dely Valdés (5 January 1964 – August 17, 2004) was a Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

nian football player. He was the elder brother of twins Julio Dely Valdés

Julio Dely Valdes

Julio César Dely Valdés is a retired Panamanian association football player. He is a twin brother of Jorge Dely Valdés and younger brother of Armando Dely Valdés...

 and Jorge Dely Valdés

Jorge Dely Valdés

Jorge Luis Dely Valdés is a Panamanian football player. He is a twin brother of Julio Dely Valdés and younger brother of Armando Dely Valdés....

. He played for the Panama national football team

Panama national football team

The Panama national football team is the national team of Panama and is controlled by the Panamanian Football Federation. Panama reached the 2006 World Cup CONCACAF Final Round in the qualifiers and finished as runners-up at the final game of the 2005 Gold Cup...

 and like his brothers, he was considered as one of Panama's greatest players.

Nicknamed "el Pelé Panameño", he started his playing career with CD Árabe Unido

CD Árabe Unido

Club Deportivo Árabe Unido is a professional soccer club located in Colón, Panama that plays in Liga Panameña de Fútbol, the highest soccer league in Panama. The club plays its games in Estadio Armando Dely Valdes. DAU has won 5 Liga Panameña de Fútbol championships since 1998, the fourth highest...

 in his homeland.
In 1983 he was signed by Argentinos Juniors

Argentinos Juniors

Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine football club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. Founded on August 15, 1904, the club was originally called the “Martyrs of Chicago”, in homage to the eight anarchists imprisoned or hanged after the 1886 Haymarket Riot in Chicago.-Early...

, he went on to win a number of major titles with the club, they were back-to-back league champions in the Metropolitano

Metropolitano championship

The Metropolitano championship was an Argentine football tournament that existed between 1967 and 1984. The Metropolitano formed one half of the Argentine 1st division taking place in the first half of the year, the Nacional took place in the 2nd half of the year. This arrangement lasted until 1982...

 1984 and the Nacional

Nacional championship

The Nacional championship was an Argentine football tournament that existed between 1967 and 1985. The Nacional formed one half of the Argentine 1st division taking place in the second half of the year, the Metropolitano took place in the first half of the year. This arrangement lasted until 1982...

 1985. They went on to win the Copa Libertadores in 1985

Copa Libertadores 1985

The 1985 edition of Copa Libertadores was won by Argentinos Juniors, of Argentina for the first time, after defeating América de Cali of Colombia in a penalty shootout, following a playoff game after the two legged final finished level.-Group stage:...

, also claiming the 1985 Copa Interamericana

Copa Interamericana

Copa Interamericana was a football trophy contested between the champions of CONMEBOL's Copa Libertadores de América and the winners of CONCACAF's Champions' Cup...

 and playing in the Copa Intercontinental against Juventus

Juventus F.C.

Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...

 of Italy.

Dely Valdés left Argentinos Juniors for fellow Argentine team Instituto de Córdoba

Instituto Atlético Central Córdoba

Instituto Atlético Central Córdoba is an Argentine sports club from Córdoba, which professional football team currently plays in the Primera B Nacional, the second division of the Argentine football league system.Famous players who have played at Instituto include Osvaldo Ardiles, Mario Alberto...

. He went on to play for San Martín de Tucumán

Club Atlético San Martín (Tucumán)

Club Atlético San Martín is an Argentine sports club founded in 1909 and based in the city of San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán Province. The football team currently plays in Primera B Nacional....

 in Argentina, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Beitar Tel Aviv

Beitar Tel Aviv

Beitar Tel Aviv Football Club was an Israeli football club based at Bloomfield, Jaffa. In 2000 it merged with Shimshon Tel Aviv to create Beitar Shimshon Tel Aviv.-History:...

 in Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, Peñarol

C.A. Peñarol

Club Atlético Peñarol also known as Carboneros, Aurinegros and familiarly as Manya, is an Uruguayan sports club based in the Peñarol barrio, Montevideo, best known for its professional football team. The team plays their home matches in Estadio Centenario, the largest stadium in the country, but...

 and Liverpool

Liverpool FC (Montevideo)

Liverpool Fútbol Club is a Uruguayan football club based in Montevideo. The club joined the first division for the first time in 1919.- History :...

 in Uruguay

Uruguay

Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

.

