Gerardo Torrado Díez de Bonilla (born 30 April 1979) is a Mexican former 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 played 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 ...

. Torrado represented

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 2002,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

s and has won three

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

tournaments. Torrado spent the majority of his club career with

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...

, whom he captained to

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

success in 2014.

Club career

Born in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

, Torrado began his career with

UNAM The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigge ...

in 1997. After a few years playing in Spain, he became a

player in 2005, débuting against Monarcas Morelia where he scored the two goals in the 2–0 win for Cruz Azul. He rapidly emerged as one of the most important players in the squad. An aggressive midfielder, Torrado has gotten many red and yellow cards in his career. He has

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

ed the team since 2006, and has led the team to three league finals and a

final in 2009, and on 26 April 2014 he became CONCACAF champion for the first time in his career with Cruz Azul.

Spain

After débuting for

in 1997, Torrado was bought three years later by Spanish club

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1912, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez Lóp ...

where he played almost the whole season. The following year he was transferred to Poli Ejido. He caught the eye of Spanish club

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...

where he had success in his first season but an injury left him out for almost a full season. He was then transferred to

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system ...

. He did not have much chance to play because of his reported differences with the coach. He was eventually forced to return to Mexico.

Indy Eleven

On 8 June 2016, Torrado signed for NASL side

Indy Eleven Indy Eleven is an American professional soccer team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 2013, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League in 2014, before moving to the United Soccer League in 2018. The franchise plays it ...

, extending his contract for the 2017 season on 26 January 2017. Torrado retired on 30 October 2017 ending a 20-year career span.

International career

Torrado made an impact when he represented Mexico at the 1999 FIFA U-20 World Cup, which put the spotlight on him as a potential national team player. Ever since his début in a

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 ...

against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, he has become a mainstay in the national team. Torrado scored his first goal for Mexico in the 1999 Copa América 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 = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, scoring with a stunning long-range shot in stoppage time which saved the game for Mexico. His goal ensured that the match ended 3–3 and Mexico then went on to win on penalties. Torrado has been in the Mexico squads for the 2002,

and

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

and was vice-captain for the 2010 tournament in South Africa, playing in all four of Mexico's matches as they were eliminated in the Round of 16 after losing 3–1 to

After retirement

Following his retirement as a footballer, on 24 August 2017, Guillermo Cantú announced Torrado as sporting director for the

Mexican Football Federation The Mexican Football Federation (; abbreviated as Femexfut or FMF) is the governing body of association football in Mexico. It adm the Mexico national team, the Liga MX and all affiliated amateur sectors, and controls promoting, organizing, dire ...

. On 13 July 2022, Torrado was dismissed from his position following a string of disappointing results.

Career statistics

International

''Statistics accurate as of match played 6 September 2013''

International goals

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

Honours

Cruz Azul *

Copa MX The Copa MX (formerly called Copa Tower Monterrey, Copa Eliminatoria, Copa México and Copa Corona MX (for sponsorship reasons)) was a Mexican football cup competition that was established in 1907. After a lengthy hiatus that began in 1997, it wa ...

: Clausura 2013 *

: 2013–14 Indy Eleven * Spring Champions: 2016 Mexico *

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...

: 1999 *

: 2009,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Individual * Mexican Primera División Defensive Midfielder of the Tournament: Apertura 2009 *

All-Tournament Team: 2009 * FIFA Club World Cup Top Scorer (Shared): 2014

References

External links

Official website
*
Football Database.com provides Gerardo Torrado's profile and stats
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Torrado, Gerardo 1979 births Living people Cruz Azul footballers Liga MX players La Liga players North American Soccer League players CD Tenerife players Polideportivo Ejido footballers Racing de Santander players Sevilla FC players Indy Eleven players Club Universidad Nacional footballers 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players 1999 Copa América players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2001 Copa América players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2004 Copa América players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2007 Copa América players 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players Universidad Iberoamericana alumni Mexico under-20 international footballers Mexico international footballers Mexican expatriate footballers Mexican footballers Footballers from Mexico City Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate soccer players in the United States FIFA Century Club Mexico youth international footballers Association football midfielders