Roberto Carlos Alvarado Hernández (born 7 September 1998), also known as El Piojo, is a Mexican 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 le ...

who plays as a winger for

Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...

club

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

and the

Mexico national team The Mexico national football team () represents Mexico in international football and is governed by the Mexican Football Federation (). It competes as a member of CONCACAF. Mexico has qualified to seventeen World Cups and has qualified conse ...

. He is the youngest player to ever play in

Ascenso MX Ascenso MX was the second tier of professional football in Mexico of the Mexican football league system. The champion of the competition was promoted to Liga MX (top-flight tier). The bottom team was relegated to Liga Premier (the third tier). ...

. Alvarado started his career with second division

Celaya Celaya (; ) is a city and its surrounding municipalities of Mexico, municipality in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, located in the southeast quadrant of the state. It is the third most populous city in the state, with a 2005 census population of 3 ...

in 2013 until 2017, when he began to play in the top-flight

where he briefly participated with clubs

Pachuca Pachuca (; ote, Nju̱nthe), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Hidalgo. It is located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca de Soto is also the name of the municipality of whic ...

and

Necaxa Impulsora del Deportivo Necaxa S.A. de C.V. (); often simply known as Necaxa, is a Mexican professional football club in Liga MX based in the city of Aguascalientes. It plays in the Estadio Victoria. History Foundation (Light and Power Comp ...

, winning the

2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League The 2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2016–17 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) was the 9th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 52nd edition of the prem ...

and

Clausura 2018 Copa MX The Clausura 2018 Copa MX (officially the Clausura 2018 Copa Corona (beer), Corona MX for sponsorship reasons) was the 79th staging of the Copa MX, the 51st staging in the professional era and is the twelfth tournament played since the 1996–97 C ...

, respectively. Alvarado participated with the Mexico U-21 side that received second place at the

2018 Toulon Tournament The 2018 Toulon Tournament (officially french: 46ème Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) was the 46th edition of the Toulon Tournament. It was held in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône from 26 May to 9 June 2018. Engl ...

. Following his international and club performances, he would earn his first senior international appearance with Mexico on 7 September 2018 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

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

Club career

Celaya

Alvarado made his professional debut on 25 September 2013 in the Apertura 2013 Copa MX group stage match against

Estudiantes Tecos Tecos Fútbol Club (often referred to by its nickname "Tecos") is a Mexican professional football club associated with the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara AC. It plays its home games in the ''Estadio 3 de Marzo'' (March 3 Stadium, named for ...

, coming on as a substitute for Guillermo Clemens on the 59th minute in a 1–0 win. Three days later, he made his league debut, also against Estudiantes Tecos, in a 0–0 draw, coming on as a substitute for René García on the 86th minute. He was 15 years, 21 days of age. Alvarado scored his first professional goal in the 27th minute of a 1–0 win in a

Clausura 2014 Copa MX The Copa 2014 MX Clausura was the 71st staging of the Copa MX, the 44th staging in the professional era and is the fourth tournament played since the 1996–97 edition. This tournament started on January 14, 2014 and concluded on April 9, 2014. ...

group stage match against

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic ...

on 18 February 2014. He had unsuccessful trials with English clubs

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

in November 2014, and

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

in January 2015. It was not until the Apertura 2016 season that Alvarado truly broke out, scoring six goals in 14 games, and catching the attention of Mexican top-flight teams.

Pachuca

acquired Alvarado from Celaya for the Clausura 2017 season. He would go on to score his first goal with the team on 3 March 2017 while trailing from behind 1–0 in a 3–2 victory over

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

. Although he only played 9 league games in his lone season with Pachuca, he did make two appearances during their

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 ...

winning campaign in 2016–17.

Necaxa

acquired Alvarado in a deal that involved trading away

Edson Puch Edson Raúl Puch Cortez (; born 9 April 1986) is a Chilean former footballer who played as a forward. Club career Early career Born in Iquique, Puch began his career at hometown Deportes Iquique youth ranks, then moving to Huachipato reserve ...

to Pachuca for the Apertura 2017. On 26 August 2017, he would score his first goal with Necaxa, granting the team a 2–1 win over Atlas. On 14 April 2018, he would score the only goal in Necaxa's 1–0 victory over

Lobos BUAP Club de Fútbol Lobos de la Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla were a Mexican football club based in Puebla, Mexico. The club represented the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. The club's history goes back to the early 1930s ...

. He became a starter during the Clausura 2018 season. In April, he would attain the

against

Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the States of Mexico, state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. With a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census, Toluca is the fifth most populous city in M ...

Cruz Azul

On 21 May 2018, Alvarado joined

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 ...

. On 21 July, he debuted in a 3–0

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

victory against

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

, playing 84 minutes, eventually being substituted out for Misael Domínguez. On 4 August, Alvarado scored his first goal for Cruz Azul in a 1–0 victory against

Tigres UANL Club de Fútbol Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, simply known as Tigres UANL or Tigres, is a Mexican professional football club based in San Nicolás de los Garza, a city in the Monterrey metropolitan area, Nuevo León. Foun ...

. Two weeks later, on 18 August, Alvarado notched three assists in a 3–0 victory against León, causing

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

to run a story calling Alvarado "a leading light for Cruz Azul" despite his young age. By now he had become a sensation, with the Spanish publication '' Marca'' calling the teenager a "Heaven-sent jewel" later that week. Midway through the tournament, Alvarado was considered by the press to be one of the best midfielders in the league. In November, he would help Cruz Azul attain the

Apertura 2018 Copa MX The Apertura 2018 Copa MX was the 80th staging of the Copa MX, the 52nd staging in the professional era and is the thirteenth tournament played since the 1996–97 edition. The tournament started on 24 July 2018 and ended on 31 October 2018. Th ...

against

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

, his second in a row.

