Bolivia

Famous People from Bolivia: Famous Bolivian Footballers/Soccer Players

The following Bolivian athletes dedicated themselves in promoting and inspiring people about football, one of the most well-loved sports in the world.

Marco Etcheverry
Former football midfielder Marco Antonio Etcheverry Vargas is considered as one of the best Bolivian players of all time. Etcheverry, nicknamed El Diablo (The Devil) joined D.C. United of Major League Soccer in its inaugural season of 1996, and led the team to three MLS Cups and was named MLS MVP in 1998. In eight years with the team, Etcheverry played 191 league games, scoring 34 goals and registering 101 assists (the games and assists are DC records). He retired at the end of the 2003 season. In 2005, he was named to the MLS All-Time Best XI. Etcheverry is the current manager of Bolivian club Oriente Petrolero.

Luis Cristaldo
Luis Héctor Cristaldo Ruiz Díaz is an Argentine-Bolivian football midfielder who currently plays for Guabirá. He holds the record for the most appearances for the Bolivian national team with 93 international matches and 5 goals between 1989 and 2005, including two appearances in the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

Erwin Sánchez
Dubbed “Platini”, Erwin Sánchez Freking played as an attacking midfielder, with scoring range. Most of his professional career was spent in Portugal, after which he became a coach. From 2006–09, Sánchez managed the Bolivian national team, after having appeared as a player in the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the country’s first ever participation.

Marcelo Martins
Marcelo Martins Moreno currently plays for the Ukrainian Premier League side Shakhtar Donetsk, as well as the Bolivian national team. Born in Bolivia to a Brazilian father and Bolivian mother, Marcelo Martins has played for the Brazilian U20 national team at the youth level, becoming the first foreign player to be part of it and the fifth foreign player to wear the Brazilian National Team’s shirt in an official match, but chose to play for the Bolivian senior national team as a professional.

Joaquín Botero
Bolivian striker Joaquín Botero Vaca became the top goalscorer in world football in the 2002 season, with 49 goals scored for Club Bolívar. He currently plays for San José in the Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano.