Hernán Barcos (; born 11 April 1984) is an Argentine 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 plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Alianza Lima Club Alianza Lima, more commonly known as simply Alianza Lima, is a Peru, Peruvian professional sports club based in La Victoria District, Lima, La Victoria District of Lima, Peru. The club was founded under the name of Sport Alianza on February ...

. He is nicknamed ''El Pirata'' (The

Pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

) and is well known for his finishing ability, technique and strength.

Club career

Early career

Barcos debuted professionally for

Racing In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific g ...

in August 2004. He then went on to play on loan for

Club Guaraní Club Guaraní is a Paraguayan professional 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 ...

(Paraguay), Olmedo (Ecuador),

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

(Serbia), and

Huracán Huracán (; ; , "one legged"), often referred to as ''U Kʼux Kaj'', the "Heart of Sky", is a Kʼicheʼ Maya god of wind, storm, fire and one of the creator deities who participated in all three attempts at creating humanity. He also caused th ...

(Argentina). On 7 October 2007, Barcos scored his first

Serbian SuperLiga The Serbian Super League (), also known as Mozzart SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Serbia and the highest level of the Serbian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a sys ...

goals by netting twice in the late minutes versus Banat Zrenjanin, helping Red Star to get three points. He previously scored once in a

Serbian Cup The Serbian Cup ( Serbian: Куп Србије / Kup Srbije), also known as Mozzart Serbian Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the national football cup of Serbia. The winner of the competition gets a spot in the UEFA Europa League qualifying round. ...

game against Teleoptik.

Chinese Super League

In February 2009, Barcos signed a year long loan with

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

side

Shanghai Shenhua Shanghai Shenhua Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Shanghai, that competes in . Shanghai Shenhua plays its home matches at the Shanghai Stadium, located within Xuhui District. The owner of Shanghai Shenhua is ...

. However, after a disappointing half season at Shanghai, he was loaned out to Shenzhen Asia Travel, a fellow CSL club. He scored the first hat-trick in his career in Shenzhen's 4–0 victory over

Changchun Yatai Changchun Yatai Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Changchun, Jilin, that competes in . Changchun Yatai plays its home matches at the Changchun Stadium, located within Nanguan District. The club's founder and main ...

on 16 September 2009. He scored 14 goals in 14 league games with Shenzhen and won

Chinese Football Association The Chinese Football Association (), abbreviated as CFA (), is the governing body for association football, beach soccer and futsal in the People's Republic of China (Mainland China). The CFA organizes the men's and women's national teams an ...

Golden Boot award in the end of the season.

LDU Quito

In early 2010, Barcos transferred to

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 ...

to reinforce the squad after their leading goalscorer transferred out. He established himself as a capable striker for the squad, starting a five-game run where he scored one goal a game. Barcos, or "El Pirata" as he was nicknamed by the Liga fans, scored two vital goals against

Estudiantes de La Plata ( lit. "La Plata Students"), simply referred to as Estudiantes de La Plata, is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Plata. The club's football team currently competes in the Primera División, where it has spent most of its histo ...

in LDU's 2–1 first-leg win, winning the

2010 Recopa Sudamericana The 2010 Recopa Sudamericana de Clubes was a two-legged tie that determined the winner of the Recopa Sudamericana, an annual football match between the winners of the previous season's Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana competitions. It was co ...

. Barcos' ended his illustrious 2010 season as

Ecuadorian Serie A 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 ...

champion, having scored 22 league goals in 32 games, second best in the league, behind

Jaime Ayoví Jaime Javier Ayoví Corozo () (born 21 February 1988 in Eloy Alfaro, Esmeraldas) is an Ecuadorian footballer who plays for Emelec. Club career Emelec Ayoví started at the lower division club Paladín "S". In 2006, his cousin Walter Ayoví ...

who scored 23 goals. In the 2011 Ecuadorian Serie A season, Barcos scored 25 goals in 51 matches in all competitions. On 13 August 2011, Barcos did what no other LDU Quito player had ever accomplished in any competition, he scored five goals in a single game against

Manta Manta or mantas may refer to: * Manta ray, large fish belonging to the genus ''Mobula'' Arts and entertainment App & Website * Manta (platform), a Korean digital comics provider Fictional entities * Manta (comics), a character in American Marve ...