Guadalajara

On 26 December 2021, Alvarado joined

in an exchange that saw

Uriel Antuna Carlos Uriel Antuna Romero (born 21 August 1997) is a Mexican professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Midfielder#Winger, winger for Liga MX club Cruz Azul and the Mexico national football team, Mexico national team. Club c ...

and Alejandro Mayorga join Cruz Azul. On 12 February 2022, he scored his first goal with ''Chivas'' against Tigres UANL on a 1–3 defeat.

International career

Youth

Alvarado was part of the roster that participated at the

, where he was the second highest scorer in the tournament with 3 goals, scoring once in the group stage matches against

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and in the final against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

where Mexico lost 2–1. He was called up yet again ahead of the

2018 Central American and Caribbean Games The 23rd Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Barranquilla, Colombia. Asamblea ODECABE, Islas Caimán' (translation: "CASCO Assembly, Cayman Islands"). Published by CACSO on 2012-10-27; retrieved 2012-11-13. Bidding process Quetz ...

, but Cruz Azul refused to release him for the tournament. Alvarado participated at the 2020 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship, appearing in all five matches, where Mexico won the competition. He was subsequently called up to participate in the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

. Alvarado won the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

with the Olympic team.

Senior

On 29 August 2018, Alvarado received his first call-up to the senior national team for the friendly matches against

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He made his debut on 7 September, coming on as a second-half substitute for

Alan Pulido Alan Pulido Izaguirre (born 8 March 1991) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club Sporting Kansas City. Pulido started his career with Tigres UANL in 2010. Contractual disputes with Tigres UANL ...

in their 4–1 loss to Uruguay in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. In May 2019, Alvarado was included in

Tata Martino Gerardo Daniel "Tata" Martino (born 20 November 1962) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player. Martino played mostly for Newell's Old Boys in his native Rosario. He holds the record of appearances with the team playing ...

's preliminary roster for the

2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 15th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was primarily hosted in th ...

. The following month, on 5 June 2019, Alvarado scored his first international goal in a 3–1 friendly victory 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 ...

. The following day, he was included in the final list for Gold Cup tournament. He would go on to appear in all matches of the tournament, helping Mexico win the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

against rivals the

. In October 2022, Alvarado was named in Mexico's preliminary 31-man

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army do ...

for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

, and in November, he was ultimately included in the final 26-man roster.

Style of play

A gifted

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativit ...

whose versatility is his strongest suit, Alvarado is predominantly a central

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

, capable of playing on either flank as well as a

second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. Technically proficient with both feet, playing on the right allowed the opportunity to cut or drift inside onto his favoured left. He has shown an ability to finish from in and around the box, but comparing his shots on target to shots off target suggests that shooting isn't his strongest attribute. Instead, he focuses on creating opportunities. During his time with Necaxa, Alvarado was beating defenders on their left and right sides with a variety of methods. The change of pace is Alvarado's favoured technique, and he excels when there's space behind an opponent to race into, but he can also deceive defenders with close control and, at times, thrilling skill. He is excellent at pulling away from defenders to make himself available for a pass and has a remarkable ability to accurately place floated crosses and through balls. Alvarado plays for his teammates, presses effectively when not in possession and seems to be a balanced character off the field. He has often been compared to fellow national teammate

Diego Lainez Diego Lainez Leyva (born 9 June 2000) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a winger for Liga MX club Tigres UANL, on loan from Real Betis, and the Mexico national team. Club career América Lainez was recruited by scout Ángel ...

, although Alvarado has insisted they both have differing playing styles. Cruz Azul manager

Pedro Caixinha Pedro Miguel Faria Caixinha (; born 15 November 1970) is a Portuguese professional football manager, currently in charge of Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Red Bull Bragantino. He started coaching in his late twenties, acting an assistant ...

has compared Alvarado to

João Moutinho João Filipe Iria Santos Moutinho (; born 8 September 1986) is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers and the Portugal national team. Moutinho began his professional career ...

Personal life

Alvarado is named after the Brazilian footballer

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), commonly known as Roberto Carlos, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who now works as a football ambassador. He started his career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his care ...

and the Brazilian singer of the same name. Alvarado is nicknamed ''El Piojo'' (The Louse) because of his idol, Argentine former footballer Claudio "''El Piojo''" López.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

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

Honours

Pachuca *

: 2016–17 Necaxa *

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 2018 Cruz Azul *

: Guardianes 2021 *

: Apertura 2018 *

Supercopa MX The Supercopa MX ( en, Supercup MX) was a Mexican football championship contested by the winners of the Apertura and Clausura Copa MX. History In June 2013 Liga MX president Decio De María announced the winners of Apertura and Clausura Copa MX w ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Leagues Cup The Leagues Cup is an annual association football competition between clubs from Major League Soccer and Liga MX in North America. It debuted in July 2019 with four teams participating from each league. The first edition was a single-eliminati ...

Mexico U23 * CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

* Olympic Bronze Medal:

Mexico *

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 ...

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarado, Roberto 1998 births Living people Footballers from Guanajuato People from Irapuato Men's association football midfielders Mexican men's footballers Mexico men's international footballers Mexico men's youth international footballers Celaya F.C. footballers C.F. Pachuca players Club Necaxa footballers Cruz Azul footballers C.D. Guadalajara footballers Liga MX players Ascenso MX players Liga Premier de México players Tercera División de México players 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Mexico Olympic medalists in football Olympic bronze medalists for Mexico Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics 2022 FIFA World Cup players 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup players