Juan Gonzalo Lorca Donoso (born 15 January 1985) is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an former

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 played as a forward.

Club career

Lorca began his career with Colo-Colo's youth squad when he turned twelve years old. He began as an attacking midfielder, but soon made the switch to forward. On July 7, 2004, Lorca made his professional debut against Universidad Católica in a

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 ...

match, which ended in a 1–1 tie. However his first goal would not come until the following month against

Cobreloa Club de Deportes Cobreloa S.A.D.P. (), commonly referred to as Cobreloa, is a Chilean football professional club based in Calama, Región de Antofagasta, Chile. That competes in the Primera B. The club's home ground is the Estadio Zorros del ...

. In 2006, Lorca was loaned to Chilean club

Huachipato Club Deportivo Huachipato is a Chilean football club based in Talcahuano that is a current member of the Chilean Primera División. The club was founded 7 June 1947 and plays its home games at the Estadio CAP, which has a capacity of 10,500 ...

for both the apertura and clausura tournaments. He was capped 34 times and scored 11 times before returning to Colo-Colo for the 2007 Apertura tournament. After his return, he has only been a fringe player because the team already has prominent forwards. Lorca left Colo-Colo once again after the 2007 Apertura, this time to go to Europe to play for Dutch team

Vitesse Arnhem Vitesse may refer to: * Vitesse Models, a diecast model car company * Vitesse (band), Dutch rock band * Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, a car * Rover 216 Vitesse, a car * Rover 3500 Vitesse, a car * Rover 800 Vitesse, a car * Triumph Vites ...

, he then returned to Colo-Colo in mid-2008. Lorca signed in O'Higgins because he didn't have many chances to play in

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 ...

. In January 2010,

US Boulogne Union Sportive de Boulogne-sur-Mer Côte d'Opale (commonly referred to as US Boulogne or frequently, simply Boulogne) is a French association football club based in the commune of Boulogne-sur-Mer. The club was founded in 1898 and currently pla ...

signed the

an forward from

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 playe ...

for around 400,000 Euros on a three-and-a-half year deal. He returned for 6 months on loan from

to O'Higgins.

International career

Lorca has represented the Chile national team at the U-20, U-23, and senior levels. He took part in the 2005

South American Youth Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as U-20 South American Championship and es, Torneo Juventudes de América, "Campeonato Sudamericano Sub 20" or pt, Juventude da América (English: "America's Youth") is a South American ...

, which qualified for the

2005 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship was the 15th edition of the FIFA World Youth Championship. It took place in the Netherlands between 10 June and 2 July 2005. Venues Qualification The following 24 teams qualified for the 2005 FIFA Worl ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. However, he did not make the trip to Europe due to injury. In 2006, he started to appear in friendly games with the adult squad and went on to be included by

Nelson Acosta Nelson Bonifacio Acosta López, nicknamed ''Pelado Acosta'' (''Bald'' Acosta), (born 12 June 1944 in Paso de los Toros, Uruguay) is a former Uruguayan-born Chilean football manager and footballer. He became a naturalized Chilean citizen in 1984 ...

in the squad for

2007 Copa América The 2007 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, known simply as the 2007 Copa América or 2007 Copa América Venezuela, was the 42nd edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The c ...

despite not being a regular in his team at the time, Colo-Colo. He then got call ups from

Marcelo Bielsa Marcelo Alberto Bielsa Caldera (, nicknamed ''El Loco Bielsa'' , meaning "The Crazy Bielsa"; born 21 July 1955) is an Argentine professional football manager who was most recently the head coach of Premier League club Leeds United. He is a forme ...

during the 2010 World Cup qualifying stage but remained an unused substitute in official games. However, he did play all the games in the

2008 Toulon Tournament The 2008 Toulon Tournament was the 36th edition of the Toulon Tournament, and was held from 20 May to 29 May 2008. Tournament finished with the final between Italy and Chile at Stade Mayol in Toulon as Italy had the title after the final score of ...

, where he scored one goal. His only adult National Team goal to date was scored against Jamaica in a 2007 friendly which Chile won 1–0.

Personal life

Lorca does not like to be called Juan, and says his family and friends call him ''Gonzalo'' or ''Chalo''. He is the nephew of former

Audax Italiano Audax Club Sportivo Italiano () is a Chilean football club based in La Florida. Founded in 1910, it plays in the Campeonato Nacional and has spent most of its history in the top tier of Chilean football. Audax has been national champions four t ...

defender Benjamín Lorca, who also represented Chile at under-20 level in 1977.

Honours

Club

;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 ...

: 2007 Apertura, 2008 Clausura

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lorca, Juan Gonzalo 1985 births Living people Footballers from Santiago Chilean footballers Chilean expatriate footballers Chile international footballers Chile under-20 international footballers Association football forwards Colo-Colo footballers C.D. Huachipato footballers SBV Vitesse players O'Higgins F.C. footballers US Boulogne players Santiago Wanderers footballers S.D. Quito footballers Rangers de Talca footballers C.D. Antofagasta footballers Ñublense footballers Deportes Magallanes footballers Magallanes footballers Chilean Primera División players Eredivisie players Ecuadorian Serie A players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Primera B de Chile players Chilean expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Chilean expatriate sportspeople in France Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Ecuador Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Ecuador 2007 Copa América players