. Barcos would continue with his scoring ability, netting in seven goals in the

2011 Copa Sudamericana The 2011 Copa Sudamericana de Clubes (officially the 2011 Copa Bridgestone Sudamericana de Clubes for sponsorship reasons) was the 10th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary international club football tournament organized ...

. He scored an important away goal for LDU Quito in the team's first win ever in Buenos Aires in a 1–0 win against Vélez Sarsfield, thus reaching the Copa Sudamericana finals. He failed to score a single goal in the finals against

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile () is a public research university in Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the co ...

, and though only ended up as runner up in the competition, he and the rest of LDU Quito received support and appraisal from the club's fans. After two amazing years with the club, he had many offers from wealthy clubs. In January 2012, LDU Quito was offered $8 million from a Middle Eastern club to sign Barcos, while simultaneously also offered only $3.5 million from

Palmeiras The Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional association football, football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes (district of São Paulo), Perdizes. Palmeiras is ...

. Even though LDU Quito was suffering from debt, they honored Barcos' wishes to play for Palmeiras, and on 17 January 2012, he signed for the Brazilian team.

Palmeiras

On 17 January 2012, Barcos joined

Brazilian Série A Brazilian commonly refers to: * Brazil, a country * Brazilians, its people * Brazilian Portuguese, its dialect Brazilian may also refer to: * "The Brazilian", a 1986 instrumental music piece by Genesis * Brazilian Café, Baghdad, Iraq (1937) * Bra ...

club Palmeiras for an undisclosed fee. He scored his first goal for the club on 11 February 2012, in a 3–0 victory against Ituano in the

Paulistão The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF), t ...

. Barcos promised to achieve a total number of 27 goals in his first season with Palmeiras, thus showing a countdown of how many are left to go on his football shoes. On 27 February 2012, football specialist Lédio Carmona compared Barcos to a lobster, playing with coach

Luiz Felipe Scolari Luiz Felipe Scolari (; born 9 November 1948), also known as Felipão ("Big Phil"), is a Brazilian football manager and former player who currently serves as the technical director of Grêmio. Considered to be one of the greatest and most su ...

who had said he wanted shrimp, meaning the quality of Palmeiras' signings for the new season. Barcos helped Palmeiras reach the

2012 Copa do Brasil The 2012 Copa do Brasil (officially the Copa Kia do Brasil 2012 for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th edition of the Copa do Brasil. It began on March 7 and ended on July 11. The competition was contested by 64 teams, either qualified through thei ...

finals by scoring four goals in eight cup games. On 1 August 2012, Barcos scored a double in Palmeiras' debut in 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 ...

against

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...

. He scored another double against Botafogo again, this time in a league match a week later, winning 2–1. Despite Palmeiras' relegation and interest of European clubs, Barcos via Twitter confirmed he would continue to play for the club in 2013. In his words: ''"I have the dream to play a World Cup, but the only way to leave Palmeiras is receiving a irrefusable deal, that the club cannot say 'no'. I will stay in Palmeiras for love and for liking Palmeiras"''. Palmeiras confirmed Barcos would stay for the 2013 season, having been relegated to Serie B, though he was able to participate in the

2013 Copa Libertadores The 2013 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2013 Copa Bridgestone Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 54th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier international club football tournament organize ...

. For Barcos, support from the fans of Palmeiras and Gilson Kleina were fundamental points for him to remain with the ''Verdão''.

Grêmio

Barcos became Gremio's shock-signing for the 2013 season, wanting to arm a strong side for the

. His debut came on 14 February, also scoring from the penalty spot, in a 2–1 home loss in a group-stage match up against Chilean Primera División side

Huachipato Huachipato FC is a Chilean football club based in Talcahuano that currently plays in the Chilean Primera División. Huachipato was founded on 7 June 1947 by workers of the homonymous steel mill in Talcahuano, and it currently plays its home g ...

. In August 2014, he scored twice in a match against Corinthians, becoming the top foreign goalscorer for Grêmio with 36 goals.

Later career

On 16 February 2015, Barcos transferred to

side

Tianjin TEDA Tianjin Jinmen Tiger Football Club (), previously Tianjin TEDA (), is a Chinese professional football club based in Tianjin, that competes in . Tianjin Jinmen Tiger plays its home matches at the TEDA Soccer Stadium, located within Binhai. The f ...

