Raúl Mario Ruidíaz Misitich (,
Croatian: ''Misitić''; born 25 July 1990) is a Peruvian professional
footballer who currently plays for
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
club
Seattle Sounders and the
Peru national team, as a
striker
Striker or The Strikers may refer to:
People
*A participant in a strike action
*A participant in a hunger strike
*Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant
*Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America
People wi ...
.
He is of maternal Croatian descent and his nickname, "The Flea", stems from his small frame and his ability to get past defenders with great ball control. Ruidíaz began his career at
Universitario de Deportes, a powerhouse of a club in Peru, where he became an idol during the
2011 season, at just 21 years old. In January 2012, he joined
Primera División
Primera may refer to
* Nissan Primera, a car
* Primera Air, a former airline
* Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues
* Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas
* Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...
club
Universidad de Chile.
Club career
Universitario
Ruidíaz grew up in the
Lima neighbourhood of
Villa María del Triunfo and made his first steps in club football at
Primera División
Primera may refer to
* Nissan Primera, a car
* Primera Air, a former airline
* Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues
* Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas
* Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...
club
Universitario de Deportes aged eight. In January 2008, the player was promoted to the first adult team and immediately loaned to
América Cochahuayco
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, the club's filial team, directed by the coach
Héctor Chumpitaz
Héctor Eduardo Chumpitaz Gonzáles (; born April 12, 1943, in Cañete) is a former footballer from Peru. Voted one of the greatest defenders of all times, among the 30 best defenders in football history and included within the 100 best pl ...
, an historic football player of the
Peruvian national team in the
1982 World Cup
The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 i ...
. His first professional goal was against
Hijos de Acosvinchos. After the arrival of
Jorge Gonzáles, he began to play as a
striker
Striker or The Strikers may refer to:
People
*A participant in a strike action
*A participant in a hunger strike
*Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant
*Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America
People wi ...
.
Ruidíaz made his professional debut in the
Peruvian First Division on 4 October 2009 against
Total Chalaco
Total Chalaco was a professional Peruvian football club based in Callao. The club last played in the Peruvian Primera División in 2010. They placed last and were relegated and subsequently dissolved. The club was founded as Total Clean FBC, and ...
in the
Monumental, at the age of 19. The coach at the time,
Juan Reynoso, decided to play him from the start of the match, which finished 2–1 in favor of Universitario. He finished the season by scoring 3 goals in 7 games in the
Peruvian 2009 Championship and also won his first National title with
Universitario de Deportes. Ruidíaz has often been called ''pequeño Messi'' (little Messi) in his home country, mainly because of his ability to charge a player one on one, as well as his unique technical skills.
Ruidiaz was listed among the greatest talents of South American football by O Globo Brazilian newspaper in 2010.
Universidad de Chile
On 20 January 2012, Ruidíaz was appointed as new player of the
Primera División
Primera may refer to
* Nissan Primera, a car
* Primera Air, a former airline
* Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues
* Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas
* Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...
club
Universidad de Chile. Despite some early success with his new club, Raul's lack of match fitness and the emergence of young talented strikers at the club Ruidíaz fell out of favour with the Universidad de Chile manager towards the end of the season. On 15 July 2012, Ruidíaz and club
Universidad de Chile had mutually agreed to release him.
Morelia
After participating in the
Copa América Centenario, Ruidíaz signed for Mexican club
Monarcas Morelia on a season-long loan deal for a reported fee of €105,000. He was presented to the media in
Morelia on 1 July 2016 and was given the number 9 shirt. Ruidíaz made his
Liga MX
The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year.
The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...
debut on 15 July 2016 replacing
Diego Valdés in a 2–0 away loss to
Tijuana. The following week, in Morelia's home opener, Ruidíaz scored his first goal in a 2–2 draw against
Querétaro
Querétaro (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro, links=no; Otomi language, Otomi: ''Hyodi Ndämxei''), is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. I ...
. On 1 August 2016, Ruidíaz scored a
hat-trick in a 4–2 away win against
Santos Laguna. Ruidíaz ended the season with 11 goals which made him the season's top scorer along with
Tijuana's
Dayro Moreno.
