Éder Fabián Álvarez Balanta (; born 28 February 1993) is a Colombian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

side

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

, and the Colombia national team. River Plate former coach

Ramón Díaz Ramón Ángel Díaz (born 29 August 1959) is a former Argentine Association football, footballer and the current manager of Saudi Professional League club Al Hilal SFC, Al Hilal. He played for Club Atlético River Plate, River Plate as a Forw ...

has compared Álvarez Balanta's talents to that of 1970s legend

Daniel Passarella Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...

. A Colombian international, he made his debut against

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

on 5 March 2014 and was later named in Colombia's squad for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. Álvarez Balanta is described by

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

's official website as "left-footed, powerfully built, strong in the air and a fearless tackler ... blessed with skill and speed."

Club career

Early career

Álvarez Balanta was born in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

, where he signed with the now dissolved club

Academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

in 2010 (who later became Llaneros). After a successful youth run winning various titles, he attracted the scouts of River Plate. Prior to his move to the Argentinian club, Balanta was never able to represent the Colombian national youth squads due to vast injuries.

River Plate

In early 2011, Álvarez Balanta was tested in the youth division of the Argentinean Club and passed the trials and became a sub with the youth squad. In 2012, he was becoming more of a regular which led to an eventual championship victory in the 2012

U-20 Copa Libertadores The Under-20 CONMEBOL Libertadores (Portuguese and Spanish: CONMEBOL Libertadores Sub-20) is the international association football club competition for teams that play in CONMEBOL leagues. It was created by Manuel Burga Seoane and the Peruvian ...

. Due to his success with the youth team and impressive talent, he moved into the senior squad officially in 2013. Álvarez Balanta made his debut with the senior squad against

Racing Club Racing Club may refer to: Football * Racing Club Abidjan, Ivory Coast * K.R.C. Genk, Belgium * Racing Club Bafoussam, Cameroon * Racing Club Beirut, Lebanon * Racing Club de Avellaneda, Argentina * Racing Club Haïtien, Haiti * Racing Club Port ...

. In just his third league match, he scored his first goal against Godoy Cruz. Álvarez Balanta scored yet another goal in his very next match, this time against

Quilmes Atlético Club Quilmes Atlético Club () is an Argentine sports club based in the Quilmes district of Greater Buenos Aires. Established in 1887 (although the date of foundation is still under dispute), Quilmes is the oldest club of Argentina still competing i ...

. He played his first ''

Superclásico Superclásico is the football match in Argentina between Buenos Aires rivals Boca Juniors and River Plate. It derives from the Spanish usage of "clásico" to mean derby, with the prefix "super" used as the two clubs are the most popular and su ...

'' derby match against River Plate's fierce rivals,

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

. He played a huge part countering and cancelling the attacking plays in a fierce game that ended 1–1.

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

reportedly made a bid for the young Colombian after just five league appearances. River Plate set a €12 million price tag. During a match against

All Boys Club Atlético All Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Floresta, Buenos Aires. The institution is mostly known by its football team, which currently plays in the Primera B Nacional, the second division of the Argentine football league s ...

, Álvarez Balanta tore his internal obturador muscle resulting in a two-week absence on the pitch. In July 2013, Álvarez Balanta officially signed his first senior contract with the club on a three-year term deal with a $30 million release clause. Álvarez Balanta noticeably put on a man of the match performance in the

2013 Copa Sudamericana The 2013 Copa Sudamericana (officially the 2013 Copa Total Sudamericana for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary international club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. The winner qu ...

match against

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...

. Throughout the match, he was praised for being "impassable". In September 2013, it was reported that

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

had taken interest in Álvarez Balanta, and they plan to watch the player to evaluate his development. It was also mentioned that Álvarez Balanta could possibly be a successor to Barça's aging defender

Carles Puyol Carles Puyol Saforcada (, ; born 13 April 1978) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played his entire career for Barcelona. He mainly played as a central defender, but he could also play in either full-back position, mostly as a ri ...

, but that River Plate would require €50 million in any transfer deal. Weeks later, however, River Plate brought down his release clause to €15 million. In River Plate's match against

Lanús Lanús () is the capital of Lanús Partido, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It lies just south of the capital city Buenos Aires, in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area. The city has a population of 212,152 (), and the Partido de Lan� ...

, Álvarez Balanta received his first ever red card within the last two minutes of regulation time. On 19 February 2015, Álvarez Balanta made his debut in the

2015 Copa Libertadores The 2015 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2015 Copa Bridgestone Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 56th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL ...

against Bolivian club San José in which River Plate lost 2–0. On 12 March 2015, Balanta scored his first goal in the Copa Libertadores in 1–1 draw against

Juan Aurich Club Juan Aurich S. A., commonly known as Juan Aurich, is a professional football club based in Chiclayo, Peru. The original Juan Aurich club was founded in 1922, this incarnation however was founded in 2005; they play in the Torneo Descentral ...

of Peru.

