Alejandro 'Álex' Balboa Bandeira (born 6 March 2001) is a 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 lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

club Almere City. Born in Spain, he plays for the Equatorial Guinea national team.

Early life

Balboa was born in

Vitoria-Gasteiz Vitoria-Gasteiz (; ; also historically spelled Vittoria in English) is the seat of government and the capital city of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country and of the provinces of Spain, province of Álava in northern Spain. I ...

to Equatoguinean parents. His maternal grandfather is originally from São Tomé and Príncipe. His paternal side, the Balboa, is of distant Cuban descent.

Club career

Balboa joined

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

' youth setup in 2013, from CD Aurrerá de Vitoria. He made his senior debut with

farm team In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a Team sport, team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any s ...

Club San Ignacio during the 2020–21 season in

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

, but finished the campaign playing with the reserves in

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

. Balboa made his first team debut on 30 November 2021, starting in a 3–0 away win over Unami CP, for the season's

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

. He made his professional debut on 13 August of the following year, coming on as a late substitute for Jon Guridi in a 2–1

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

away win over CD Leganés. On 12 July 2023, Balboa renewed his contract with the ''Babazorros'' until 2026, and moved on loan to SD Huesca in the second division on 8 August. In July 2024, Balboa joined

club Almere City on a two-year deal with the option for a third.

International career

Balboa made his senior debut for Equatorial Guinea on 7 September 2021.

Personal life

Balboa's uncle is former

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

footballer

Javier Balboa Javier Ángel Balboa Osa (born 13 May 1985) is a former professional footballer who played as a winger, most notably for Real Madrid and Benfica. After emerging at Real Madrid's youth system, he could never establish himself in its first ...

, who also played for the Equatorial Guinea national football team.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* * * * 2001 births Living people Equatoguinean men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Equatorial Guinea men's international footballers International sportspeople born abroad 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players 2023 Africa Cup of Nations players Equatoguinean people of São Tomé and Príncipe descent Equatoguinean people of Cuban descent Sportspeople of Cuban descent People of Liberated African descent Equatoguinean expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Equatoguinean expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Footballers from Vitoria-Gasteiz Spanish men's footballers Deportivo Alavés B players Deportivo Alavés players SD Huesca footballers Almere City FC players Tercera División players Segunda División B players Tercera Federación players Segunda Federación players Segunda División players Eredivisie players Spanish sportspeople of Equatoguinean descent Spanish people of São Tomé and Príncipe descent Spanish people of Cuban descent 21st-century Equatoguinean sportsmen Spanish expatriate men's footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands 21st-century Spanish sportsmen {{Spain-footy-midfielder-stub