Claudio Daniel Bieler (; born March 1, 1984) is an Argentine

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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Atlético Rafaela Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico * Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy * Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic ...

Club career

Rise in career

In 2005 Bieler made his professional debut with

Primera División Argentina Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

squad

Colón de Santa Fe Colón may refer to: Places ;Argentina * Colón, Entre Ríos * Colón Department, Córdoba * Colón Department, Entre Ríos * Colón, Buenos Aires ;Colombia * Colón, Nariño * Colón, Putumayo * Colón Department (Colombia) ;Costa Rica * Ciu ...

. The following year he was loaned to

Primera B Nacional Argentina Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, in English "National B Division", and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 37 team ...

squad

, where he led the league with sixteen goals. In 2007, he caught the eye of fellow Argentine Claudio Borghi who signed him to

Colo-Colo Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo () is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano they play in the Chilean Primera División, from which they have never been relegated. The team has played ...

. Bieler attained the 2007 Clausura championship in Chile with Colo Colo.

LDU Quito

At LDU Quito, he built a reputation as a very capable striker. He was an integral part of the squad that won the

2008 Copa Libertadores The 2008 Copa Libertadores de América was the 49th edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's premier annual international club tournament. This marked the first year the competition was sponsored by Spanish bank Santander. As such, the compet ...

(where he had a goal wrongfully disallowed for offsides in the final game) and the squad that was the runner-up of the

2008 FIFA Club World Cup The 2008 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2008 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was the fifth FIFA Club World Cup, a football tournament for the champion clubs from each of FIFA's six continental c ...

. He was the team's top-scorer in 2008 with 17 goals, and was the

Ecuadorian Serie A The Liga Pro Betcris, simply known as the Liga Pro, or the Serie A, is a professional football league in Ecuador. At the top of the Ecuadorian football league system, it is the country's premier football competition. Contested by sixteen clubs, i ...

's top-scorer in 2009 with 22 goals. He provided the winning goal in Liga's win in the first leg of the

2009 Recopa Sudamericana The 2009 Recopa Sudamericana was the 17th Recopa Sudamericana, an annual football match between the winners of the previous season's Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana competitions. The match was contested by Ecuadorian club LDU Quito, th ...

and scored one of three goals in the second leg at home. In the

2009 Copa Sudamericana The 2009 Copa Sudamericana de Clubes (officially the 2009 Copa Nissan Sudamericana de Clubes for sponsorship reasons) is the 8th edition of the CONMEBOL's secondary international club tournament. Internacional were the defending champions, having ...

, he was the tournament's top-scorer with eight goals, including two hat-tricks against Argentine team

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� ...

and Uruguayan team River Plate. He scored his first hat-trick for Serie A on February 12, 2012, in the match between LDU Quito and Olmedo, where LDU Quito won 5-0. He garnered interest from Mexican clubs, although he expressed his wish to retire with Liga de Quito.

Racing Club

On January 6, 2010

Racing Club de Avellaneda Racing Club de Avellaneda, officially known as Racing Club or shortened to just Racing, is an Argentine professional sports club based in Avellaneda, a city of the Buenos Aires Province. Founded in 1903, Racing has been historically considered o ...

signed the striker to a three-and-a half year contract with 50% of the Bieler sporting rights.

Sporting Kansas City

Bieler signed with

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

as a

designated player The Designated Player Rule, nicknamed the Beckham Rule, allows Major League Soccer franchises to sign up to three players that would be considered outside their salary cap (either by offering the player higher wages or by paying a transfer fee ...

on December 18, 2012. Sporting paid an undisclosed transfer fee to LDU Quito to obtain Bieler. Bieler was released by Kansas City on January 20, 2015.

Belgrano

On 6 January 2016 Bieler signed with CA Belgrano.

International career

Due to his performance playing for LDU Quito, elements of the Ecuadorian press have suggested that Bieler should play for the Ecuador national team. When asked to comment on the remarks, he has publicly stated that he would change nationalities to play for

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: ''Eku ...

. On February 4, 2010, he was called up by Argentine manager

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...

, but ended up not playing because of a suspected injury. In May 2010, Bieler returned to Ecuador to undergo the naturalization process. However, he is not eligible to play for the Ecuador national team.

Honours

;Colo-Colo *

Primera División de Chile Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera Alí Rafael Primera Rosel ...

(1): 2007 Clausura ;LDU Quito *

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 ...

(1):

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

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 ...

(1):

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

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 ...

(1):

;Independiente del Valle *

(1):

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

;Sporting Kansas City *

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...

(1):

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 fact ...

Personal life

Bieler became a citizen of Ecuador in 2011 since he is in a free union with Ecuadoran girlfriend.

References

External links

*
Argentine Primera statistics
at Fútbol XXI
Claudio Bieler
at BDFA.com.ar * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bieler, Claudio 1984 births Living people Argentine footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Argentine emigrants to Ecuador Naturalized citizens of Ecuador Sportspeople from Santa Fe Province Argentine people of German descent Association football forwards Argentine Primera División players Primera Nacional players Major League Soccer players Ecuadorian Serie A players Newell's Old Boys footballers Club Atlético Colón footballers Atlético de Rafaela footballers Racing Club de Avellaneda footballers Colo-Colo footballers L.D.U. Quito footballers Sporting Kansas City players Quilmes Atlético Club footballers Club Atlético Belgrano footballers San Martín de Tucumán footballers C.S.D. Independiente del Valle footballers Designated Players (MLS) Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Chile Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Bolivia Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Ecuador Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate footballers in Chile Expatriate footballers in Bolivia Expatriate footballers in Ecuador Expatriate soccer players in the United States