Cléber Manuel Chalá Herrón (born June 29, 1971 in Imbabura) is a retired

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...

ian football midfielder who played 86 games for the Ecuador national team between 1992 and 2004.

Club career

At club level he has played mostly for Nacional Quito where he has made over 450 appearances and participated in 4 Ecuadorian league championship winning campaigns (1992, 1996, 2005A & 2006). He has also played club football for

Deportivo Quito Sociedad Deportivo Quito is an Ecuadorian non-professional club football club based in Quito. For most of its existence, it competed in Serie A, the highest level of the Ecuadorian professional football league. And currently competes in the Segu ...

and

Universidad San Martín de Porres Universidad (Spanish for "university") may refer to: Places * Universidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico * Universidad (Madrid) Football clubs * Universidad SC, a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala ...

in Peru. He also had a spell in England with

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

but never played in the first team. He was signed along with fellow countryman

Agustín Delgado Agustín Javier Delgado Chalá (born 23 December 1974) is an Ecuadorian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Nicknamed ''Tín'', he was the all-time top scorer for the Ecuador national team with 31 goals in 71 games befor ...

, but neither made an impact in English football.

International career

Chalá played for Ecuador at the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea ...

and in the

1993 Copa América The 1993 Copa América was the 36th Copa América, CONMEBOL's association football, football tournament for national teams. It was held in Ecuador between 15 June and 4 July. All 10 CONMEBOL members took part, but for the first time two nations f ...

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 America ...

and

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 ...

Personal life

He was father-in-law to fellow Ecuadorian footballer

Christian Benítez Christian Rogelio Benítez Betancourt (1 May 1986 – 29 July 2013), also known as Chucho, was an Ecuadorian professional footballer who played as a striker. He began his career with El Nacional in Ecuador and then joined Santos Laguna, with w ...

, who married Chalá's daughter Lizeth in 2007.Un año después: ¿el Chucho Benítez estaba condenado a morir?
- La Historia

References

External links

1971 births Living people People from Imbabura Province Ecuadorian footballers Ecuador international footballers 1993 Copa América players 1997 Copa América players 2001 Copa América players 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2004 Copa América players C.D. El Nacional footballers Southampton F.C. players S.D. Quito footballers Club Deportivo Universidad de San Martín de Porres players Ecuadorian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Peru Association football midfielders {{Ecuador-footy-midfielder-stub