Ronald Raldes Balcázar (born April 20, 1981) is a Bolivian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is the first Bolivian player in history to reach 100 international appearances.
 Raldes in 2007 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ronald Raldes Balcázar | ||
| Date of birth | April 20, 1981 | ||
| Place of birth | Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia | ||
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1998–1999 | Destroyers | 64 | (2) |
| 2000–2003 | Oriente Petrolero | 131 | (9) |
| 2004–2008 | Rosario Central | 136 | (3) |
| 2008–2009 | Al-Hilal | 2 | (0) |
| 2009 | Cruz Azul | 2 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 24 | (0) |
| 2010–2013 | Colón | 72 | (0) |
| 2014–2016 | Oriente Petrolero | 116 | (4) |
| 2017–2018 | Bolívar | 69 | (0) |
| 2019 | Oriente Petrolero | 25 | (0) |
| Total | 641 | (18) | |
| International career | |||
| 2001 | Bolivia U-20 | 4 | (0) |
| 2001–2018 | Bolivia | 102 | (3) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Club career
editRaldes was born in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. He started his career with Club Destroyers in 1998, the following year he joined Oriente Petrolero, where he was part of the Bolivian League Championship winning team in 2001.
Due to his high performance displayed with Oriente Petrolero and the Bolivia national team, Raldes was signed by Argentine club Rosario Central in 2003.
In 2008, and after five great years with the canallas, Raldes announced his imminent departure from the institution once the Torneo Clausura ended in mid June. Not long after, he signed for Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal. On March 20, 2009, he joined Mexican side Cruz Azul.[1] He made his debut on April 22, 2009, against Atlante, in the first-leg match of the CONCACAF Champions League finals. After only making two appearances for the cementeros, Raldes decided to let go the contract with Cruz Azul and signed with Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv in September 2009.[2] In May 2010, Raldes returned to Argentina and joined Colón de Santa Fe on a two-year deal.[3][4] On January 25, 2012, while doing the pre-season with Colón, Raldes fractured his left fibula bone during a friendly match against Patronato causing him to miss the entire Clausura tournament.[5]
In November 2013, Raldes left Colón due to the club's failure to pay his wages.[6] He was signed by Oriente Petrolero, on January 9, 2014.[7]
International career
editSince Raldes debuted for the Bolivia national team in 2001 he has appeared for the nation at five Copa América tournaments.[8]
On 18 November 2014, he scored his first international goal in a 3–2 friendly home win over Venezuela.
Raldes was captain of the Bolivian squad for the 2015 Copa América in Chile. On 15 June, he scored in the team's second group match – a 3–2 defeat of Ecuador – to give La Verde its first win at the Copa América since the 1997 tournament.[9]
On September 11, 2015, Raldes announced his retirement from the national team,[10] but returned in 2016 after Guillermo Ángel Hoyos replaced Julio César Baldivieso.[11] He represented his country in 44 FIFA World Cup qualification matches.[12]
On May 28, 2018, he reached 100 games with Bolivia, which was defeated 3–0 by the United States in an international friendly.[13]
Career statistics
editInternational
edit- Scores and results list Bolivia's goal tally first.[14]
| No | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 18 November 2014 | Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz, Bolivia |  Venezuela |
1–1 | 3–2 | Friendly |
| 2. | 15 June 2015 | Estadio Elías Figueroa Brander, Valparaíso, Chile |  Ecuador |
1–0 | 3–2 | 2015 Copa América |
| 3. | 1 September 2016 | Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz, Bolivia |  Peru |
2–0 | 2–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Honours
editOriente Petrolero
Bolívar
- Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano: 2017 Apertura, 2017 Clausura
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Mundial: Escobar es novedad en plantel boliviano (in Spanish)
- ^ Everton set to miss out on Bolivian Ronald Raldes
- ^ Higuaín y Raldes refuerzan Colón (in Spanish)
- ^ Raldes a Colón (in Spanish)
- ^ Raldes se fractura el peroné y estará fuera por seis meses (in Spanish)
- ^ Raldes no continuará en Colón de Santa Fe lapatriaenlinea.com (in Spanish)
- ^ "Diario el Día Bolivia - Online". 3 May 2024.
- ^ rsssf: Bolivia record international footballers
- ^ "Bolivia withstand heavy pressure to edge Ecuador at Copa América". The Guardian. 16 June 2015.
- ^ Raldes: "Me voy triste por no haber jugado un mundial" eldeber.com.bo (in Spanish)
- ^ "Bolívia vence Peru na volta de Marcelo Moreno; Guerrero só entra no 2º tempo".
- ^ Ronald Raldes – FIFA competition record (archived)
- ^ "El primer centenario con La Verde". late.com.bo (in Spanish). 29 May 2018.
- ^ "Raldes, Ronald". National Football Teams. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
External links
edit- Argentine Primera statistics[usurped] at Fútbol XXI (in Spanish)
- Ronald Raldes profile at Football Lineups
- Ronald Raldes at National-Football-Teams.com
- Ronald Raldes – Israel Football Association league player details
- Ronald Raldes at Soccerway