Pablo César Leonardo Velázquez Centurión (born 12 March 1987) is a Paraguayan

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 plays as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

. He currently plays for

12 De Octubre The National Day of Spain ( es, Fiesta Nacional de España, iɵstɑ naθional dɵ esˈpaɲa, help=no link=no) is a Public holiday, national holiday held annually on October 12. It is also traditionally and commonly referred to as the Día ...

Career

Velázquez began his career in the youth divisions of

Atlántida Sport Club Atlántida Sport Club is a Paraguayan football club from the neighbourhood of Obrero, in Asunción. The club was founded on December 23, 1906 and plays in the Primera División B Metropolitana of the Tercera División since the 2013 season. T ...

. After scoring 45 goals in an under-15 tournament with the team, he joined Libertad in 2003. He scored his first professional goal with the team in his debut on 10 December 2005, against

12 de Octubre The National Day of Spain ( es, Fiesta Nacional de España, iɵstɑ naθional dɵ esˈpaɲa, help=no link=no) is a Public holiday, national holiday held annually on October 12. It is also traditionally and commonly referred to as the Día ...

. In 2009, Velázquez was loaned to Rubio Ñu. There, he got the chance to play regularly and seized the opportunity by becoming the top scorer 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-Vis ...

Apertura championship, with 16 goals in 20 games. After this, the Argentine club River Plate tried to sign him in July. However, the transfer did not materialize because the club wanted him on loan at a price well below that set by the owner of Velázquez's transfer rights, Libertad (US$3 million). A few weeks later, the player rejected an offer from

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia ( bg, ЦСКА София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sport ...

of Bulgaria. In August, River attempted to sign him again. A deal was close, and the press even confirmed the transfer, but eventually the clubs could not agree on the form of payment. Almost immediately came an offer from another Argentine team,

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...

; this time, River reported that the transfer deadline was due and San Lorenzo had not registered Velázquez. Velázquez continued his career with Rubio Ñu. In the Torneo Clausura, he scored 10 goals in 19 games, totalling 26 in 39 during the 2009 season. This made him the season's top scorer in the Paraguayan Primera División. After the season, his loan ended and he returned to Libertad. On 30 December 2010, Velázquez was announced as the new signing of San Lorenzo, of the

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

. After good performances at Libertad, Velázquez was linked to a move to the Mexican side

Deportivo Toluca Deportivo Toluca Fútbol Club S.A. de C.V. (), commonly known as Club Deportivo Toluca, is a Mexican football club, playing in the Primera División de México, the top-flight of Mexican football. Toluca's stadium, Estadio Nemesio Díez Riega ...

, where the Paraguayan international

Edgar Benítez Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, rev ...

plays. Toluca's coach, the former Paraguayan international and Toluca striker

José Saturnino Cardozo José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacu ...

, requested Velázquez along with Olimpia's Paraguayan international

Richard Ortiz Richard Ortiz Busto (; born 22 May 1990 in Asunción), is a Paraguayans, Paraguayan association football, footballer who plays as defensive midfielder for Primera División Paraguaya club Club Olimpia and the Paraguay national football team. Ort ...

. Other teams that have looked to sign Velázquez are the Brazilian teams

Palmeiras Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...

and

Atletico Paranaense Club Athletico Paranaense (commonly known as Athletico and formerly known as Atlético Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, founded on March 26, 1924. The team ...

and teams in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

International career

Velázquez played the

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 ...

with Paraguay U-20 in 2007.

Honours

;Individual *

top scorer:

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

* Liga MX Golden Boot (Shared): Apertura 2013

References

Pablo Velázquez ya está a las órdenes del DT de Cerro
lanacion.com.py, 22 June 2016

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Velazquez, Pablo 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Asunción Paraguayan footballers Paraguayan expatriate footballers Paraguay international footballers Club Libertad footballers Club Rubio Ñu footballers San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers Deportivo Toluca F.C. players Atlético Nacional footballers Atlético Morelia players Cerro Porteño players Club Necaxa footballers Club Guaraní players Club Nacional footballers Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata footballers Club Atlético Banfield footballers General Díaz footballers Paraguayan Primera División players Liga MX players Argentine Primera División players Categoría Primera A players Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Colombia Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Expatriate footballers in Colombia Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Argentina Association football forwards