Juan Rodrigo Rojas Avelar (born 9 April 1988) is a Paraguayan 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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Sportivo Luqueño Club Sportivo Luqueño is a Paraguayan football club, based in the city of Luque on the outskirts of the capital Asunción. It currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División, the country's top tier of football, where it has won thrice, in 19 ...

. On 19 July 2015, Paraguayan newspaper ExtraPRESS named Rojas one of the most expensive player in Paraguay.

Career

Olimpia Asunción

Rojas was born in Fernando de la Mora. He started his career in the youth divisions of Olimpia and made his way to the first team in 2007. He became a regular starter for the team in 2009 scoring many goals and having great performances as a midfielder. Due to his good performances for Olimpia he was called up to the national team by

Gerardo Martino Gerardo Daniel "Tata" Martino (born 20 November 1962) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player who last coached Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. Martino played mostly for Newell's Old Boys in his native Rosario. He ...

. On 11 January 2010, River Plate signed the

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

an attacking midfielder on loan from Olimpia. He is a great midfielder with a strong personality and so he was recommended by Martino and Gregorio Perez.

River Plate

He made his River debut against the all time rival, Boca Juniors. While it was only a friendly pre-season match, Boca played with their usual starters. River, however, gave playing time to mostly youth talent along with veteran captain

Matias Almeyda Matías is the Portuguese version of Matthias. Matías is very popular in Latin America especially in Argentina. In German-speaking Europe it is most often written as Matthias. It appears in this form in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. Alterna ...

. Rojas' first half strike from just outside the box opened up what would be a 3–1 win over its archrivals.

O'Higgins

After a brief loan spell with Belgian club

Beerschot Koninklijke Beerschot Voetbalclub Antwerpen (), or simply Beerschot, is a Belgian professional football club located in Antwerp, that competes in the top tier Pro League after promotion from second tier in 2023–24 season. In 2013, KFCO Wil ...

, Rojas signed for mid-level Chilean team O'Higgins, slowly becoming an integral part of the team, being used both as a starter and off the bench in a variety of positions to contribute to the team's play-making and score several key goals. As of 23 April 2012, Rojas had 4 goals in 10 matches played (5 of them as a substitute).

References

External links