Félix Alexander Borja Valencia (born 2 April 1983) is an Ecuadorian

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 ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

and former player who played as a forward. He is the current assistant manager of Aucas. Borja is nicknamed the "

kangaroo Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

", or "the

cobra COBRA or Cobra, often stylized as CoBrA, was a European avant-garde art group active from 1948 to 1951. The name was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home countries' capital cities: Copenhagen (Co), Brussels ...

of Ecuador", for the spring in his jump. His height makes it easy to score goals for his club and country.

Club career

El Nacional

Felix Borja previously played for El Nacional of

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

Olympiacos

His transfer to Greek league champions

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

made him the first Ecuadorian player to play for a Greek team. Borja was declared

Copa Libertadores de América The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tourname ...

's joint top goalscorer two months after his transfer to

Mainz 05

Due to his sub-standard performances for Olympiacos in his first season, as well as the fact that he occupies a non-EU player spot at his current team's roster, Olympiacos had the desire at the end of the 2006–07 season to sell him or loan him for the upcoming season. Due to that decision by the club, Borja was loaned out to German club

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sport-Verein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05 or simply Mainz 05 (), is a German professional sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top tie ...

for the 2007–08 season. At the end of the season, Mainz signed him permanently. During the winter transfer window of the 2010–11 season, Borja was allowed to leave on a free transfer ahead of an expected move to Mexican club Puebla F.C.

Puebla

Having limited success, especially after Mainz earned promotion to the Bundesliga, he transferred to the Mexican club

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

Pachuca

In the 2011–12 Apertaura season, he was transferred to Pachuca F.C.

Loan to Chivas USA

On 14 August 2014, Borja joined

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

team

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conf ...

on loan from

LDU Quito Liga Deportiva Universitaria () is an Ecuadorian professional football club based in Quito. They play in the Serie A, the highest level of the Ecuadorian professional football league. They play their home games at the Estadio Rodrigo Paz Delgad ...

South China

On 28 December 2015, Hong Kong giants

South China South China ( zh, s=, p=Huá'nán, j=jyut6 naam4) is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is ...

announced the capture of the player via Facebook.

Return to El Nacional

On 24 January 2017, Borja signed a contract with El Nacional. Previously he was a free agent.

International career

Borja was included in the

for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

. He played in several of the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches for the Ecuador national team, including the game against

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

which confirmed their passage to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He made one appearance at the tournament against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, where they were defeated 3–0. He featured in friendlies after the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

, even scoring against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in an October 2006 friendly in Sweden. He was called up to Ecuador for the

2007 Copa América The 2007 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, known simply as the 2007 Copa América or 2007 Copa América Venezuela, was the 42nd edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The c ...

, and started in the final group game against Brazil.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Ecuador's goal tally first.''

Honours

El Nacional *

Serie A de Ecuador The Liga Pro Ecuador Serie A, simply known as the Liga Pro or the Serie A (or the Ecuadorian Serie A to distinguish it from the Italian Serie A and the Brazilian Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Série A), or as Liga Pro Ecuabet for sponsorship re ...

: 2005 C,

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 ...

Olympiacos *

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

: 2006–07

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Borja, Felix 1983 births Living people People from San Lorenzo, Ecuador Footballers from Esmeraldas Province Ecuadorian men's footballers 21st-century Ecuadorian sportsmen C.D. El Nacional footballers Olympiacos F.C. players 1. FSV Mainz 05 players Club Puebla players C.F. Pachuca players L.D.U. Quito footballers Chivas USA players Mushuc Runa S.C. footballers Cusco FC footballers South China AA players Super League Greece players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Liga MX players Major League Soccer players Peruvian Primera División players Hong Kong Premier League players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2001 Copa América players 2007 Copa América players Men's association football forwards Ecuador men's international footballers Ecuadorian expatriate men's footballers Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Peru Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong Copa Libertadores top scorers