Mauricio Saucedo Guardia (born August 14, 1985, in

Santa Cruz de la Sierra Santa Cruz de la Sierra (; "Holy Cross of the Mountain Range"), commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the largest city in Bolivia and the capital of the Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia), Santa Cruz department. Situated on the Pirai River (Bolivia), P ...

) is a retired

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

midfielder. He was also a member of the Bolivia national team.

Club career

Saucedo developed his skills at Tahuichi Academy. In 2003, at age 18 he reached professional football when he signed for Bolívar, although he made his official debut in the Bolivian league with Iberoamericana later that year. In 2004, he joined

La Paz F.C. La Paz Fútbol Club, also known as La Paz F.C., was a professional football (soccer) team from La Paz, that played in the La Paz Regional League. Formerly known as Atlético González, the team gained promotion to the Liga de Fútbol Profesiona ...

but his appearances were sporadic, mainly coming off the bench. The following year he transferred to

San José San José or San Jose (Spanish for Saint Joseph) most often refers to: *San Jose, California, United States *San José, Costa Rica, the nation's capital San José or San Jose may also refer to: Places Argentina * San José, Buenos Aires ** San ...

, and his career finally began to sprout. In short time, Saucedo became one of the most valuable young prospects in the country and helped the club in obtaining the 2007 Clausura title. In January 2009, he was signed by

Universitario de Sucre Club Deportivo Universitario San Francisco Xavier is a professional football team based in Sucre, Bolivia that competes in the Bolivian Primera División. The club has two titles in its history and also has three international appearances in co ...

along with other important players to fortify the squad before facing

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 ...

. In February 2010, he travelled to Ukraine and signed for first division club FC Chornomorets Odesa. By August of that year, Saucedo returned to Bolivia and joined hometown club Oriente Petrolero. During his spell at the club he won the 2010 Clausura. In July 2011, he was signed by Portuguese club

Vitória S.C. Vitória Sport Clube, commonly known as Vitória de Guimarães, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Guimarães that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top-flight of football in Portugal. Vitória de Guimarães have finished thir ...

After making only one appearance since the beginning of the season, he criticized manager

Rui Vitória Rui Carlos Pinho da Vitória (; born 16 April 1970) is a Portuguese football manager and a former player who played as a midfielder. He is the manager of the Egypt national football team. He most notably spent three and a half years with Benf ...

for not giving him enough playing time which led to the club releasing the player on the December 16, 2011. He was signed by Brazilian club

Bragantino Red Bull Bragantino, commonly known as Bragantino, is a Brazilian football club based in Bragança Paulista, São Paulo. It competes in the Série A, the top tier of the Brazilian football league system, as well as in the Campeonato Paulista S ...

on January 5, 2012. Following an unsuccessful stint Saucedo found himself signing for

The Strongest Club The Strongest is a Bolivian professional football club based in La Paz, that currently plays in the Bolivian Primera División. Founded in 1908, their team colours are yellow and black. Although they have a home ground, Estadio Rafae ...

in May of that year. After a season with the ''atigrados'', Saucedo moved to Universitario de Sucre for the second time in his career and helped the club obtain the 2014 Clausura. On June 18, 2015, Saucedo returned to Oriente Petrolero with the illusion of winning another championship for the .

Retirement and later career

In January 2020, Saucedo signed for

Real Santa Cruz Club Real Santa Cruz is a football club from Santa Cruz, Bolivia currently playing in the top-flight División Profesional after winning promotion in 2019. The club last played in the first division in 2004; they also played the Copa Bolivia ...

.Mauricio Saucedo y Marcelo Velasco estuvieron en Vive, Sueña y Comparte con FutbolConnect
futbolconnectbol.blogspot.com, 20 August 2020 However, an injury forced him to retire from football. In May 2021, Saucedo switched from football to politics when he was appointed Minister of Sports of the municipality of

.Jhonny ficha a Saucedo como director de deportes
eldeber.com.bo, 2 May 2021

Club titles

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saucedo, Mauricio 1985 births Living people Footballers from Santa Cruz de la Sierra Men's association football midfielders Bolivian men's footballers Bolivia men's international footballers Bolivian expatriate men's footballers Club Bolívar players La Paz F.C. players Club San José players Oriente Petrolero players Universitario de Sucre footballers FC Chornomorets Odesa players Vitória S.C. players Clube Atlético Bragantino players The Strongest players C.D. Jorge Wilstermann players Club Blooming players Sport Boys Warnes players Real Santa Cruz players Ukrainian Premier League players Primeira Liga players Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Bolivian expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Bolivian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Bolivian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine 2011 Copa América players