Julio César Baldivieso facts for kids

Julio César Baldivieso Rico (born December 2, 1971) is a famous Bolivian football coach and former player. He played as an attacking midfielder, which means he helped score goals and set up plays from the middle of the field. Currently, he is the manager of Always Ready.

Baldivieso was a key player for the Bolivia national team. He played in the 1994 World Cup and also in several Copa América tournaments.

Football Journey

Playing for Clubs

Julio César Baldivieso was nicknamed "El Emperador" (The Emperor). He started his football journey in his hometown of Cochabamba, Bolivia. His first professional team was Wilstermann in 1987.

After playing in the World Cup, he moved to Argentina to play for Newell's Old Boys. Later, he joined J1 League club Yokohama Marinos in Japan for a couple of years. Towards the end of his playing career, he returned to Bolivia. He played for teams like The Strongest and Aurora. At Aurora, he even started coaching while still playing.

Throughout his career, Baldivieso played in 46 Copa Libertadores games. This is a big tournament for clubs in South America. He scored 11 goals in these matches for three different teams.

Playing for His Country

Baldivieso first played for the Bolivia on June 14, 1991. This was a friendly game against Paraguay in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, which Bolivia lost 1–0.

He played a total of 85 games for his country and scored 15 goals. His last international game was on October 12, 2005. It was a World Cup Qualifier match against Peru.

Becoming a Coach

While still playing for Aurora, Baldivieso started his coaching career. In November 2008, he led Aurora to win the Clausura tournament. This was a very exciting final series against Blooming.

On July 19, 2009, while still coaching Aurora, he made history. He let his 12-year-old son, Mauricio Baldivieso, play in a professional match. This made Mauricio the youngest player ever in a professional football game. After that match, Julio criticized the referee and an opponent after a tough tackle on his son. He left Aurora five days later because the club asked him to choose between his job and his son. He also took his son out of the team.

Baldivieso returned to Aurora for a second time on May 20, 2011. He also coached other teams like Real Potosí, Nacional Potosí, San José, Wilstermann, and Universitario de Sucre. On August 28, 2015, he became the official manager for the Bolivia national team.

In late 2017, he became the first Bolivian to coach a national football team outside of the Americas. He was appointed as the coach of the Palestine team. He left the team in April 2018.

On January 31, 2019, Baldivieso became the manager of Club Always Ready. Later that year, on September 23, 2019, he returned to Aurora as a sporting advisor. He couldn't be the head coach because he had already led Always Ready in the same season. Football rules usually don't allow a coach to lead two clubs in the same competition. In December 2019, he announced he would leave Aurora because it wasn't the same for him to lead from the stands. However, later that month, it was confirmed that his assistant, Francisco Argüello, took over as head coach, and Baldivieso continued as his assistant.

Career Statistics

Here are some details about Julio César Baldivieso's playing career:

National Team Appearances and Goals

International Goals Scored

International Goals
#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	26 March 1994	Dallas, United States	United States	0–1	2–2	Friendly
2.	18 June 1995	Valera, Venezuela	Venezuela	1–3	1–3	Friendly
3.	11 February 1996	Lima, Peru	Peru	?–?	1–3	Friendly
4.	24 April 1996	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Argentina	3–1	2–1	World Cup Qualifier
5.	7 July 1996	La Paz, Bolivia	Venezuela	3–0	6–1	World Cup Qualifier
6.	15 June 1997	La Paz, Bolivia	Peru	2–0	2–0	Copa América
7.	18 June 1997	La Paz, Bolivia	Uruguay	1–0	1–0	Copa América
8.	5 March 2000	La Paz, Bolivia	Haiti	3–0	9–2	Friendly
9.	28 June 2000	San Cristóbal, Venezuela	Venezuela	2–2	4–2	World Cup Qualifier
10.	3 June 2001	La Paz, Bolivia	Venezuela	1–0	5–0	World Cup Qualifier
11.	3 June 2001	La Paz, Bolivia	Venezuela	5–0	5–0	World Cup Qualifier
12.	14 August 2001	Santiago, Chile	Chile	0–1	2–2	World Cup Qualifier
13.	7 November 2001	La Paz, Bolivia	Brazil	2–1	3–1	World Cup Qualifier
14.	7 November 2001	La Paz, Bolivia	Brazil	3–1	3–1	World Cup Qualifier
15.	10 September 2003	La Paz, Bolivia	Colombia	1–0	4–0	World Cup Qualifier

Coaching Record

Family Life

Julio César Baldivieso has a son named Mauricio Baldivieso. Mauricio holds a special record in football history. He is the youngest player ever to have played in a professional football match!

See also

In Spanish: Julio César Baldivieso para niños