After retiring as player he went on to work as the assistant manager of the Panama national team between 1996 and 2001 and then became the coach of the Panama Under-20 team in 2001. On May 29, 2001 Daly Valdés suffered a heart attack

Myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

 which left him in a coma from which he never recovered, he was left in a permanent vegetative state in which he suffered septicemia and lung infections amongst other complications. He died in the Manuel Amador Guerrero Hospital in Colón

Colón, Panama

Colón is a sea port on the Caribbean Sea coast of Panama. The city lies near the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. It is capital of Panama's Colón Province and has traditionally been known as Panama's second city....

 in 2004. After his death, the Panamanian Football Federation

Federación Panameña de Fútbol

The Federación Panameña de Fútbol is the governing body of football in Panama. Panama was a founding member of the CONCACAF in 1961.-External links: * at the FIFA website....

 decided to rename the Árabe Unido football stadium to Estadio Armando Dely Valdés

Estadio Armando Dely Valdes

Estadio Armando Dely Valdés is a multi-purpose stadium in Colón, Panama. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of CD Árabe Unido....

.

Titles

Season	Team	Title
Metropolitano Metropolitano championship The Metropolitano championship was an Argentine football tournament that existed between 1967 and 1984. The Metropolitano formed one half of the Argentine 1st division taking place in the first half of the year, the Nacional took place in the 2nd half of the year. This arrangement lasted until 1982...  1984	Argentinos Juniors Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine football club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. Founded on August 15, 1904, the club was originally called the “Martyrs of Chicago”, in homage to the eight anarchists imprisoned or hanged after the 1886 Haymarket Riot in Chicago.-Early...	Primera División Argentina Primera División Argentina The Primera División is a professional football league in Argentina. It is the country's premier football division and is at the top of the Argentine football league system. Contested by twenty clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Primera B Nacional. The season runs...
Nacional Nacional championship The Nacional championship was an Argentine football tournament that existed between 1967 and 1985. The Nacional formed one half of the Argentine 1st division taking place in the second half of the year, the Metropolitano took place in the first half of the year. This arrangement lasted until 1982...  1985	Argentinos Juniors Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine football club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. Founded on August 15, 1904, the club was originally called the “Martyrs of Chicago”, in homage to the eight anarchists imprisoned or hanged after the 1886 Haymarket Riot in Chicago.-Early...	Primera División Argentina Primera División Argentina The Primera División is a professional football league in Argentina. It is the country's premier football division and is at the top of the Argentine football league system. Contested by twenty clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Primera B Nacional. The season runs...
1985 Copa Libertadores 1985 The 1985 edition of Copa Libertadores was won by Argentinos Juniors, of Argentina for the first time, after defeating América de Cali of Colombia in a penalty shootout, following a playoff game after the two legged final finished level.-Group stage:...	Argentinos Juniors Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine football club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. Founded on August 15, 1904, the club was originally called the “Martyrs of Chicago”, in homage to the eight anarchists imprisoned or hanged after the 1886 Haymarket Riot in Chicago.-Early...	Copa Libertadores
1985	Argentinos Juniors Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine football club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. Founded on August 15, 1904, the club was originally called the “Martyrs of Chicago”, in homage to the eight anarchists imprisoned or hanged after the 1886 Haymarket Riot in Chicago.-Early...	Copa Interamericana Copa Interamericana Copa Interamericana was a football trophy contested between the champions of CONMEBOL's Copa Libertadores de América and the winners of CONCACAF's Champions' Cup...

External links

Clarín obituary La Prensa obituary