Ramiro Castillo Salinas (March 27, 1966 – October 18, 1997) was a Bolivian footballer that played as a

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 boundarie ...

. He was capped 52 times and scored 5 international goals for

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 ...

between 1989 and 1997. He made one substitute appearance at the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

Club career

Nicknamed "Chocolatín" by the colour of his skin, Castillo was born in

Coripata Coripata is a town in the La Paz Department, Bolivia. References Instituto Nacional de Estadistica de Bolivia Populated places in La Paz Department (Bolivia) {{LaPazBO-geo-stub ...

, a small town in the sub-tropical

Yungas The Yungas (Aymara ''yunka'' warm or temperate Andes or earth, Quechua ''yunka'' warm area on the slopes of the Andes) is a bioregion of a narrow band of forest along the eastern slope of the Andes Mountains from Peru and Bolivia, and extends into ...

region. His first professional team was

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 ...

, the club with which he always identified. From there he went to play successfully in Argentine football, defending the colors of Instituto de Córdoba,

Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was recognized as one of the ...

, River Plate,

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central () is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on December 24, 1889, by a group of railway workers, taking its name from the Englis ...

and Platense. He set a record for the most appearances in the Argentine league by a Bolivian player with 145 games, also scoring 10 goals in Argentina too. Later in his career he returned to Bolivia where he played for The Strongest and

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 of ...

International career

Castillo represented his country in 13

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 and he played at the

1997 Copa América Bolivia hosted the Copa América for the second time in its 38th edition. It was held from 11 to 29 June. It was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. There is no qualifying for the final tournament. All South American ...

, where he scored a goal in the semi-final against

Mexico national football 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 ...

. Bolivia were runners-up after losing 1–3 in the final against Brazil. Castillo missed the final game due to the sudden death of his 7-year-old son José Manuel to fulminating hepatitis. His son died two days later.

Death

Castillo never recovered from his son's death and committed suicide by hanging himself in his home in La Paz in October 1997. He was only 31 years old and was survived by his wife María del Carmen Crespo and their children. The Bolivian football association announced a month of mourning after his death, and the derby game between his former clubs The Strongest and Bolívar was postponed. In Argentina there was a minutes silence at the game between his former club Platense and Gimnasia de Jujuy where the players wore black armbands.

References

External links

Argentine Primera statistics
at Fútbol XXI *
Article on the 10 year anniversary of his death
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castillo, Ramiro 1966 births 1997 suicides Afro-Bolivian people People from Nor Yungas Province Bolivian footballers Association football midfielders Bolivia international footballers Bolivian expatriate footballers 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1989 Copa América players 1991 Copa América players 1993 Copa América players 1997 Copa América players Bolivian Primera División players Argentine Primera División players The Strongest players Instituto footballers Argentinos Juniors footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Rosario Central footballers Club Atlético Platense footballers Everton de Viña del Mar footballers Club Bolívar players Expatriate footballers in Argentina Expatriate footballers in Chile Bolivian expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Bolivian expatriate sportspeople in Chile Suicides by hanging in Bolivia