Before Morelia's Clausura 2017 home opener against
Tijuana, Ruidíaz was honored with a commemorative plaque at
Estadio Morelos for being the club's first Liga MX scoring champion. Ruidíaz later scored the second goal in Morelia's 2–0 opening match victory over Tijuana. Later that night, it was announced Morelia signed Ruidíaz to a permanent three-year transfer. Later in the season Ruidíaz scored his second hat-trick for Morelia in a 4–0 win over
UNAM. In the final game of the season, Ruidíaz scored a crucial game-winning goal in a 2–1 away victory over
Monterrey
Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...
.
The goal helped Morelia avoid relegation, helped the team qualify to the ''
liguilla'' and helped Ruidíaz win his second straight Liga MX scoring title.
Seattle Sounders FC
On 6 June 2018, it was reported that Ruidíaz would be signing a contract with MLS side
Seattle Sounders FC
Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...
. The signing was made official on June 29, as the club announced Ruidiaz as a
Designated Player. He set club records for being the fastest to 10 goals in MLS play (in 14 games), and scoring in the most consecutive appearances (8 games).
On 10 November 2019, Ruidíaz scored Seattle's final goal in a 3–1 home win over
Toronto FC in the
MLS Cup Final.
In the
2022 CONCACAF Champions League Final
The 2022 CONCACAF Champions League Final was the final round of the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League, the 14th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 57th edition of the premier soccer club competition org ...
, he scored two goals in a 3–0 win in the second leg against
UNAM, in which his club secured their first title in the competition by winning 5–2 on aggregate.
International career
Ruidíaz made his international debut on 7 June 2011 in a 0–0 draw against
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
in
Niigata in the
Kirin Cup. In the same month, Ruidíaz was called up by 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 football team.
Early life
Markarián lived in Argentina durin ...
to represent Peru in the
Copa América
The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...
held in
Argentina, Ruidíaz was a member of the Peruvian squad that finished
3rd
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (d ...
, after a 4–1 victory over
Venezuela, Ruidíaz made only one appearance in the tournament in a match against
Chile in which Peru lost 1–0.
Ruidíaz was named as a member of Peru's 23-man squad for the
Copa América Centenario in 2016. In Peru's third group match against
Brazil on 12 June 2016, Ruidíaz scored a controversial goal, a winner in the 75th minute by guiding the ball into the net with his arm. After a lengthy discussion between the referee and his assistant, the goal was allowed to stand, and Brazil went on to lose 1–0, resulting in their elimination from the tournament. The result sent Peru through to the
knockout stage
A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...
as winners of Group B.
In May 2018, he was named in Peru's provisional 24 man
squad
In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army do ...
for the
2018 World Cup
The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...
in Russia.
Career statistics
Club
International
International goals
:''As of match played 27 March 2018. Peru score listed first, score column indicates score after each Ruidíaz goal.''
[
]
Honours
Universitario de Deportes
* Torneo Descentralizado: 2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
, 2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
Universidad de Chile
* Primera División de Chile: 2012 Apertura
Seattle Sounders FC
* MLS Cup: 2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
*CONCACAF Champions League
The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...
: 2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
Peru
*Copa América
The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...
runner-up: 2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
; third place: 2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
Individual
* Peruvian Primera División top scorer: 2013 Torneo Descentralizado
*Liga MX
The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year.
The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...
Golden Boot: Apertura 2016, Clausura 2017
*Liga MX
The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year.
The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...
Best XI: Apertura 2016, Clausura 2017
*Liga MX
The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year.
The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...
Best Forward: 2016–17
* Liga MX Balón de Oro: 2016–17
* MLS Cup Playoffs top scorer: 2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
* MLS Best XI: 2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
, 2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
* MLS All-Star: 2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
, 2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
*CONCACAF Champions League
The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...
Best XI: 2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
References
External links
Raúl Ruidíaz
at Football-Lineups
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruidiaz, Raul
1990 births
Living people
Peruvian people of Croatian descent
Footballers from Lima
Peruvian footballers
Association football forwards
Peruvian Primera División players
Peruvian Segunda División players
Club Universitario de Deportes footballers
U América F.C. footballers
FBC Melgar footballers
Chilean Primera División players
Universidad de Chile footballers
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players
Coritiba Foot Ball Club players
Liga MX players
Atlético Morelia players
Major League Soccer players
Seattle Sounders FC players
Designated Players (MLS)
Peruvian expatriate footballers
Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in Brazil
Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in Chile
Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Expatriate footballers in Chile
Expatriate footballers in Brazil
Expatriate soccer players in the United States
Peru international footballers
2011 Copa América players
Copa América Centenario players
2018 FIFA World Cup players
2019 Copa América players