Gilbert Álvarez Vargas (born 7 April 1992) is a Bolivian 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 forward for División Profesional club

Oriente Petrolero Club Deportivo Oriente Petrolero () is a Bolivian football club based in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. They play at the 38,000-capacity Estadio Tahuichi Aguilera. Oriente have been Bolivian champions five times, Copa Aerosur winners two ti ...

Club career

Álvarez played for several youth teams in his home city of Santa Cruz in Bolivia, including

Club Destroyers Club Destroyers is a football club from Santa Cruz, Bolivia currently playing in the second division Copa Simón Bolívar. The club was founded September 14, 1948, and they play their home games at the Estadio Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera Estadio ...

and Club Calleja. In August 2010, Álvarez was signed by Cruzeiro of

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 ...

. He did not play a first team game for Cruzeiro prior to the

2011 Copa America Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''E ...

, and he was not named in Bolivia's squad for the tournament. In August 2011, Álvarez announced that he was considering a move to Europe, citing that talks between his agent and one club in Germany and another in Italy were underway. On 25 November 2023, Álvarez joined Indonesia club Arema. However, on 7 March 2024, Álvarez would leave the club early, cited that he wants to be closer with his family as the reason.

International career

During his time with Callejas, he was called up by the Bolivia U17 to play as their lone striker in the

2009 South American U-17 Championship The 2009 South American Under-17 Football Championship ( es, Sudamericano Sub-17) was a football competition for U-17 national teams affiliated with CONMEBOL. It was the 13th time the tournament was held. The tournament took place in Chile from Apr ...

. He scored three goals in the tournament, including a double against Ecuador under-17s in the final group stage. Later in 2009, as a 17-year-old, Álvarez was called up to the senior Bolivia side. He made his first senior international appearance as a substitute against

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

in a qualifying match for the

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on 6 June 2009. He gained a second cap the following year in a 5–0

friendly match 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 ...

defeat to

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 ...

in February 2010.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Bolivia's goal tally first.''

Personal life

Álvarez comes from a large family, being the fifth of thirteen children. He harbours aspirations to play in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, declaring in a 2009 interview that he was delighted by reported interest in his signature from

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and that his ultimate ambition was to play for Manchester United. He is the brother of soccer players

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and Sebastián Álvarez.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez, Gilbert 1992 births Living people People from Santa Cruz de la Sierra Bolivian men's footballers Bolivia men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Bolivian expatriate men's footballers Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players The Strongest players Club Deportivo Guabirá players Club Real Potosí players C.D. Jorge Wilstermann players Al-Hazem F.C. players Royal Pari F.C. players C.D. Palmaflor del Trópico players Arema F.C. players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Bolivian Primera División players Saudi Pro League players Liga 1 (Indonesia) players 2019 Copa América players 2021 Copa América players Copa América Centenario players Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Indonesia Bolivian expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Bolivian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Bolivian expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia