Rolando Fonseca Jiménez (born 6 June 1974) is a former Costa Rican 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 ...

who played as a forward. Nicknamed ''El Principito'' (The little prince)''

La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal '' Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argentina. Its motto is: "''La Na ...

'
"Nuevo Estadio Nacional: Joya del Deporte Costarricense"
p. 30. 15 March 2011. Retrieved on 26 May 2013. and ''El Rolo'', Fonseca usually played just off the main striker and is renowned for his ability to create opportunities for his teammates and his fierce long shot. Fonseca is the Costa Rica national team's all-time top goalscorer.

Club career

Fonseca played for Comunicaciones in Guatemala,

Independiente Medellín Deportivo Independiente Medellín, also known as Independiente Medellín or DIM, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at Estadio Atanasio Girard ...

and

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 ...

in Colombia,

Pachuca Pachuca (; ote, Nju̱nthe), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Hidalgo. It is located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca de Soto is also the name of the municipality of whi ...

and La Piedad in Mexico, as well as having home spells with

Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. The team's signature colours are purple ...

, Alajuelense and Municipal Liberia. In Costa Rica, he played a total of 271 games, scoring over 100 goals, between the league's two best teams, Saprissa and Alajuelense. His debut was with

Deportivo Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. The team's signature colours are purpl ...

, on 1 June 1991, against ASODELI, and scored his first goal against San Carlos on 28 August.Calvo, Rodrigo
"El Buzón de Rodrigo"
''La Nación'', 16 April 2001. Retrieved on 26 May 2001. He also won Costa Rican championships in 1993–94, 1994–95 (Saprissa), and 1996–97, 2001–02, 2002–03 and 2004–05 (Alajuelense), adding three

CONCACAF Champions' Cup The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

s in 1993, 1995 (Saprissa), and 2004 (Alajuelense).Rodríguez, José Luis
"Rolando Fonseca ya tiene 22 títulos"
. ''La Nación'', 21 December 2010. Retrieved on 26 May 2013. Outside Costa Rica, Fonseca won league titles with Comunicaciones in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2008, and 2010, and with América de Cali in 1997. After solid performances with Alajuelense and the national team, Fonseca received offers in 2007 from China, Chile, Turkey and

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

, but finally settled, as co-owner, player and

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of Municipal Liberia. Although he was having a great season, he left the project a few days before finishing the ''

Apertura The ' and ' tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is div ...

'' tournament, apparently due to personal issues and some differences with then co-owner Mario Sotela. Rumors surfaced that Fonseca would return to Alajuelense, but they were all quickly discarded. After failed negotiations with Brujas, Fonseca returned to Comunicaciones, a team he had already represented on two other spells, remaining as one of side's best imports ever. Fonseca retired in January 2011, but a year and seven months later, he made his return to professional football by joining

Asociación Deportiva Carmelita Asociación Deportiva Carmelita is a Costa Rican football team playing in the Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second profess ...

on 19 August 2012. After three matches with Carmelita, he was released in September 2012. Coach Orlando de León cited that Fonseca has been busy with his other activities besides football.

International career

Fonseca has also been a fixture on the Costa Rica national team since 1992. He played in more than 100 internationals, and is currently the nation's all-time scorer, with 47 goals.Passo Alpuin, Luis Fernando
"Rolando Fonseca Jiménez – Century of International Appearances"
''

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around the ...

'', 6 April 2011. Retrieved on 26 May 2013. Fonseca earned his first cap at the age of 17 on 27 May 1992, in a friendly match against

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...

. By November of that year, he appeared in a 1994 World Cup qualifier against

St. Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea wh ...

, the first of his five World Cup qualifying campaigns for Costa Rica. The following year saw Fonseca's first international goal, which came on 9 March in an UNCAF Nations Cup match against

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

. By late 1996, Fonseca had become a regular in the national team, playing four

World Cup qualifiers The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

in the fall. He scored a hat trick against Honduras in the 1997 UNCAF Nations Cup, the first of three in his international career. He earned a call to the squad for the

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

in Bolivia, but he appeared only in the first-round match against

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

as the team lost all three group games. At the turn of the millennium, Fonseca was entering the highest-scoring stretch of his international career; he scored eight times for Costa Rica in 1999, six times in 2000, and twelve times in 2001. During the same period, Costa Rica rose fast in CONCACAF, finishing in first place in

World Cup qualifying The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are h ...

. At the

2001 Copa América The 2001 Copa América was held in Colombia, from 11 to 29 July. It was organised by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. Colombia won the tournament for the 1st time without conceding a goal. Brazil were the defending champions wh ...

, Fonseca appeared in all four matches and scored against

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

, as the Costa Ricans won their first-round group with a team that also included

Paulo César Wanchope Paulo César Wanchope Watson (; born 31 July 1976), more commonly known as Paulo Wanchope, is a Costa Rican football coach and former professional footballer As a player he was a striker who notably played in the Premier League for Derby Cou ...

, Walter Centeno, and Hernán Medford. Fonseca played in two games for the team at the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea ...

, appearing in the first-round matches against China and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Fonseca remained in the national team after the World Cup, playing in the

2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the seventh edition of the Gold Cup, the association football championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). For the first time since 1993, the tournament was held in more than one ...

and scoring twice against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, but he was limited to only one cap in 2004 and two in 2005. He was excluded from the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

squad selected by Alexandre Guimarães. Upon the appointment of former teammate Medford as national coach, however, Fonseca returned to the national team in early 2007. He appeared only once for Costa Rica during the two-year span after the

2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the ninth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean ( CONCACAF), and was won by the United States over Mexico. It was contested in the United States fro ...

, but he was recalled late in 2009 for the last stages of

by coach René Simões. Fonseca played his final competitive international match in the intercontinental playoff match against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

on 18 November 2009, coming off the bench for the last 26 minutes. His 47th and last international goal came against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

, in a spectacular strike with his back to the goal, which also meant the number 1000 for Costa Rica in international matches. The all-time top scorer in the UNCAF Nations Cup with 19 goals, Fonseca was voted the tournament's best player in 1999, adding five goals. On 26 March 2011, Rolando Fonseca played in the first game of the new Costa Rican Estadio Nacional against China. He substituted Álvaro Saborío in the 78th minute. This was his last game with the Costa Rica national football team, as he retired from international play as Costa Rica's all-time leading scorer.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Fonseca goal''.

Honours

: 1993, 1995, 2004 * Costa Rican Championship: 1993–94, 1994–95, 1996–97, 2001–02, 2004–05 *

Liga Nacional de Guatemala Liga or LIGA may refer to: People * Līga (name), a Latvian female given name * Luciano Ligabue, more commonly known as Ligabue or ''Liga'', Italian rock singer-songwriter Sports * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Lig ...

: 1998–99, 1999–00 Apertura,

Apertura 2008 The ' and ' tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is divi ...

, Apertura 2010–2011

References

External links