Gerardo Torrado Díez de Bonilla (born 30 April 1979) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Torrado represented

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 ...

at the 2002, 2006 and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

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 ...

s and has won three CONCACAF Gold Cup tournaments. Torrado spent the majority of his club career with Cruz Azul, whom he captained to

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

success in

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 ...

Club career

Spain

Born in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, Torrado began his career with UNAM in 1997. After débuting in 1997, Torrado was bought three years later by Spanish club CD Tenerife where he played almost the whole season. The following year he was transferred to Poli Ejido. He caught the eye of Spanish club Sevilla where he had success in his first season but an injury left him out for almost a full season. He was then transferred to Racing de Santander. He did not have much chance to play because of his reported differences with the coach. He was eventually forced to return to Mexico.

Cruz Azul

After a few years playing in Spain, he became a Cruz Azul player in 2005, débuting against Monarcas Morelia where he scored the two goals in the 2–0 win for Cruz Azul. He rapidly emerged as one of the most important players in the squad. An aggressive midfielder, Torrado has gotten many red and yellow cards in his career. He has captained the team since 2006, and has led the team to three league finals and a

final in 2009, and on 26 April 2014 he became CONCACAF champion for the first time in his career with Cruz Azul.

Indy Eleven

On 8 June 2016, Torrado signed for NASL side Indy Eleven, extending his contract for the 2017 season on 26 January 2017. Torrado retired on 30 October 2017 ending a 20-year career span.

International career

Torrado made an impact when he represented Mexico at the 1999 FIFA U-20 World Cup, which put the spotlight on him as a potential national team player. Ever since his début in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, he has become a mainstay in the national team. Torrado scored his first goal for Mexico in the 1999 Copa América against

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 ...

, scoring with a stunning long-range shot in stoppage time which saved the game for Mexico. His goal ensured that the match ended 3–3 and Mexico then went on to win on penalties. Torrado has been in the Mexico squads for the 2002, 2006 and

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

and was vice-captain for the 2010 tournament in South Africa, playing in all four of Mexico's matches as they were eliminated in the Round of 16 after losing 3–1 to

After retirement

Following his retirement as a footballer, on 24 August 2017, Guillermo Cantú announced Torrado as sporting director for the

Mexican Football Federation The Mexican Football Federation (), abbreviated as FMF is the official governing body of football in Mexico. It administers the men's and women's national teams with all its youth teams, the national teams of futsal and beach soccer, Liga MX wit ...

. On 13 July 2022, Torrado was dismissed from his position following a string of disappointing results. In December 2022, Torrado joined the newly-established Kings League as the manager for Pio FC. On 1 January 2023, the team suffered a 5–0 loss to El Barrio during the league's inaugural match day.

Career statistics

International

''Statistics accurate as of match played 6 September 2013''

International goals

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

Honours

Cruz Azul * Copa MX: Clausura 2013 *

: 2013–14 Indy Eleven * Spring Champions: 2016 Mexico * FIFA Confederations Cup:

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

* Copa América runner-up: 2001; third place:

, 2007 * CONCACAF Gold Cup:

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Individual *Tecate Premios Deportes Best Defensive Midfielder: 2009 *Tecate Premios Deportes Best XI: 2008, 2009 * Mexican Primera División Defensive Midfielder of the Tournament: Apertura 2009 * CONCACAF Gold Cup All-Tournament Team: 2009 *

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

Top Scorer (Shared):

References

External links

Official website
*
Football Database.com provides Gerardo Torrado's profile and stats
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Torrado, Gerardo 1979 births Living people Cruz Azul footballers Liga MX players La Liga players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players CD Tenerife players Polideportivo Ejido footballers Racing de Santander players Sevilla FC players Indy Eleven players Club Universidad Nacional footballers 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players 1999 Copa América players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2001 Copa América players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2004 Copa América players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2007 Copa América players 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup–winning players FIFA Confederations Cup–winning players Universidad Iberoamericana alumni Mexico men's under-20 international footballers Mexico men's international footballers Mexican expatriate men's footballers Mexican men's footballers Footballers from Mexico City Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States FIFA Men's Century Club Mexico men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders CONCACAF Champions Cup–winning players