Fabián Cornelio Balbuena González (born 23 August 1991) is a Paraguayan 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 centre-back for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A team

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

and the Paraguay national team. He is also under contract with

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

club

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (russian: МГО ВФСО «Динамо»), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (russian: Динамо Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first ...

, but that contract is suspended. He played for Cerro Porteño PF, Rubio Ñu, Nacional and Libertad in the

Paraguayan Primera División The División Profesional de la Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol (; "Professional Division of the Paraguayan Football Association"), also known as the Primera División (; "first division"), or due to sponsorship reasons Copa de Primera TIGO-Vi ...

, before joining

of Brazil in 2016. He played 120 games for Corinthians, winning the Campeonato Paulista twice and the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A once, and was named in the latter's 2017

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. After three years with

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

, he signed for Dynamo Moscow. Balbuena made his senior international debut for Paraguay in 2015. He represented the country at four Copa América tournaments, coming fourth in 2015.

Club career

Paraguay

Born in

Ciudad del Este Ciudad del Este (, Spanish for Eastern City; often shortered as CDE) is the second-largest city in Paraguay and capital of the Alto Paraná Department, situated on the Paraná River. It is located 327 km from Asunción, the capital, and is ...

, Balbuena was promoted to Cerro Porteño PF's first team in 2010, after the arrival of new manager Eduardo Rivera. He immediately became a starter under Rivera, playing in all the remaining seven matches of the campaign as his side achieved a mid-table position. Balbuena became a regular starter in 2011, being also

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

as the club achieved promotion from División intermedia. Balbuena joined Rubio Ñu ahead of the 2013 season, but remained at the club for only six months before moving to defending champions

Club Nacional Club Nacional is a Paraguayan professional football club based in the neighbourhood of Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1904, the club currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División, and holds its home games at Estadio Arsenio Erico. In ...

. At the latter side, he was also first-choice and reached the

2014 Copa Libertadores Finals The 2014 Copa Libertadores de América Finals was a two-legged final that decided the winner of the 2014 Copa Libertadores de América, the 55th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier international club football tour ...

, losing it to San Lorenzo. On 15 August 2014, Libertad bought 50% of Balbuena's federative rights, and the player signed a four-year deal with the club. They won the 2014 Clausura tournament.

Corinthians

On 16 February 2016, Balbuena moved abroad for the first time in his career after agreeing to a three-year deal with Série A side

. He made his debut for the club nine days later by starting in a 1–1 Campeonato Paulista away draw against São Bento, and scored his first goal on 19 March in a 4–0 home routing of Linense for the same competition. A key defensive unit at ''Timão'', Balbuena lifted the 2017 Campeonato Paulista,

2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The 2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A was the 61st season of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the top level of professional football in Brazil, and the 14th edition in a double round-robin since its establishment in 2003. The season began on ...

and

2018 Campeonato Paulista The 2018 Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Profissional da Primeira Divisão - Série A1 was the 117th season of São Paulo's top professional football league. Format *In the first stage the sixteen teams are drawn, with seeding, into four groups o ...

during his spell. On 24 April 2018, he signed a new four-year contract.

West Ham United

On 14 July 2018, Balbuena signed for

club

on a three-year deal, for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut on 12 August in a 4–0 defeat by

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

. On 27 October he scored his first goal for the Hammers to open the scoring at

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

, but deflected Wilfred Ndidi's long-range shot into his own net for the equaliser; he was the first Paraguayan to score in England's top division since

Antolín Alcaraz Antolín Alcaraz Viveros (born 30 July 1982) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays for Club Olimpia as a centre-back. He rarely settled with a team in his early career, before signing in 2003 with Beira-Mar and remaining with ...

in May 2012. On 18 October 2020, Balbuena scored West Ham's first goal as they overturned a 3–0 deficit with eight minutes remaining to draw at London rivals

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

. The following 24 April, he was sent off in a 1–0 home loss to another capital team,

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, for catching

Ben Chilwell Benjamin James Chilwell (born 21 December 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back for club Chelsea and the England national team. Beginning his career at Leicester City, Chilwell had a loan spell with Huddersfie ...

when making a clearance; the decision was criticised by manager David Moyes and various pundits. The

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or d ...

was overturned after West Ham appealed. In May 2021, Balbuena was told by West Ham that his contract would not be renewed when it expired at the end of the 2020–21 season.

Dynamo Moscow

On 9 July 2021, he signed a four-year contract with

club

FC Dynamo Moscow FC Dynamo Moscow (''FC Dynamo Moskva'', russian: Дина́мо Москва́ ) is a Russian football club based in Moscow. Dynamo returned to the Russian Premier League for the 2017–18 season after one season in the second-tier Russian Foot ...

. On 10 July 2022, Balbuena suspended his contract with Dynamo Moscow for the 2022–23 season, having taken advantage of the FIFA ruling relating to the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

Return to Corinthians

On 18 July 2022, Balbuena returned to

for the period of his Dynamo contract suspension, until 30 June 2023.

International career

First called up on 19 March 2015, Balbuena made his full international debut for Paraguay national team on 31 March by starting in a 1–0 friendly loss against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

at the Arrowhead Stadium. He was also named among the 23-man squads for the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

and the

Copa América Centenario The Copa América Centenario ( pt, Copa América Centenário, french: Coupe Amerique Centennaire, en, Centennial Cup America; literally ''Centennial America Cup'') was an international men's association football tournament that was hosted by the ...

. He made his first competitive appearance at the latter in the final group game, a 1–0 loss to hosts the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in which he was substituted at half time for attacker

Juan Iturbe Juan Manuel Iturbe Arévalo (born 4 June 1993) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Greek Super League club Aris and the Paraguay national team. Iturbe represented the Paraguay national team in a friendly match ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Paraguay' goal tally first.''

Honours

Club

Cerro Porteño PF * División Intermedia: 2011 Libertad * Primera División: Clausura 2014 Corinthians * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

* Campeonato Paulista:

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Paraguay *

Copa America Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Computer Operator Programming Assistant. trade of ITI * Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet * Canadian Owners and Pilots Asso ...

copper medals: 2015

Individual

* Bola de Prata: 2017 * Campeonato Brasileiro Team of the Year:

* Campeonato Paulista Team of the year:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Balbuena, Fabian 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Ciudad del Este Paraguayan footballers Association football central defenders Paraguayan Primera División players Cerro Porteño (Presidente Franco) footballers Club Rubio Ñu footballers Club Nacional footballers Club Libertad footballers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players Premier League players West Ham United F.C. players FC Dynamo Moscow players Russian Premier League players 2015 Copa América players Copa América Centenario players 2019 Copa América players Paraguay international footballers Paraguayan expatriate footballers Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in England Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate footballers in Brazil Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Russia