Rubén Darío Tufiño Schwenk (born January 9, 1970, in

Santa Cruz de la Sierra Santa Cruz de la Sierra (; ), commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the largest city in Bolivia and the capital of the Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia), Santa Cruz department. Situated on the Pirai River (Bolivia), Pirai River in the eastern Tropical ...

) is a former

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

football midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

who played in the

Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano Liga (Spanish and Portuguese: ''League'') or LIGA may refer to: Sports Basketball * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Liga Femenina de Baloncesto, women's professional basketball league in Spain Football Latin Amer ...

for important clubs, as well as, the Bolivia national team.

Club career

He began playing football at a young age for the prestigious Tahuichi Academy, where he later received a scholarship to play for the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

. During his years as a

Gamecock Cockfighting is a blood sport involving domesticated roosters as the combatants. The first documented use of the word gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or entertainment, was recorded in 1634, after the term " ...

Tufiño became one of the most successful players in the school program's history. After graduating from college, he decided to continue developing his football career and in 1995 he returned to his country to sign with first division club

Oriente Petrolero Club Deportivo Oriente Petrolero () is a Bolivian football club based in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. They play at the 38,000-capacity Estadio Tahuichi Aguilera. Oriente have been Bolivian champions five times, Copa Aerosur winners two ti ...

. After two great seasons in Oriente, he transferred to main rival

Blooming Bloom or blooming may refer to: Science and technology Biology * Bloom, one or more flowers on a flowering plant * Algal bloom, a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in an aquatic system * Jellyfish bloom, a collective n ...

where he was part of back-to-back national titles. Due to a disagreement in his contract he returned to Oriente Petrolero the following season, before joining the ''celestes'' for the second time around in 2001. The following year, Tufiño signed with Bolívar from La Paz, where he spent the next two campaigns and added two more national championships to his resume. After negotiating with

The Strongest Club The Strongest is a Bolivian professional football club based in La Paz, that currently plays in the Bolivian Primera División. Founded in 1908, their team colours are yellow and black. Although they have a home ground, Estadio Rafael Me ...

, he agreed to a one-year deal with the ''atigrados'' which he played for during 2005. Finally, in 2006 he made his third spell with Blooming and by the end of the season he announced his retirement from football.

International career

He also played for the Bolivia national team between 1995 and 2004, scoring 1 goal in 35 international games.Bolivia - Record International Players
- RSSSF

Honours

Club

: 1998, 1999 * Bolívar **

: 2002, 2004 (A)

References

* *
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tufino, Ruben 1970 births Living people Footballers from Santa Cruz de la Sierra Bolivian men's footballers 20th-century Bolivian sportsmen Bolivia men's international footballers 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players 1997 Copa América players Bolivian people of German descent 1999 Copa América players 2004 Copa América players Bolivian Primera División players Oriente Petrolero players The Strongest players Club Blooming players Club Bolívar players South Carolina Gamecocks men's soccer players Men's association football midfielders