Éder Fabián Álvarez Balanta (; born 28 February 1993) is a Colombian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

América de Cali América de Cali S. A., best known as América de Cali or América, is a Colombian professional football club based in Cali. It competes in the Categoría Primera A, the top-flight league of Colombian football. The team plays its home games at ...

and the Colombia national team. River Plate former coach

Ramón Díaz Ramón Ángel Díaz (; born 29 August 1959) is an Argentine Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. Díaz notably played for Club Atlético River Plate, River Plate as a Forward (association fo ...

has compared Álvarez Balanta's talents to that of 1970s legend

Daniel Passarella Daniel Alberto Passarella (born 25 May 1953) is an Argentine former Association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager, who is considered one of the greatest Defender (association football), defenders of all time. As a ...

. A Colombian international, he made his debut against

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

on 5 March 2014 and was later named in Colombia's squad for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

. Álvarez Balanta is described by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

's official website as "left-footed, powerfully built, strong in the air and a fearless tackler ... blessed with skill and speed."

Club career

Early career

Álvarez Balanta was born in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

, where he signed with the now dissolved club

Academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

in 2010 (who later became

Llaneros A (, 'plainsman') is a Venezuelan and Colombian herder. The name is taken from the Llanos grasslands occupying eastern Colombia and western-central Venezuela. During the Spanish American wars of independence, lancers and cavalry served in b ...

). After a successful youth run winning various titles, he attracted the scouts of River Plate. Prior to his move to the Argentinian club, Balanta was never able to represent the Colombian national youth squads due to vast injuries.

River Plate

In early 2011, Álvarez Balanta was tested in the youth division of the Argentinean Club and passed the trials and became a sub with the youth squad. In 2012, he was becoming more of a regular which led to an eventual championship victory in the 2012

U-20 Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Under-20 Libertadores ( Portuguese and Spanish: CONMEBOL Libertadores Sub 20) is the international association football club competition for teams that play in CONMEBOL leagues. It was created by Manuel Burga Seoane and the Peruvian ...

. Due to his success with the youth team and impressive talent, he moved into the senior squad officially in 2013. Álvarez Balanta made his debut with the senior squad against Racing Club. In just his third league match, he scored his first goal against Godoy Cruz. Álvarez Balanta scored yet another goal in his very next match, this time against

Quilmes Atlético Club Quilmes Atlético Club () is an Argentine sports club based in the Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Quilmes district of Greater Buenos Aires. Established in 1887 (although the date of foundation is still under dispute), Quilmes is the oldest club of Arg ...

. He played his first ''

Superclásico ''SuperClásico'' is a 2011 Danish romantic comedy film set in Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American coun ...

'' derby match against River Plate's fierce rivals,

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

. He played a huge part countering and cancelling the attacking plays in a fierce game that ended 1–1.

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

reportedly made a bid for the young Colombian after just five league appearances. River Plate set a €12 million price tag. During a match against

All Boys Club Atlético All Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Floresta, Buenos Aires. The institution is mostly known for its association football, football team, which currently plays in the Primera B Nacional, the second division of the Arge ...

, Álvarez Balanta tore his internal obturador muscle resulting in a two-week absence on the pitch. In July 2013, Álvarez Balanta officially signed his first senior contract with the club on a three-year term deal with a $30 million release clause. Álvarez Balanta noticeably put on a man of the match performance in the

2013 Copa Sudamericana The 2013 Copa Sudamericana (officially the 2013 Copa Total Sudamericana for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary international club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. The winner qua ...

match against

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Villa San Lorenzo, town and municipality in Salta P ...

. Throughout the match, he was praised for being "impassable". In September 2013, it was reported that

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

had taken interest in Álvarez Balanta, and they plan to watch the player to evaluate his development. It was also mentioned that Álvarez Balanta could possibly be a successor to Barça's aging defender

Carles Puyol Carles Puyol Saforcada (, ; born 13 April 1978) is a Spanish former professional Association football, footballer who played List of one-club men in association football, his entire career for FC Barcelona, Barcelona. Considered one of the grea ...

, but that River Plate would require €50 million in any transfer deal. Weeks later, however, River Plate brought down his release clause to €15 million. In River Plate's match against

Lanús Lanús () is the capital of Lanús Partido, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It lies just south of the capital city Buenos Aires, in the Greater Buenos Aires conurbation, metropolitan area. The List of cities in Argentina, city has a populati ...

