Fabián Balbuena

Fabián Cornelio Balbuena González (born 23 August 1991) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Premier League club West Ham United and the Paraguay national team.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Balbuena and the second or maternal family name is González.
Fabián Balbuena
Balbuena with West Ham United in 2019
Personal information
Full name Fabián Cornelio Balbuena González[1]
Date of birth (1991-08-23) 23 August 1991
Place of birth Ciudad del Este, Paraguay
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre back
Club information
Current team
 West Ham United
Number 4
Youth career
Cerro Porteño PF
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2012 Cerro Porteño PF 76 (5)
2013 Rubio Ñu 17 (1)
2013–2014 Nacional 30 (1)
2014–2016 Libertad 43 (3)
2016–2018 Corinthians 69 (4)
2018– West Ham United 52 (3)
National team‡
2015– Paraguay 15 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:19, 29 December 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 04:03, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

He played for Cerro Porteño PF, Rubio Ñu, Nacional and Libertad in the Paraguayan Primera División, before joining Corinthians of Brazil in 2016. He played 120 games for Corinthians, winning the Campeonato Paulista twice and the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A once, and was named in the latter's 2017 team of the year. In 2018, he signed for West Ham.

Balbuena made his senior international debut for Paraguay in 2015. He represented the country at three Copa América tournaments, coming fourth in 2015.

Club career

Paraguay

Born in Ciudad del Este, Balbuena was promoted to Cerro Porteño PF's first team in 2010, after the arrival of new manager Eduardo Rivera. He immediately became a starter under Rivera, playing in all the remaining seven matches of the campaign as his side achieved a mid-table position.[3]

Balbuena quickly became a regular starter in 2011, being also team captain as the club achieved promotion from División intermedia. He scored his first goal for the club on 3 April of that year, netting the game's only in a home success over Deportivo Caaguazú.

Balbuena joined Rubio Ñu ahead of the 2013 season, but remained at the club for only six months before moving to defending champions Club Nacional.[4] At the latter side, he was also first-choice and reached the 2014 Copa Libertadores Finals, losing it to San Lorenzo.

On 15 August 2014, Libertad bought 50% of Balbuena's federative rights, and the player signed a four-year deal with the club.[5] Again a mainstay, he won the 2014 Clausura tournament.

Corinthians

On 16 February 2016, Balbuena moved abroad for the first time in his career after agreeing to a three-year deal with Série A side Corinthians.[6] He made his debut for the club nine days later by starting in a 1–1 Campeonato Paulista away draw against São Bento, and scored his first goal on 19 March in a 4–0 home routing of Linense for the same competition.

A key defensive unit at Timão, Balbuena lifted the 2017 Campeonato Paulista, 2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A and 2018 Campeonato Paulista during his spell. On 24 April 2018, he signed a new four-year contract.[7]

West Ham United

On 14 July 2018, Balbuena signed for Premier League club West Ham United on a three-year deal, for an undisclosed fee.[8] He made his debut on 12 August in a 4–0 defeat by Liverpool.[9] On 27 October he scored his first goal for the Hammers to open the scoring at Leicester City, but deflected Wilfred Ndidi's long-range shot into his own net for the equaliser; he was the first Paraguayan to score in England's top division since Antolín Alcaraz in May 2012.[10]