Basel

On 15 July 2016, Swiss club

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

announced that they had signed Éder Balanta on a four-year contract lasting until 30 June 2020. He joined Basel's first team for their 2016–17 season under head coach

Urs Fischer Urs Fischer (born 2 May 1973) is a Swiss-born contemporary visual artist living in New York City. Fischer’s practice includes sculpture, installation and photography. Education and early career Born to two doctors as the second of two children ...

. After playing in two test games he made his domestic league debut on 24 July in the 3–0 home win at the

St. Jakob-Park St. Jakob-Park () is a Swiss sports stadium in Basel. It is the largest football venue in Switzerland and home to FC Basel. "Joggeli", as the venue is nicknamed by the locals, was originally built with a capacity of 33,433 seats. The capacity w ...

against

Sion Sion may refer to * an alternative transliteration of Zion People * Sion (name) or Siôn, a Welsh and other given name and surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Shion or Sion, a Japanese given name Plac ...

. Balanta made his Champions League group stage debut in a 1–1 draw against PFC Ludogorets Razgrad on 12 September 2016. He scored his first league goal for his new club in the away game in the Olympique de la Pontaise on 21 September 2016. It was the winning goal of the match, in the 93rd minute, as Basel won 2–1 against

Lausanne-Sport FC Lausanne–Sport (also referred to as LS) is a Swiss football club based in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud. Founded in 1896, Lausanne Sport played in the Swiss Super League in their most recent 2021-22 season, the highest tier of football i ...

. He scored his first

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup tournament that has been organised annually since 1925–26 by the Swiss Football Association. Since 1999 the winner earns the chance to qualify for the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Europa Conference L ...

goal for his team on 26 October in the third round away game as Basel won 4–1 against

Tuggen Tuggen is a municipality in March District in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. History According to Walafrid Strabo the Irish missionaries Columban and Gall arrived at Tuggen around the year 610. They intended to settle in the area, but fled ...

. Under trainer

Balanta won the

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...

championship at the end of the 2016–17 Super League season. For the club this was the eighth title in a row and their 20th championship title in total. They also won the

for the twelfth time, which meant they had won the double for the sixth time in the club's history. Balanta had played 19 league games and one in the cup. In their following 2017–18 season under new head coach

Raphaël Wicky Raphaël Wicky (born 26 April 1977) is a Swiss football coach and a former player. He is currently the manager of Swiss Super League club BSC Young Boys. He was a defensive midfielder who could also play in defence and was known for his combativ ...

Balanta received somewhat less playing time, but played in 15 league games and in all six games in the

2017–18 UEFA Champions League group stage The 2017–18 UEFA Champions League group stage began on 12 September and ended on 6 December 2017. A total of 32 teams competed in the group stage to decide the 16 places in the knockout phase of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League. Draw The draw ...

. Under trainer

Marcel Koller Marcel Martin Koller (born 11 November 1960) is a Swiss professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Al Ahly in the Egyptian Premier League. Playing career Born in Zürich, Koller played his entire career ...

Basel won the Swiss Cup in the 2018–19 season. In the first round Basel beat Montlingen 3–0, in the second round Echallens Région 7–2 and in the round of 16

Winterthur , neighboring_municipalities = Brütten, Dinhard, Elsau, Hettlingen, Illnau-Effretikon, Kyburg, Lindau, Neftenbach, Oberembrach, Pfungen, Rickenbach, Schlatt, Seuzach, Wiesendangen, Zell , twintowns = Hall in Tirol (Austria), La ...

1–0. In the quarter-finals

were defeated 4–2 after extra time and in the semi-finals

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

3–1. All these games were played away from home. The final was held on 19 May 2019 in the Stade de Suisse Wankdorf Bern against

Thun , neighboring_municipalities= Amsoldingen, Heiligenschwendi, Heimberg, Hilterfingen, Homberg, Schwendibach, Spiez, Steffisburg, Thierachern, Uetendorf, Zwieselberg , twintown = , website = www.thun.ch Thun (french: Thoune) ...

Albian Ajeti Albian Afrim Ajeti (born 26 February 1997) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a striker for Austrian Bundesliga club Sturm Graz, on loan from Celtic, and the Switzerland national team. He has previously played for Basel (two spel ...

scored the first goal,

Fabian Frei Fabian Frei (born 8 January 1989) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder and a centre-back for Swiss Super League club Basel and the Switzerland national team. Until June 2011, he played for the Swiss U-21 team. ...

the second for Basel, then

Dejan Sorgić Dejan Sorgić ( sr-cyr, Дејан Соргић; born 15 September 1989) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a forward for FC Luzern. Career On 20 July 2016, he joined Thun on a two-year contract. In October 2021, Sorgić returned t ...

netted a goal for Thun, but the result was 2–1 for Basel. Balanta played five Cup games and scored a goal in the match against Montlingen. At the beginning of their following season Balanta decided to leave the club. In his three and a bit seasons with the club, Balanta played a total of 113 games for Basel scoring a total of six goals. 58 of these games were in the

, nine in the

, 22 in the UEFA competitions (Champions League and Europa League) and 24 were friendly games. He scored three goals in the domestic league, two in the cup and the other was scored during the test games.

Club Brugge

On 2 September 2019, he signed three-year contract with

Schalke 04 (loan)

On 31 January 2023, Balanta joined

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

club

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

on loan until the end of the season.

International career

Álvarez Balanta attracted the attention of the

Colombian Football Federation The Colombian Football Federation (in es, Federación Colombiana de Fútbol) is the governing body of football in Colombia. It was founded in 1924 and has been affiliated to FIFA since 1936. It is a member of CONMEBOL and is in charge of the Col ...

in May 2013 during his time with River Plate. He was called to be part of the U-20 squad for the

2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the nineteenth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. It ran from 21 June to 13 July 2013. At the FIFA Executive Meeting in Zürich on 3 March 2011, ...

in Turkey. Due to injuries and the factor that he had yet to sign his first professional contract, River Plate stated that they would not allow him to partake with the national youth squad if he does not meet with his youth contract before signing a senior contract. In June 2013, it was confirmed that River Plate would not allow him to take part in the U-20 World Cup. On 7 November 2013, Álvarez Balanta received his first

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

call-up to play

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. On his second call-up, Álvarez Balanta made his international debut, coming in at the 65th minute in a friendly against

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

. On 6 June 2014, Álvarez Balanta was named by head coach

José Pékerman José Néstor Pékerman Krimen (; born 3 September 1949) is an Argentine professional football coach and current manager of the Venezuela national team. As a youth level coach for Argentina, he won the FIFA World Youth Championship three times, ...

in Colombia's 23-man squad for the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

Style of play

Álvarez Balanta has been highlighted with top praise in Argentina. Since debuting in top-tier Argentinean football, Álvarez Balanta has been deemed as the "best defender" in the league, earning that title within half of his debuting season. Compared to other Colombian legends, he has been referenced for

Jorge Bermúdez Jorge Hernán Bermúdez Morales (born 18 June 1971) is a retired Colombian football defender. He played 56 times for the Colombia national team between 1995 and 2001. Playing career Bermúdez played at the club level for several teams in ...

's hierarchy while having speed and agility to that of

Iván Córdoba Iván Ramiro Córdoba Sepúlveda (, born 11 August 1976) is a retired Colombian footballer, who played as a defender. He began his career in Colombia with Deportivo Rionegro and Atlético Nacional, before moving to Argentine club San Lorenzo. ...

, all while also carrying wonderful strength and balance. Thus, he is often credited as a complete center-back. Left-footed, Álvarez Balanta has shown that he can play with his right as well. These talents had even made former River Plate coach

, compare Álvarez Balanta's talents to that of legendary

. Eder Alvarez Balanta was inducted into the 5 Star Potential Podcast Wonderkid Hall of Fame for his exploits in the Football Manager series of games. In response to his sudden rise in popularity and praise, Álvarez Balanta has been shown to be quite modest:

"I am not as skillful as everyone thinks I am; I understand that people are excited for me and what I can do which is good, as it proves that I am on the right path and that my hard work is paying off. However, I am really just 'normal' and not a 'star', yet. People are often asking me when 'I will go to
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
' and it makes me feel uncomfortable because I am still young and learning. But the rumors that run around often make me feel as if my head will explode. It puts stress on my mind when I am trying to focus on River Plate and possibly get the chance to represent Colombia. It's a dream of mine to play for Colombia during a World Cup, but I cannot make it if I don't continue working hard."

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

River Plate Youth *

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

River Plate *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

: Torneo Final 2014 *

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana ( pt, CONMEBOL Recopa Sul-Americana), known also as the Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as the Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club association football, football compe ...

Basel *

: 2016–17 *

: 2016–17, 2018–19 Club Brugge *

: 2019–20,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, 2021–22 *

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( nl, Belgische Supercup, ; french: Supercoupe de Belgique; german: Belgischer Fußball-Super Cup), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian First Division A champion ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

References

External links

Éder Álvarez Balanta
at the Club Brugge KN website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez Balanta, Eder 1993 births Living people Colombian men's footballers Colombian expatriate men's footballers Footballers from Bogotá Club Atlético River Plate footballers Copa Sudamericana-winning players Copa Libertadores-winning players Argentine Primera División players Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina 2014 FIFA World Cup players Colombia men's international footballers Men's association football central defenders FC Basel players FC Schalke 04 players Swiss Super League players Bundesliga players Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Club Brugge KV players Belgian Pro League players Colombian people of African descent Balanta family