, Álvarez Balanta received his first ever red card within the last two minutes of regulation time. On 19 February 2015, Álvarez Balanta made his debut in the

2015 Copa Libertadores The 2015 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2015 Copa Bridgestone Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 56th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. ...

against Bolivian club San José in which River Plate lost 2–0. On 12 March 2015, Balanta scored his first goal in the Copa Libertadores in 1–1 draw against

Juan Aurich Club Juan Aurich S. A., commonly known as Juan Aurich, is a Peru, Peruvian association football, football club based in Chiclayo. The original Juan Aurich club was founded in 1922, this incarnation however was founded in 2005. The club currently ...

of Peru.

Basel

On 15 July 2016, Swiss club

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

announced that they had signed Éder Balanta on a four-year contract lasting until 30 June 2020. He joined Basel's first team for their 2016–17 season under head coach Urs Fischer. After playing in two test games he made his domestic league debut on 24 July in the 3–0 home win at the

St. Jakob-Park St. Jakob-Park () is a Swiss sports stadium in Basel. It is the largest football venue in Switzerland and home to FC Basel. "Joggeli", as the venue is nicknamed by the locals, was originally built with a capacity of 33,433 seats. The capacity w ...

against Sion. Balanta made his Champions League group stage debut in a 1–1 draw against

PFC Ludogorets Razgrad Professional Football Club Ludogorets 1945 (), commonly known as Ludogorets Razgrad or simply Ludogorets, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Razgrad, which currently competes in the First Professional Football League ...

on 12 September 2016. He scored his first league goal for his new club in the away game in the Olympique de la Pontaise on 21 September 2016. It was the winning goal of the match, in the 93rd minute, as Basel won 2–1 against Lausanne-Sport. He scored his first

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup competition that has been organised annually since 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Cup final is usually the most important game of the year with a high attendance. The co ...

goal for his team on 26 October in the third round away game as Basel won 4–1 against

Tuggen Tuggen is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in March District in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. History According to Walafrid Strabo the Irish missionaries Columbanus, Columban and Saint Gall, Gall arrived at Tuggen around the y ...

. Under trainer Urs Fischer Balanta won the

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

championship at the end of the 2016–17 Super League season. For the club this was the eighth title in a row and their 20th championship title in total. They also won the

for the twelfth time, which meant they had won the double for the sixth time in the club's history. Balanta had played 19 league games and one in the cup. In their following 2017–18 season under new head coach

Raphaël Wicky Raphaël Wicky (born 26 April 1977) is a Swiss football coach and a former defender. He was most recently the manager of Swiss Super League club Young Boys, whom he led to a domestic double. He was a defensive midfielder who could also play i ...

Balanta received somewhat less playing time, but played in 15 league games and in all six games in the

2017–18 UEFA Champions League group stage The 2017–18 UEFA Champions League group stage began on 12 September and ended on 6 December 2017. A total of 32 teams competed in the group stage to decide the 16 places in the knockout phase of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League. Draw The draw ...

. Under trainer

Marcel Koller Marcel Martin Koller (born 11 November 1960) is a Swiss professional football manager and former player who was most recently the head coach of Al Ahly in the Egyptian Premier League. Playing career Born in Zürich, Koller played his entire car ...

Basel won the Swiss Cup in the 2018–19 season. In the first round Basel beat Montlingen 3–0, in the second round Echallens Région 7–2 and in the round of 16

Winterthur Winterthur (; ) is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. With over 120,000 residents, it is the country's List of cities in Switzerland, sixth-largest city by population, as well as its ninth-largest agglomeration with about 14 ...

1–0. In the quarter-finals Sion were defeated 4–2 after extra time and in the semi-finals

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

3–1. All these games were played away from home. The final was held on 19 May 2019 in the Stade de Suisse Wankdorf Bern against

Thun Thun () is a List of towns in Switzerland, town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the administrative district of Thun (administrative district), Thun in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Bern, Bern in Switzerland. ...

