Oscar Emilio Rojas Ruiz (born 27 April 1979 in San José) is a Costa Rican

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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 ...

or forward, who last played for Municipal Grecia.

Club career

Rojas made his professional debut in 1999 for Carmelita before moving abroad to play in the Primera División with

La Piedad La Piedad is a municipality located at in the north-west of the Mexican state of Michoacán, bordering Jalisco and Guanajuato and being the northernmost municipality in Michoacán. The municipal seat is the city of La Piedad de Cabadas. The o ...

in the 2001 Invierno. He had a stint at second division Tigrillos de Nuevo León and has also played for

Irapuato Irapuato is a Mexican city and municipalities of Mexico, municipality located at the foot of the Arandas Hill (in Spanish Language, Spanish: ''Cerro de Arandas''), in the central region of the Mexican state, state of Guanajuato. It lies between the ...

. He made his return to the Primera División in 2004, joining Dorados for the 2004 Apertura. He was a mainstay in midfield with the team, starting 16 of 17 games, and scoring three goals. Rojas subsequently moved to

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

in summer 2005 and Jaguares Chiapas in 2006. He remained with until the end of 2008, helping the club reach the playoff series twice. He left them for a brief spell at

Morelia Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid; Otomi language, Otomi: ) is a city and municipal seat of the municipalities of Mexico, municipality of Morelia in the north-central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. It is both th ...

, then dropped into the second division to play for Mérida, Indios and

Toros Neza Neza Fútbol Club is a Mexican football club based in the city of Nezahualcóyotl, State of Mexico, that plays in the Liga de Balompié Mexicano. Founded in 1991 as Toros UTN, then the club was moved to Pachuca, Hidalgo and played the 1993–94 ...

before returning to Costa Rica with Herediano ahead of the 2012 Verano championship.

Return to Mexico

In summer 2012, Rojas returned to La Piedad,Óscar Rojas regresa al futbol de México con La Piedad
- Nación with the club being relocated to Veracruz and recalled Tiburones Rojos. His debut was postponed when Morelia, who still owed him, did not immediately agree on the transfer. He left the club in summer 2013 after they told him he did not fit in their plans after winning promotion to Mexico's top tier. After a few months out of a club, he joined another Mexican second division side, Estudiantes Altamira.

International career

Óscar Rojas made his debut for

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

in a 1–0 World Cup qualification victory over

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

on 11 November 2001 and earned a total of 28 caps, scoring 1 goal. He represented his country in 9

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matches and appeared at the

2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the sixth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). The tournament was once again held in the United States, in Miami and Pasadena. The forma ...

, but missed out on the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

as one of the last cuts by national coach

Alexandre Guimaraes Alexandre may refer to: * Alexandre (given name) * Alexandre (surname) * Alexandre (film) See also * Alexander * Alexandra (disambiguation) * Xano (disambiguation) Xano is the name of: * Xano, a Portuguese hypocoristic of the name " Alexandre (di ...

. Absent from the national team for three years, he returned to the selection in 2005, first under Jorge Luis Pinto and then under the reappointed Guimaraes and he played at the

2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the eighth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was contested in the United States in July 2005. The United States emerged victorious i ...

. Again, however, he was not chosen for the World Cup squad in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. His first international goal came against

Peru national football team The Peru national football team (), nicknamed ''La Bicolor'', represents Peru in men's international football. The national team has been organised, since 1927, by the Federación Peruana de Fútbol (). It has been a member of FIFA since 1924 ...

on 22 August 2007. He announced his retirement from the national team on 10 April 2009. However, he was once again selected by Pinto for a match against Jamaica on 21 March 2012, making his return to the national team just weeks before his thirty-third birthday. His final international was a September 2012

match against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

International goals

:''Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first.''

Personal life

Rojas is married to Jessica Tencio and they were expecting their fourth child in October 2014.Óscar Rojas espera su cuarto ‘chavito’
- Al Día

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rojas, Oscar 1979 births Living people Footballers from San José, Costa Rica Men's association football midfielders Costa Rican men's footballers 21st-century Costa Rican sportsmen Costa Rica men's international footballers 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players A.D. Carmelita footballers C.D. Irapuato footballers Dorados de Sinaloa footballers C.D. Veracruz footballers Jaguares F.C. footballers Atlético Morelia players Venados F.C. players Indios de Ciudad Juárez footballers Toros Neza footballers C.S. Herediano footballers Liga MX players Municipal Grecia players Costa Rican expatriate men's footballers Costa Rican emigrants to Mexico