Joaquín Botero Vaca (born 10 December 1977) is a Bolivian former 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 ...

who played as a striker. He is the second all-time top goalscorer for the Bolivia national team with 20 goals, and was the top goalscorer in world football in the 2002 season, with 49 goals scored for

Club Bolívar Club Bolívar () is a Bolivian professional football club that currently plays in the Bolivian Primera División. Founded in 1925 in honor of Venezuelan military leader Simón Bolívar, it is the most successful and popular club in the history ...

Club career

Botero not only played in Bolivia's football league, he also played abroad, in the football leagues of Mexico, Argentina and Venezuela. After scoring 133 goals for Club Bolívar and becoming the club's second highest goalscorer of all time behind Luis Fernando Salinas, he left the club to play abroad. Botero's first foreign club was the Mexican team Pumas. In his first season with Pumas, the 2003 Apertura, he scored three goals in 17 games. After scoring another three in nine games in the 2004 Clausura, Botero broke out in the 2004 Apertura, registering 11 goals in 19 games. In 2006, he joined

San Lorenzo de Almagro Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro, commonly known as San Lorenzo de Almagro or simply San Lorenzo (in English: ''Saint Lawrence''), is a sports club of Argentina in the Boedo district of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its football team ...

of the Primera División de Argentina and in 2007 he played for

Deportivo Táchira ''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to: * Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club * Déportivo, a French rock band * Deportivo (Mexicable), an aerial lift station in Ecatepec, Mexico * Deport ...

of Venezuela. After an unsuccessful stint in both clubs, Botero returned to Bolívar as a free agent in 2008. He joined the Mexican team

Correcaminos UAT Club de Fútbol Correcaminos de la Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, simply known as Correcaminos UAT, is a Mexican professional football club based in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas. It currently plays in the Liga de Expansión MX. The team wa ...

for the Clausura 2009 season, marking his return to Mexico. In January 2010, he was loaned out to Al Arabi Kuwait for $170,000. He made four appearances and scored three goals. In 2011, Botero returned to his country to play for San José and Sport Boys Warnes; in the latter, he was the author of two goals that allowed promotion of the team to the First Division of Bolivia for the first time. In this team, he played until his retirement in 2014. For six years and after his retirement, Botero decided to dedicate himself to personal activities and projects. However, in 2020 he announced his return to the fields, playing for Club Universidad San Francisco de Asís of the Primera A de Potosí in

Tupiza Tupiza is a city in Potosí Department, Bolivia. It is located at an elevation of about 2850 m. The population is 25,709 (2012 estimate). Tupiza and its environs are characterized by dramatic red escarpments which jut ruggedly skyward from the coa ...

, Bolivia.

International career

Since 1999, Botero was a regular player for the Bolivia national team, including participations in the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup, in which he played in all three of Bolivia's group stage matches, the

2001 Copa América The 2001 Copa América was held in Colombia, from 11 to 29 July. It was organised by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. Colombia won the tournament for the 1st time without conceding a goal. Brazil were the defending champions wh ...

and the

2004 Copa América The 2004 Copa América was the 41st edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body, and was held i ...

. On 1 April 2009, Botero scored a hat-trick for Bolivia in a historic 6–1 victory over

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier, Argentina's first loss under the recently appointed manager,

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the F ...

. On 15 May 2009, Botero surprisingly announced the end of his era with the national team, putting as an excuse that his motivation "was not there anymore". In his ten years playing for Bolivia, Botero earned a total of 48 caps and scored 20 goals, becoming the highest scorer in the national team's history, before being surpassed by

Marcelo Moreno Marcelo Martins Moreno (born 18 June 1987), known as Marcelo Martins in Bolivia and as Marcelo Moreno in other countries, is a Bolivian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Paraguayan Primera División club Cerro Porteño and ca ...

in 2020. Botero represented his country in 30 FIFA World Cup qualification matches, scoring 16 goals.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Bolivia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Botero goal''.

Honours

Bolívar *

Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano Liga or LIGA may refer to: People * Līga (name), a Latvian female given name * Luciano Ligabue, more commonly known as Ligabue or ''Liga'', Italian rock singer-songwriter Sports * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Liga ...

: 2002 UNAM * Primera División de México: 2004 (C), 2004 (A) Individual *

: 2002 Topscorer (49 goals) *

: World's Best Top Division Goal Scorer of the Year (49 goals)

References

External links