Ricardo Rojas (footballer, born 1974)

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Rojas and the second or maternal family name is Trujillo.

Ricardo Rojas
Personal information
Full name Ricardo Francisco Rojas Trujillo
Date of birth (1974-05-07) 7 May 1974 (age 50)
Place of birth Vallenar, Chile
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 América Fuerzas Básicas (coach)
Youth career
Academia Santa Inés
1990–1991 Deportes La Serena
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1993 Deportes La Serena ? (?)
1994–1996 Unión Española ? (?)
1997–2000 Universidad de Chile 53 (0)
2001–2007 América 227 (5)
2004 → Universidad Católica (loan) 21 (0)
2008 Colo-Colo 18 (1)
2009 Necaxa 6 (0)
2009 → América (loan) 7 (0)
2010 Deportes La Serena 29 (0)
2011 Veracruz 9 (0)
International career
1994–2006 Chile 46 (1)
1998 Chile B 1 (0)
Managerial career
2017–2019 Unión Compañías
2020–2022 Provincial Ovalle
2023– América Fuerzas Básicas
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ricardo Francisco Rojas Trujillo (born 7 May 1974) is a Chilean football manager and former player. A centre-back, he played for clubs like Universidad de Chile, América and Colo-Colo.

Club career

As a youth player, he was with Academia Santa Inés, a traditional Football Academy based in La Serena.[1] Rojas began his professional career in his native country, playing for Club de Deportes La Serena from 1990 to 1993. After his stint at La Serena, he signed with Unión Española. The following year Rojas made his debut in the Chile national team, appearing in a game against Argentina. After his time at Unión, Rojas was transferred to Universidad de Chile during the 1997 season.

Ricardo's continued success at both club and national team levels brought attention to him from foreign teams. At the end of the 2000 season he was signed by the Mexican club Club América. Excluding a six-month loan in 2004 to Universidad Católica de Chile, Rojas has been a staple of the Club América defense for seven years. During his stay in Mexico, Rojas won two championships with his club, in the Verano 2002 season and most recently after the Clausura 2005 tournament. Rojas played more than 200 games with Club América during his time there.

In 2009, he played at Necaxa and then he returned to Club América.

International career

Fuentes made 46 appearances for Chile from 1994 to 2006.[2] In addition, he played for Chile B against England B on 10 February 1998. Chile won by 2–1.[3]

Managerial career

Rojas began his managerial career as the coach of Unión Compañías in the Tercera B (Chile)[4] until the end of 2019. At the end of 2020, he became the manager of Provincial Ovalle in the Tercera A (Chile).[5]

In 2023, he moved to Mexico and joined América Fuerzas Básicas, first with the under-13 team.[6]

Personal life

Rojas got a degree in Industrial engineering and also worked as councillor of La Serena from 2013 to 2016 by replacing Mary Yorka Ortiz.[4]

Honours

Universidad de Chile

América

Colo-Colo

References

  1. ^ "Ricardo Rojas fue premiado por Academia Santa Inés" (in Spanish). Diario El Día. 1 May 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Ricardo Rojas". PartidosdelaRoja (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Inglaterra 1 – Chile 2: Cuando la (otra) Selección venció a Inglaterra". Guioteca.com (in Spanish). El Mercurio. 13 April 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  4. ^ a b "El presente de Ricardo Rojas como DT de Unión Compañías, el equipo sensación y más goleador de la Tercera B". Emol (in Spanish). El Mercurio. 17 June 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  5. ^ "Ricardo Rojas se convierte en el nuevo entrenador de Provincial Ovalle". Diario El Ovallino (in Spanish). 15 December 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  6. ^ "¡Regresa un referente! Un destacado ex jugador de América ha vuelto para ser director técnico". Águilas Monumental (in Spanish). 24 February 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2024.