International career

First called up on 19 March 2015, Balbuena made his full international debut for Paraguay national team on 31 March by starting in a 1–0 friendly loss against Mexico at the Arrowhead Stadium.[11] He was also named among the 23-man squads for the 2015 Copa América[12] and the Copa América Centenario.[13] He made his first competitive appearance at the latter in the final group game, a 1–0 loss to hosts the United States in which he was substituted at half time for attacker Juan Iturbe.[14]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 7 November 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Cerro Porteño PF 2010 División Intermedia 70———70
2011 División Intermedia 284———284
2012[15] Primera División 411———411
Total 765———765
Rubio Ñu 2013[15] Primera División 171———171
Nacional 2013[15] Primera División 140—2[lower-alpha 1]0—160
2014[15] Primera División 161—10[lower-alpha 2]0—261
Total 3010012000421
Libertad 2014[15] Primera División 161—4[lower-alpha 1]0—201
2015[15] Primera División 262—8[lower-alpha 3]0—342
2016[15] Primera División 10———10
Total 4330012000553
Corinthians 2016[15] Série A 290402[lower-alpha 2]06[lower-alpha 4]2412
2017[15] Série A 324506[lower-alpha 1]215[lower-alpha 4]0586
2018[15] Série A 80206[lower-alpha 2]015[lower-alpha 4]3313
Total 69411014236512011
West Ham United 2018–19[16] Premier League 23100——231
2019–20[17] Premier League 17140——211
2020–21[18] Premier League 6110——71
Total 463500000513
Career total 2811715038236536024
  1. Appearance(s) in Copa Sudamericana
  2. Appearance(s) in Copa Libertadores
  3. Six appearances in Copa Libertadores, two appearances in Copa Sudamericana
  4. Appearance(s) in Campeonato Paulista

International
As of match played 13 November 2020[19]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Paraguay 201520
201620
201710
201830
201960
202010
Total150

Honours

Club

Cerro Porteño PF

Libertad

Corinthians

Paraguay

Individual

References
  1. "2018/19 Premier League squads confirmed". Premier League. 3 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  2. "Fabián Cornelio Balbuena González - Fichajes.com". Fichajes .com: Noticias y rumores sobre el mercado de fichajes de fútbol. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  3. "Pai queria que Balbuena estudasse, mas ele virou jogador, capitão aos 20 e hoje brilha no Corinthians" [Balbuena's father wanted him to study, but he became a player, captain at 20 and today shines at Corinthians] (in Portuguese). ESPN Brasil. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  4. "Se sumó otro Mazacotte" [Another Mazacotte joined] (in Spanish). ABC Color. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  5. "Balbuena ya es gumarelo" [Balbuena already is gumarelo] (in Spanish). ABC Color. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  6. "Balbuena assina com Corinthians por três temporadas" [Balbuena signs with Corinthians for three seasons] (in Portuguese). SC Corinthians Paulista. 16 February 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  7. "Fabián Balbuena renova contrato por quatro temporadas" [Fabián Balbuena renews contract for four seasons] (in Portuguese). SC Corinthians Paulista. 24 April 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  8. "West Ham sign Paraguay defender Balbuena". West Ham United FC. 14 July 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  9. "Salah, Mane & Sturridge on target as Liverpool beat West Ham 4–0". BBC Sport. 12 August 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  10. "Leicester City 1–1 West Ham United". BBC Sport. 27 October 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  11. "Mexico vs. Paraguay 2015: Final score 1–0, El Tri run rampant in Kansas City". SB Nation. 31 March 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  12. "Los 23 elegidos de Díaz" [Díaz's 23 chosen ones] (in Spanish). ABC Color. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  13. "Solo un par de nuevos entre los de siempre" [Only a bunch of newbies among the usual ones] (in Spanish). ABC Color. 10 May 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  14. "Shorthanded USA outlasts Paraguay 1–0 to advance to 2016 Copa America quarterfinals". U.S. Soccer. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  15. Fabián Balbuena at Soccerway. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  16. "Games played by Fabián Balbuena in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  17. "Games played by Fabián Balbuena in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  18. "Games played by Fabián Balbuena in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  19. "Balbuena, Fabián". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  20. http://www.conmebol.com/sites/default/files/reglamento_copa_america_chile_2015_-_pagina_web_.pdf
  21. "Com domínio do Palmeiras, Seleção é premiada recheada de finalistas" [With prevalence of Palmeiras, Best XI is awarded full of finalists] (in Portuguese). Federação Paulista de Futebol. 9 April 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
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