Roberto Leandro Chen Rodríguez (born 24 May 1994) is a Panamanian 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

central defender 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 Salvadoran club FAS. He is also capable of playing on the right side and is good with the ball at his feet.

Club career

Born in

Isla Colón Isla or ISLA may refer to: Organizations * International Securities Lending Association, a trade association * International School of Los Angeles * International Bilingual School, later named International School of Los Angeles People * Isla (g ...

Bocas del Toro Bocas del Toro (; meaning "Mouths of the Bull") is a province of Panama. Its area is 4,643.9 square kilometers, comprising the mainland and nine main islands. The province consists of the Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Bahía Almirante (Almirante B ...

, with

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

heritage, Chen graduated from

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

's youth setup, and made his senior debuts in the 2010–11 campaign, aged only 17. On 3 August 2013 Chen signed a three-year deal with

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

side

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

for a $500,000 fee. He made his debut for the

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

ns on the 17th, starting and being booked in a 0–1 loss at

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. He played his second match only on 26 October, starting in a 0–5 home loss against

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

. On 17 January 2014, Chen was loaned to

Belgian Pro League 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 ...

side Zulte Waregem until the end of the season. He only appeared sparingly, and returned to Málaga in June. On 22 August 2015 Chen was loaned to

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

side

Real Balompédica Linense Real Balompédica Linense is a Spanish football team based in La Línea de la Concepción, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1912 it plays in , holding home matches at Estadio Municipal de La Línea de la Concepción with a ...

, for a year. On 27 July 2016, Chen signed a one-year contract with Categoria Primera A side

Rionegro Águilas Rionegro () is a city and municipality in Antioquia Department, Colombia, located in the subregion of Eastern Antioquia. The official name of the city is Ciudad Santiago de Arma de Rionegro. Rio Negro means "Black River" in Spanish, as the city ...

. He debuted in a 3–2 home loss against Atlético Bucaramanga.

International career

After appearing with the Panama national under-17 and under-20 teams, Chen played his first match with the main squad on 3 September 2011, replacing Luis Moreno on the 56th of a 0–2 home loss against

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 ...

. He was also named in the 23-man final squad for

2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 12th CONCACAF Gold Cup competition and the 22nd CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's fifty years of existence. The United States was the host nation. The competition began on July 7, 2013, at the ...

, appearing in all matches as Panama finished second. On 10 September 2013 Chen scored his first international goal, netting the last of a 2–2 draw against

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

International goals

:''Scores and results list Panama's goal tally first.''

Honours

FAS *

Salvadoran Primera División Salvadorans (), also known as Salvadorians, are citizens of El Salvador, a country in Central America. Most Salvadorans live in El Salvador, although there is also a significant Salvadoran diaspora, particularly Salvadoran Americans, in the Unite ...

: Clausura 2021 Panama *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

runner-up:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Roberto 1994 births Living people Panamanian men's footballers 21st-century Panamanian sportsmen San Francisco F.C. players La Liga players Segunda División B players Málaga CF players Real Balompédica Linense footballers Belgian Pro League players SV Zulte Waregem players Águilas Doradas players C.D. Árabe Unido players C.D. FAS footballers Panama men's international footballers 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Panamanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Colombia Expatriate men's footballers in El Salvador Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in Colombia Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in El Salvador People from Bocas del Toro District Panamanian people of Chinese descent Sportspeople of Chinese descent Men's association football central defenders