Joaquín Botero

Joaquín Botero
Personal information
Full name Joaquín Botero Vaca
Date of birth December 10, 1977 (1977-12-10) (age 34)
Place of birth La Paz, Bolivia
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 7 12 in)
Playing position Forward
Club information
Current club San José
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997 Mariscal Braun 22 (18)
1998 Deportivo Municipal 24 (18)
1999–2003 Bolívar 132 (111)
2003–2006 Pumas 72 (14)
2006 San Lorenzo de Almagro 2 (0)
2007 Deportivo Táchira 5 (0)
2008 Bolívar 25 (11)
2009–2010 Correcaminos UAT 28 (10)
2010 Al Arabi (loan) 4 (3)
2011– San José 14 (8)
National team
1999–2009 Bolivia 48 (20)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of May 15, 2010.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of April 28, 2010

Joaquín Botero Vaca (born December 10, 1977 in La Paz) is a Bolivian football striker. He was the top goalscorer in world football in the 2002 season, with 49 goals scored for Club Bolívar.[1] He currently plays for San José in the Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano.

Contents

Club career

After scoring 133 goals for Bolívar and becoming the club's 2nd highest goalscorer of all time,[2] he left the club to play abroad.

Botero's first foreign club was the Mexican side Pumas. In his first season with Pumas, the 2003 Apertura, he scored 3 goals in 17 games. After scoring another 3 in 9 games in the 2004 Clausura, Botero broke out in the 2004 Apertura, registering 11 goals in 19 games.

In 2006, he joined Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro of the Primera División de Argentina and in 2007 he played for Deportivo Táchira of Venezuela. After an unsuccessful stint in those two clubs, Botero returned to Bolívar as a free agent in 2008.

He joined Correcaminos UAT for the Clausura 2009 season, marking his return to Mexico.

In January 2010, he was loaned out to Al Arabi Kuwait for $170,000 .

In 14 January 2011, Botero makes official a move to club San José, thus returning to play in his country.

International career

Since 1999, Botero was a regular player for the Bolivian national team including participations in the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup, Copa América 2001 and Copa América 2004. On April 1, 2009 Botero scored a hat-trick for Bolivia in a historic 6-1 victory over Argentina in a 2010 World cup qualifier game,[3] Argentina's first loss under new manager, Maradona. On May 15, 2009, he surprisingly announced the end of his era with the national team, putting as an excuse that motivation was not there any more.[4] In his ten years playing for Bolivia, Botero earned a total of 48 caps and scored 20 goals becoming the highest scorer in the national team's history.[5]

Honours

Club

Individual

References

External links