. After a prolific goalscoring season, he transferred to Portuguese side

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

. However, after a brief spell in Europe, the centre-forward returned to the

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

, joining Vélez Sarsfield. Barcos debuted for Vélez in a 2–0 defeat to

Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata (; ''La Plata Gymnastics and Fencing Club''), also known simply as Gimnasia, is an Argentine professional sports club based in the city of La Plata, Buenos Aires Province. Founded in 1887 as "Club de Gimnasia ...

for the first fixture of the

2016–17 Argentine Primera División The 2016–17 Argentine Primera División – Torneo de la Independencia was the 127th season of top-flight professional football in Argentina. The tournament was named in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the Independence of Argentina. T ...

and scored his first goal in a 2–1 victory against Colón for the 6th fixture.

Return to LDU Quito

On 14 January 2017,

announced the return of Barcos to the Ecuadorean capital. He was to be incorporated to the team to complete the new squad for the 2017 campaign in time for La Noche Blanca, the derby game against

Deportivo Cali Asociación Deportivo Cali, best known as Deportivo Cali, is a Colombian sports club based in Cali, most notable for its football team, which currently competes in the Categoría Primera A. Deportivo Cali is one of the most successful football t ...

. The loan deal will last until the end of 2017.

Bashundhara Kings

On 2 February 2020,

Bangladesh Premier League Bangladesh Premier League (), also known as Dutch-Bangla Bank BPL for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Bangladesh organised by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). It was formed in 2011 by the BCB, after the su ...

defending champions

Bashundhara Kings Bashundhara Kings () is a professional football club based in Bashundhara Residential Area, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The club competes in the Bangladesh Premier League, the top tier of the Bangladesh football league system. The club was established i ...

confirmed that Barcos will be part of the team for

AFC Cup The AFC Champions League Two (abbreviated as the ACL Two or ACL2) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC C ...

and the 2nd leg of the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

FC Messina

On 30 October 2020, Barcos was formally introduced as a new signing for Italian

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

club FC Messina. He however left Messina on 23 December 2020, without making a single appearance, due to unsolved bureaucratic issues regarding his non-EU citizen status.

Alianza Lima

On 17 February 2021, Barcos joined Peruvian club

. In his first season with the club, he scored 10 goals, propelling Alianza Lima to be crowned Liga 1 champions. In December 2021, he signed an extension until 2022. In 2025, he scored 4 goals during the qualifying stages of the Copa Libertadores, helping Alianza reach the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

of the tournament.

International career

On 23 August 2012, Barcos was called up for the matches against

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

and

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 ...

for the

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA#Structure, FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil national football team, Bra ...

but he ended up being an unused substitute in them. Instead, he made his national team debut on 19 September 2012, as a starter in a match 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 ...

for the

Superclásico de las Américas The Superclassic of the Americas (, ), was an annual Exhibition game, friendly association football, football match between the national teams of Argentina national football team, Argentina and Brazil national football team, Brazil. Established ...

. In October 2012, Barcos also came on as a late substitute in World Cup qualifying matches 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 ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Personal life

On 16 February 2012, after a comparison with Brazilian singer

Zé Ramalho Zé Ramalho (born José Ramalho Neto on October 3, 1949 – Brejo do Cruz, Paraíba, Brazil) is a Brazilian composer and performer. Zé Ramalho has collaborated with various major Brazilian musicians, including Vanusa, Geraldo Azevedo and A ...

made by Léo Bianchi, journalist of

Rede Globo TV Globo (stylized as tvglobo; , ), formerly known as Rede Globo de Televisão (; shortened to Rede Globo) or simply known as Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965 ...

, Barcos cursed the reporter, calling him "boludo", a popular scold in Argentina.

Career statistics

Honours

LDU Quito *

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 ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

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 ...

Palmeiras *

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil () is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and it is the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de Portugal, ...

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 ...

Cruzeiro *

Alianza Lima * Liga 1:

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Individual * Chinese Super League Golden Boot: 2009 * Ecuadorian Serie A top scorer: 2010 * Ecuadorian Serie A top scorer: 2017 * League 1 (Peru) Best player of the year: 2021, 2022

Notes

References

External links

* * * *
Hernán Barcos
at the

Ecuadorian Football Federation The Ecuadorian Football Federation ( or ) is the governing body of football in Ecuador. Its headquarters are in Quito, and it organizes the country's various football competitions and oversees the Ecuador national team. History Numerous amate ...