Rafael Antonio Caroca Cordero (; born 19 July 1989) is a Chilean 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

Chilean Primera División The Chilean Primera División () is a professional association football league in Chile and the highest level of the Chilean football league system. Founded in 1933, it is organized by the Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (ANFP). The l ...

club

Huachipato Huachipato FC is a Chilean football club based in Talcahuano that currently plays in the Chilean Primera División. Huachipato was founded on 7 June 1947 by workers of the homonymous steel mill in Talcahuano, and it currently plays its home g ...

Club career

Born in

Curicó Curicó () is a city located in Chile's central valley and serves as the capital of the Curicó Province, which is part of the Maule Region. Positioned between the provinces of Colchagua and Talca, the region stretches from the Pacific Ocean ...

Maule Region The Maule Region (, ) is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. Its capital is Talca. The region derives its name from the Maule River which, running westward from the Andes, bisects the region and spans a basin of about 20,6 ...

, Caroca arrived in

Colo-Colo Colo-Colo (), officially Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo, is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano, it competes in the Chilean Primera División, from which the club has never been ...

's youth academy aged 14, after being discovered in 2004 by

Marcelo Espina Marcelo Fabián Espina Barrano (born April 28, 1967, in Buenos Aires) is a retired Argentine football midfielder who played for a number of clubs in Argentina and Chile and represented the Argentine national team. He is now a match analyst for ...

, club's legend. Three years later, already on mid-2007, he was promoted to the first-adult team and appeared in the bench some Torneo Clausura games. For the 2008 he was loaned to O'Higgins to gain experience. However, he returned to

Macul Macul ( Quechua: "to stretch out right hand") is a commune of Chile located in the central-eastern part of the Greater Santiago area, bordered by the communes of Ñuñoa to the north, San Joaquín to the west, Peñalolén to the east and L ...

–based team the following year and was part of the champion team that reached the Torneo Clausura. In January 2010, Caroca was loaned to

Deportes La Serena Club de Deportes La Serena S.A.D.P., is a Chilean football club based in the city of La Serena, Coquimbo Region. The club was founded 9 December 1955 and plays in the second division of the Chilean football league. Their home games are play ...

and stayed there until December 2011 where was an immovable player during his spell. Since 2013 he plays for

Deportes Iquique Club de Deportes Iquique S.A.D.P. is a Chilean professional football club based in Iquique, currently playing in the Chilean Primera División. Founded in 1978, the club's home stadium is the Estadio Tierra de Campeones, which has a 13,171 capac ...

, being on loan during 2013-14 season (where he won the

Copa Chile The Copa Chile (''Chile Cup'') is an annual cup competition for Chilean football teams. Due to time constraints and club pressure, the trophy was cancelled in 2000, but returned in 2008. Its precursor was the Campeonato de Apertura (''Opening Ch ...

) and then definitely joining the incoming season. Caroca joined

from

Ñublense Club Deportivo Ñublense () is a professional Association football, football team based in Chillán, Ñuble Region, Chile. The club was formed in 1916 under the name of Liceo Fútbol Club. They compete in Chile's Chilean Primera División, Primer ...

for the 2025 season.

International career

In January 2008,

Marcelo Bielsa Marcelo Alberto Bielsa Caldera (, nicknamed ''El Loco Bielsa'' , meaning 'The Madman Bielsa'; born 21 July 1955) is an Argentine professional Association football, football manager who is the current manager of the Uruguay national football team ...

called up Caroca to the Chile national team for friendlies that were played on the home turf of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. He was also called up for the March 2008 friendly against

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

; Caroca was the only player from the domestic league to be named in the squad. In May 2008, Caroca was once again selected by Bielsa. This time it was to the u-23

2008 Toulon Tournament The 2008 Toulon Tournament was the 36th edition of the Toulon Tournament, and was held from 20 May to 29 May 2008. Tournament finished with the final between Italy and Chile at Stade Mayol in Toulon as Italy had the title after the final score of ...

. Caroca started the last three games Chile played in the tournament. Caroca was one of the youngest players to see significant playing time during the tournament. Caroca was named the best young player of the tournament. In addition, he took part in both the

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

editions. Nine years later, he was called up by Argentine coach

Juan Antonio Pizzi Juan Antonio Pizzi Torroja (, ; born 7 June 1968) is a retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He is currently the head coach of the Kuwait national team. Pizzi spent the bulk of his club career in Spain, mainly at Tenerife, ...

to Chilean senior team for play the

2017 China Cup The 2017 Gree China Cup International Football Championship () was the inaugural edition of the China Cup, an international association football, football tournament. It was held from 10 to 15 January 2017 in Nanning, Guangxi, China. The tourname ...

. He played one game against

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

in the friendly tournament that Chile won.

Personal life

It was said his mother is Venezuelan, but he denied it, rejecting a possible call-up to the Venezuela senior team. He has two younger brothers who are professional footballers:

Ignacio Ignacio is a male Spanish language, Spanish name originating in the Latin name "Ignatius" from ''ignis'' "fire". This was the name of several saints, including the Ignatius of Antioch, third bishop of Antioch (who was thrown to wild beasts by emp ...

– who has been international with Chile at U20 level – an
Matías

Honours

Club

;Colo-Colo *

Primera División de Chile Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

(2): 2007 Clausura, 2009 Clausura ;Deportes Iquique *

: 2013–14

International

Toulon Tournament The Maurice Revello Tournament (officially French: the ''Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello''), previously known as the Toulon Tournament, is a Association football, football tournament, which traditionally features invit ...

China Cup The China Cup International Football Championship () is an annual association football tournament organized in China by Wanda Sports Holdings. The Championship was inaugurated in 2017 as a single-elimination tournament A single-elimination kn ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caroca, Rafael 1989 births Living people Footballers from Curicó Chilean men's footballers 21st-century Chilean sportsmen Chile men's international footballers Chile men's under-20 international footballers Colo-Colo footballers O'Higgins F.C. footballers Deportes La Serena footballers Colo-Colo B footballers Deportes Iquique footballers Club Universidad de Chile footballers Ñublense footballers Huachipato FC footballers Chilean Primera División players Segunda División Profesional de Chile players Men's association football midfielders