. Albian Ajeti scored the first goal,

Fabian Frei Fabian Frei (born 8 January 1989) is a former Swiss professional footballer who primarily played as a defensive midfielder and a centre-back. He is best known for holding the records for most appearances in competitive games for giants FC Basel ...

the second for Basel, then Dejan Sorgić netted a goal for Thun, but the result was 2–1 for Basel. Balanta played five Cup games and scored a goal in the match against Montlingen. At the beginning of their following season Balanta decided to leave the club. In his three and a bit seasons with the club, Balanta played a total of 113 games for Basel scoring a total of six goals. 58 of these games were in the

, nine in the

, 22 in the UEFA competitions (Champions League and Europa League) and 24 were friendly games. He scored three goals in the domestic league, two in the cup and the other was scored during the test games.

Club Brugge

On 2 September 2019, he signed three-year contract with

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

Schalke 04 (loan)

On 31 January 2023, Balanta joined

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

on loan until the end of the season.

América de Cali

On 27 June 2024, Balanta joined a Colombian club for the first time, signing with

International career

Álvarez Balanta attracted the attention of the

Colombian Football Federation The Colombian Football Federation () is the governing body of association football, football in Colombia. The organization was founded in 1924, and has been affiliated with FIFA since 1936. It is a member of CONMEBOL and in charge of the Colombi ...

in May 2013 during his time with River Plate. He was called to be part of the U-20 squad for the

2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the nineteenth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. It ran from 21 June to 13 July 2013. At the FIFA Executive Meeting in Zürich on 3 March 2011, ...

in Turkey. Due to injuries and the factor that he had yet to sign his first professional contract, River Plate stated that they would not allow him to partake with the national youth squad if he does not meet with his youth contract before signing a senior contract. In June 2013, it was confirmed that River Plate would not allow him to take part in the U-20 World Cup. On 7 November 2013, Álvarez Balanta received his first

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

call-up to play friendlies against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. On his second call-up, Álvarez Balanta made his international debut, coming in at the 65th minute in a friendly against

. On 6 June 2014, Álvarez Balanta was named by head coach José Pékerman in Colombia's 23-man squad for the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

Style of play

Álvarez Balanta has been highlighted with top praise in Argentina. Since debuting in top-tier Argentinean football, Álvarez Balanta has been deemed as the "best defender" in the league, earning that title within half of his debuting season. Compared to other Colombian legends, he has been referenced for Jorge Bermúdez's hierarchy while having speed and agility to that of

Iván Córdoba Iván Ramiro Córdoba Sepúlveda (, born 11 August 1976) is a Colombian former professional footballer who played as a defender. He began his career in Colombia with Deportivo Rionegro and Atlético Nacional, before moving to Argentine club ...

, all while also carrying wonderful strength and balance. Thus, he is often credited as a complete center-back. Left-footed, Álvarez Balanta has shown that he can play with his right as well. These talents had even made former River Plate coach

, compare Álvarez Balanta's talents to that of legendary

. In response to his sudden rise in popularity and praise, Álvarez Balanta has been shown to be quite modest:

"I am not as skillful as everyone thinks I am; I understand that people are excited for me and what I can do which is good, as it proves that I am on the right path and that my hard work is paying off. However, I am really just 'normal' and not a 'star', yet. People are often asking me when 'I will go to
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
' and it makes me feel uncomfortable because I am still young and learning. But the rumors that run around often make me feel as if my head will explode. It puts stress on my mind when I am trying to focus on River Plate and possibly get the chance to represent Colombia. It's a dream of mine to play for Colombia during a World Cup, but I cannot make it if I don't continue working hard."

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

River Plate Youth *

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

River Plate *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

: Torneo Final 2014 *

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana (), also known as Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club Association football, football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1988. It ...

Basel *

: 2016–17 *

: 2016–17, 2018–19 Club Brugge *

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

: 2019–20,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, 2021–22 *

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( ; ; ), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian Pro League champions (also received the Super Cup host) and the Belgian Cup winners. If both teams are the same, ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

References

External links

Éder Álvarez Balanta
at the Club Brugge KN website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez Balanta, Eder 1993 births Living people Colombian men's footballers Colombian expatriate men's footballers Footballers from Bogotá Club Atlético River Plate footballers Copa Sudamericana–winning players Copa Libertadores–winning players Argentine Primera División players 2014 FIFA World Cup players Colombia men's international footballers Men's association football central defenders FC Basel players FC Schalke 04 players Club Brugge KV players América de Cali footballers Swiss Super League players Belgian Pro League players Bundesliga players Categoría Primera A players Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Colombian people of African descent Balanta family 21st-century Colombian sportsmen