Carlos Augusto Lobatón Espejo (born February 6, 1980) is a Peruvian 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 lea ...

who played 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 ...

Club career

Lobatón was born in

Barranquilla Barranquilla () is the capital district of the Atlántico department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean region of Colombia, Caribbean coast region; as of 2018, it had a popul ...

, Colombia. He first developed as footballer in the popular

Academia Cantolao Academia Deportiva Cantolao is a Peruvian football club based in the city of Callao, Peru. However, the club is mostly known for its youth academy. Their football academy is considered one of the best in Peru. Academia Cantolao has educated many pl ...

along with his brother Abel Lobatón, at the age of 7. There he had as his first coach Víctor "El Chino" Rivera. Lobatón later joined the renowned youth system of

Sporting Cristal Club Sporting Cristal S.A., shortened to Sporting Cristal, is a Peruvian sports club located in the city of Lima, best known for its association football, soccer team. It was founded on 13 December 1955 in the Rímac District, Rímac district by e ...

. At the age of 18, he was loaned to

Sport Boys The Sport Boys Association, commonly referred to as the Sport Boys or simply the Boys, is a Peruvian association football club based in the port city of Callao, founded on 28 July 1927. The club currently participate in the Peruvian Primera Divi ...

. In 1998, he made his professional debut wearing their famous pink jersey. Later he played for various clubs in the Peruvian league until arriving at

Cienciano Club Cienciano, more commonly known as Cienciano, is a Peru, Peruvian professional association football, football club based in Cusco, that currently plays in the Peruvian Primera División. It gained worldwide recognition after defeating Club At ...

. There he would find both national and international success. In 2003, he helped Cienciano win the

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...

beating River Plate in the final. In the following year he also won the

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana (), also known as Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club Association football, football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1988. It ...

this time defeating

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

. Then in 2005 he won the Peruvian Torneo Apertura with Cienciano. Later in the second half of the 2005 season he returned to Sporting Cristal and helped them win the 2005 Torneo Clausura. In 2007, he suffered burns on the soles of his feet after playing on

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass, used in sports arenas, residential lawns and commercial applications that traditionally use grass. It is much more durable than grass and easily maintained wi ...

artificial pitch Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass, used in sports arenas, residential lawns and commercial applications that traditionally use grass. It is much more durable than grass and easily maintained wi ...

in the blazing sun. In the last years, Carlos Lobatón has been an emblatic player in Sporting Cristal. He has played in the club for the last 10 years, winning the national championship four times (

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

) and scoring amazing goals. Lobatón retired from football at the end of 2019.

International career

In 2005 Lobatón made his first national team appearance for

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. Throughout much of his international career his appearances were sporadic. However on November 12, 2010, after a three year absence, the new Peruvian national team coach

Sergio Markarián Sergio Apraham Markarián Abrahamián (born 1 November 1944) is a Uruguayan-Argentine former football coach of Armenian descent. In 2015, he was the head coach of the Greece national team. Early life Markarián lived in Argentina during most o ...

called him up to play in a friendly against

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. He started in the 1–1 draw versus Colombia, which was Peru's final game of 2010. On June 29, 2011, current coach Sergio Markarián included Lobatón in his squad to participate in the

2011 Copa America Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number) * One of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''Eleven'', a 1970 collection of short stories by Patricia Highsmith *''Eleven'' ...

. On July 16, 2011, in the quarterfinal match of the Copa America versus Colombia, he scored the winning goal in extra time that sent Peru to the semifinals.

Post-playing career

After his retirement, Lobatón was hired in the management of his last club

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lobaton, Carlos 1980 births Living people Copa Sudamericana–winning players Footballers from Lima Peruvian men's footballers 21st-century Peruvian sportsmen Peru men's international footballers Peruvian Primera División players Sport Boys footballers Estudiantes de Medicina footballers Club Universitario de Deportes footballers Unión Huaral footballers Cienciano footballers Sporting Cristal footballers 2011 Copa América players 2015 Copa América players Men's association football midfielders