Arnold Fabián Peralta Sosa (29 March 1989 – 10 December 2015) was a Honduran

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, rugb ...

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 boundari ...

. He began his career at Vida in 2008, and five years later he joined Scottish club Rangers, where he won the

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was ...

in 2013–14. After being released in January 2015, he returned to his homeland with Olimpia. Peralta was a full international with 26 caps for the

Honduras national football team The Honduras national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de Honduras) represents Honduras in men's international football. The team is governed by the Federación Nacional Autónoma de Fútbol de Honduras (FENAFUTH). They are nicknamed ...

from his debut in 2011, representing the nation at the

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, although he was not selected for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from ...

squad due to injury. He was shot dead on 10 December 2015 in his hometown of

La Ceiba La Ceiba () is a municipality, the capital of the Honduran department of Atlántida and a port city on the northern coast of Honduras in Central America. It is located on the southern edge of the Caribbean, forming part of the south eastern bo ...

. He was buried in Jardines de Paz Ceibeños cemetery.

Career

Club

Vida

Born in

, Peralta began his career in 2008 with his hometown LINA club Vida.

Rangers

In June 2013, Peralta agreed to join the Scottish club Rangers on a four–year deal, subject to receiving a work permit. He was eligible to play once Rangers' player registration embargo was lifted on 1 September 2013. Peralta scored his first goal for Rangers in a friendly against

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

. Already crowned

champions, his first competitive goal came against

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of ...

on 26 April 2014, a 3–0 win at Ibrox which saw Rangers pass 100 points in the season. On 21 January 2015, Rangers announced that Peralta's contract had been terminated by mutual consent. He went on trial with Kazakhstan's Shakhter Karagandy, but did not earn a contract.

Olimpia

Peralta later returned to his home country after signing for Olimpia.

International

Peralta was the Honduran Under-20 captain. He helped his country qualify for the

2009 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which was hosted by Egypt from 24 September to 16 October 2009. The tournament was initially going to take place between 10 and 31 July. However, the 2009 FIFA Confeder ...

, in Egypt, in which he played three games scoring against eventual third place team from Hungary. He also participated in the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

, making his debut on 26 July in a 2–2 draw against Morocco at

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

. He made his senior debut for

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

in a September 2011

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

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to t ...

and represented his country in seven

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

matches, as well as playing at the 2013 Copa Centroamericana. He missed Honduras'

attempt due to injury. At the time of his death, he had appeared 26 times for his country.

Death

Peralta died after being fatally shot outside a shopping mall in his hometown of La Ceiba on 10 December 2015, at the age of 26. He was hit by eighteen bullets, and police ruled out robbery as a motive. Two days later, a minute of silence was observed at Ibrox before a

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish Champio ...

game between Rangers and Morton.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

;Rangers *

: 2013–14

References

External links

*
Rangers F.C. profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peralta, Arnold 1989 births 2015 deaths Footballers from La Ceiba Men's association football midfielders Deaths by firearm in Honduras Honduran men's footballers Honduran expatriate men's footballers Honduras men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Honduras Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics C.D.S. Vida players Rangers F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional de Honduras players Scottish Professional Football League players Honduran expatriate sportspeople in Scotland People murdered in Honduras Honduran murder victims