Alain Baroja Méndez (born 23 October 1989) is a Venezuelan 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 ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for Caracas and the Venezuela national team.

Club career

Born in Caracas, Alain debuted for the national team at age 25. Initially second-choice to Dani Hernandez, he soon worked his way up to first-choice and eventually earned his first senior cap following some brilliant performances at club level with

Caracas FC Caracas Fútbol Club is a Venezuelan football team based in Caracas. The club has won twelve First Division titles making it the most successful in Venezuelan football history. They are nicknamed ''Los Rojos del Ávila'', or the "Reds from � ...

. On 17 July 2015,

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadel ...

reached an agreement with

for the transfer of Alain Baroja on a one-year loan. The 25-year-old Venezuelan goalkeeper was under AEK Athens radar for a while and as his team, Caracas FC, officially announced his transfer -on a one-year loan- to the Greek club was completed. He started as the indisputable first goalie of the club, till 17 December 2015 when he suffered a finger injury in training and will remain out of action for at least one month. On 13 February 2016, almost two months from his last appearance, he replaced his teammate

Giannis Anestis Giannis Anestis ( el, Γιάννης Ανέστης; born 9 March 1991) is a Greek professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Super League Greece, Super League club Panetolikos F ...

, being the first choice of

AEK A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelf ...

manager

Gustavo Poyet Gustavo Augusto Poyet Domínguez (; born 15 November 1967) is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former footballer. He is currently the head coach of the Greece national football team. Poyet played as a midfielder and began his caree ...

, in a glorious 1-0 derby win against the undefeated, till that game, champions Olympiakos. On 9 June 2016, the officials of

announced that they are not intended to activate the buying clause on Alain Baroja's loan contract and the Venezuelan goalkeeper will return to

. On 24 August 2016, Baroja was loaned to Spanish Segunda División club Cádiz CF, being immediately loaned out to Sud América in Uruguay.

International career

On 1 October 2012, Baroja received his first call-up to the Venezuelan senior side, for a match scheduled to be played against

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

on 16 October 2012 for the

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA#Structure, FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil national football team, Bra ...

, but he didn't play. He was called again to play a friendly match against

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

but he didn't play either. Under the new management of

Noel Sanvicente Noel 'Chita' Sanvicente Bethelmy (born 21 December 1964) is a Venezuelan football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the current manager of Academia Puerto Cabello. Sanvicente is a former head coach of the Venezuela na ...

, Dani Hernandez was used as first choice goalkeeper in the first 4 friendly games of Sanvicente. In February 2015, there were scheduled 2 matches against Honduras, but because they were out of the FIFA calendar, Sanvicente could only call players from the

Venezuelan Primera División The Primera División (; en, First Division), or Liga Venezolana (; en, Venezuelan League) is the top-flight professional football league of Venezuela. It was created in 1921 and turned professional in 1957. It is organized by the Federación ...

for the national team. Baroja was chosen as the starting goalkeeper and finally debuted for the national team at age 25. Venezuela won both matches against Honduras and Baroja's performance was very well received. Baroja started again against

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

on March, a game Venezuela won 1–0 with another good performance of the goalkeeper. On 10 November 2015, Baroja is doubtful for the games with his national team, but his injury isn't serious enough to worry

. Baroja played for a couple of minutes at the end of the game against

Asteras Tripolis Asteras Tripolis Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Αστέρας Τρίπολης), commonly referred to as Asteras Tripolis (meaning "Star of Tripoli"), is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Tripoli in Arcadia, Peloponnese, G ...

suffering two-headed muscle injury. The footballer travelled to Venezuela and according to the National team's medical staff his injury isn't too severe.

2015 Copa America

On 12 May 2015, Baroja was named in Venezuela's 23-man squad for the Copa America 2015 and assigned the number 1 shirt. Initially second-choice to Dani Hernandez, he soon worked his way up to first-choice following some brilliant performances at club level with

and earned his first cap in a competitive match. In the team's opening match of the tournament against Colombia, he kept a clean sheet and stopped a shot from

James Rodríguez James David Rodríguez Rubio (born 12 July 1991) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a winger for Super League Greece club Olympiacos and the Colombia national team. He has been praised in the past ...

helping the team's victory. Baroja started the next 2 group games of Venezuela and made a world-class save in the last group match, stopping a header from

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

's centre-back

Thiago Silva Thiago Emiliano da Silva (born 22 September 1984) is a Brazilian professional Association Football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Chelsea F.C., Chelsea and captains the Brazil national football team, Brazil national team. Con ...

. Despite his good performance in the tournament Venezuela was eliminated in the group stage.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Clubs

; Caracas *

Copa Venezuela The Copa Venezuela ( en, Venezuela Cup) is the national cup football competition of Venezuela. Organized by the Venezuelan Football Federation, it is contested in the second half of the season by the teams in the Primera División and Segunda Di ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

; AEK Athens *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

: 2015-2016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baroja, Alain 1989 births Living people Footballers from Caracas Men's association football goalkeepers Venezuelan men's footballers Venezuelan expatriate men's footballers Venezuela men's international footballers 2015 Copa América players Venezuelan Primera División players Ecuadorian Serie A players Uruguayan Primera División players Super League Greece players Caracas FC players Llaneros de Guanare players AEK Athens F.C. players Cádiz CF players Sud América players Monagas S.C. players Carabobo F.C. players Delfín S.C. footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Uruguay Expatriate men's footballers in Ecuador Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Greece Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Uruguay Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Ecuador