Antolín Alcaraz facts for kids
Alcaraz with Everton in 2014
|
|||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Antolín Alcaraz Viveros | ||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 30 July 1982 | ||||||||||||
| Place of birth | San Roque González, Paraguay | ||||||||||||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||
| 1998–2001 | Teniente Fariña | ? | (?) | ||||||||||
| 2001–2002 | Racing Club | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||
| 2002 | → Fiorentina (loan) | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||
| 2003–2007 | Beira-Mar | 112 | (5) | ||||||||||
| 2007–2010 | Club Brugge | 68 | (5) | ||||||||||
| 2010–2013 | Wigan Athletic | 69 | (3) | ||||||||||
| 2013–2015 | Everton | 14 | (0) | ||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | Las Palmas | 6 | (1) | ||||||||||
| 2016–2018 | Libertad | 74 | (2) | ||||||||||
| 2019–2023 | Olimpia | 80 | (6) | ||||||||||
| Total | 423 | (22) | |||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||
| 2008–2012 | Paraguay | 23 | (2) | ||||||||||
|
Medal record
|
|||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||
Antolín Alcaraz Viveros (born on July 30, 1982) is a former professional footballer from Paraguay. He played as a centre-back, which is a defensive position in football.
Antolín Alcaraz played for many different teams throughout his career. He spent five years playing in the Premier League in England for Wigan Athletic and Everton. He also played for clubs in Portugal, Belgium, and Spain, before returning to his home country, Paraguay.
He also proudly represented his country, Paraguay, in big tournaments like the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2011 Copa América. He even helped his team reach the final of the Copa América in 2011!
Contents
Club Career
Early Days and First Clubs
Antolín Alcaraz grew up in a humble family. When he was a teenager, he worked as a builder's assistant in his hometown of San Roque González de Santa Cruz, Paraguay. He started playing football at Club Teniente Fariña, but he didn't originally plan to become a professional player.
When he was 18, a football scout named Carlos Bruni discovered him. This led him to join Racing Club de Avellaneda in Argentina. He didn't play much there.
In 2002, Alcaraz was loaned to ACF Fiorentina in Italy. However, the Italian club faced financial problems and had to restart in a lower league. He also had a tryout with U.S. Città di Palermo, but it didn't lead to a contract.
Playing in Europe
In January 2003, Antolín Alcaraz signed with the Portuguese club S.C. Beira-Mar. After playing a few games in his first half-season, he became a very important defender for the team. In the 2005–06 season, he played 31 matches and helped his team get promoted back to the top league in Portugal, the Primeira Liga.
On April 30, 2007, Alcaraz joined Club Brugge KV in Belgium. He officially started playing for them in July. After a slow start in his first season, he became a regular player. He helped his team finish in third place twice and second place once in the Belgian league.
Premier League Adventures
On May 14, 2010, Alcaraz joined Wigan Athletic in England. He moved on a free transfer because his contract with Club Brugge was ending. His new manager, Roberto Martínez, said that Alcaraz was playing "the best form of his career" at that time. He scored his first goal for Wigan on September 11, 2010, in a 1–1 home draw against Sunderland.
On May 7, 2012, Alcaraz scored the only goal in a game against Blackburn Rovers. This important goal helped Wigan stay in the top division, while Blackburn Rovers were relegated to a lower league.
In 2013, Alcaraz won the FA Cup with Wigan. He played the entire game in the final, where Wigan surprisingly beat Manchester City 1–0. However, just three days later, Wigan was relegated from the top division after losing 4–1 to Arsenal.
.jpg)
On July 9, 2013, Alcaraz moved to Everton on a two-year deal. He joined his former coach, Roberto Martínez, and goalkeeper Joel Robles at the club. He made his first game for Everton on December 29, 2013, after recovering from an injury. He played the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 home win against Southampton.
On April 26, 2014, Alcaraz accidentally scored an own goal in a 0–2 loss to Southampton. On January 1, 2015, he received two yellow cards in a game against Hull City, which meant he was sent off. This was his first sending off as an Everton player. He was released by Everton on June 10, 2015.
Back Home
On August 2, 2015, when he was almost 33 years old, Alcaraz signed a one-year contract with UD Las Palmas, a team that had just been promoted to La Liga in Spain. He scored his first goal for them on September 23, helping his team win 2–0 against Sevilla FC. However, he only played seven games for Las Palmas because of injuries. He left the club by agreement on January 29, 2016.
In February 2016, Alcaraz returned to Paraguay and joined Club Libertad. He played his first game in the Paraguayan Primera División the following month, helping his team win 2–1 against Cerro Porteño.
On January 2, 2019, Alcaraz signed with Club Olimpia, another team in the same league. In his first season with Olimpia, he helped the team win the national championship.
International Career
In November 2008, Antolín Alcaraz was called up to play for the Paraguay national team for the first time. He was 26 years old. He was chosen to be part of the squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
On June 14, 2010, in Paraguay's first group stage game against Italy, Alcaraz scored a powerful header from a set piece. This goal helped Paraguay get a 1–1 draw in Cape Town. He played in almost all of Paraguay's matches in the tournament, helping them reach the quarter-finals.
Alcaraz was also a key player for Paraguay during the 2011 Copa América, which was held in Argentina. On July 13, he scored a goal to make the score 1–1 against Venezuela in a group stage game that ended in a 3–3 draw. Four days later, in the quarter-finals against Brazil, he was sent off after an incident with another player. Paraguay went on to finish as runners-up in the tournament.
Achievements
Club
Beira-Mar
- Segunda Liga: 2005–06 (This means they won the second division league)
Wigan Athletic
- FA Cup: 2012–13 (They won this famous English cup competition)
Libertad
- Paraguayan Primera División: 2016 Apertura, 2017 Apertura (They won the top league in Paraguay twice)
Olimpia
- Paraguayan Primera División: 2019 (He won the top league in Paraguay again with a different team)
International
Paraguay
- Copa América runner-up: 2011 (His national team finished second in this big South American tournament)
See also
In Spanish: Antolín Alcaraz para niños
