Rómulo Otero Vásquez (born 9 November 1992) is a Venezuelan

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 for Uruguayan club

Nacional Montevideo Club Nacional de Football (, ''National Football Club'') is a Uruguayan professional sports club based in La Blanqueada, Montevideo. The club was founded on 14 May 1899 as a result of the merger between ''Uruguay Athletic Club'' and ''Montevideo ...

. Mainly an

attacking 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. ...

, he can also play as a winger.

Early life

Otero is the son of former Colombian player Rómulo Otero Córdoba, and was born in

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

during his father's stint at . His father died when he was three years old, and he started to live with another former footballer, Horacio "Chango" Cárdenas, in

El Tigre El Tigre is a city of Anzoategui, a state located east of Venezuela's capital city of Caracas. Located in what is called the "Guanipa Mesa", a river (Tigre) runs across the city. The average temperature is 79°F, all year around, and the annua ...

Club career

Caracas

Otero joined the youth sides of

Caracas FC Caracas Fútbol Club is a Venezuelan professional football team based in Caracas. The club has won twelve First Division titles making it the most successful in Venezuelan football history. They are nicknamed ''Los Rojos del Ávila'', or the ...

at the age of 15, and made his senior debut on 3 September 2009, coming on as a second-half substitute for Jesús Gómez in a 1–1 Primera División away draw against

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 ...

. He spent most of the campaign playing for the B-team in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

, but featured in another two first-team matches. Definitely promoted to the first team in 2010, Otero scored his first professional goal on 12 December of that year, netting the opener in a 3–0 away win over Zamora. He subsequently started to become a regular starter for the club, becoming one of their captains in 2013.

Huachipato

In August 2015, Otero moved abroad and was loaned to Chilean 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 ...

until July 2016, with a buyout clause. He made his debut with the club on 8 August, replacing Mikel Arguinarena and scoring the equalizer in a 2–1 home win over

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 ...

. In February 2016, Otero's buyout clause was activated by Huachipato, and he finished the season with eight goals in just 21 appearances.

Atlético Mineiro

On 19 July 2016, Otero was announced at Série A side

Atlético Mineiro Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

on loan. He made his debut for the club on 4 August, replacing

Robinho Robson de Souza (; born 25 January 1984), known as Robinho (), is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer and convicted rapist who played as a Forward (association football), forward. In 1997, at 12 years of age, Robin ...

in a 2–1 away win over

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, and scored his first goal in Brazil on 12 September, netting his team's second in a 3–2 away loss to

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club () is a Brazilian sports club based in the neighbourhood of Laranjeiras, in Rio de Janeiro, being the oldest football club in the state since its foundation in 1902. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, th ...

. On 4 April 2017, ''Galo'' acquired 50% of Otero's economic rights for a rumoured fee of

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

1.5 million, with the player signing a contract until 2020.

Loan to Al-Wehda

On 28 May 2018, after losing his starting spot, Otero joined Saudi club Al-Wehda on loan from Atlético. On 29 November 2018, the club expressed the intention of signing Otero on a permanent basis, but the deal ultimately did not go through.

Return from loan

Back to Atlético in July 2019, Otero featured regularly for the remainder of the year, but saw his playing time being drastically reduced in the 2020 season. In July 2020, however, his contract with ''Galo'' was renewed.

Loan to Corinthians

On 24 August 2020, Otero was loaned to fellow top tier side

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians () is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author, Sosthenes, and is addressed to the Christian church in C ...

until July 2021; he also became the first Venezuelan player to play for the club. He immediately became a starter for, but left on 1 July 2021 after losing his spot in the starting XI.

Cruz Azul

On 3 August 2021,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Otero signed a one-year deal with

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

side

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V., commonly referred to as Cruz Azul, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football league system, Mexican footba ...

. He managed to start in only one league match for the club, and left after his contract expired.

Fortaleza

On 2 July 2022,

Fortaleza Fortaleza ( ; ; ) is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeastern Brazil. It is Brazil's 4th largest city—Fortaleza surpassed Salvador, Bahia, Salvador in 2022 census with a population of slightly over 2.4 mi ...

announced the signing of Otero until the end of the year. He scored once for the club, in a 1–1 home draw against

Atlético Goianiense Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

Aucas

On 25 March 2023, Otero was announced at Aucas.

Santos

On 29 December 2023, Otero returned to Brazil after being announced at Série B side Santos on a one-year contract. He made his debut for the club the following 20 January, replacing Pedrinho and scoring the winner in a 1–0 away win over

Botafogo-SP Botafogo Futebol Clube, commonly referred to as Botafogo-SP or Botafogo de Ribeirão Preto is a Brazilian association football club in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo. They currently play in the Série B, the second tier of Brazilian football, as ...

Nacional Montevideo

On 30 December 2024, Otero switched teams and countries again, after being announced at

in Uruguay.

International career

Otero received his first call-up for the Venezuela national team on 9 March 2013, for two 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against

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 countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. He made his full international debut thirteen days later, replacing

Luis Manuel Seijas Luis Manuel Seijas Gunther (born 23 June 1986) is a Venezuelan retired association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career After a successful run with the Venezuelan youth squads Seijas was taken to Banfield in Argentina ...

in a 3–0 loss against the former. Otero scored his first goal for ''La Vinotinto'' on 10 September 2013, netting the third in a 3–2 win over

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

, - , 1. , , 10 September 2013 , , Estadio José Antonio Anzoátegui,

Puerto La Cruz Puerto La Cruz () is a port city located in Anzoátegui State, in Venezuela. It is the seat of the Juan Antonio Sotillo Municipality. The city has road connections to the state capital, Barcelona, to Lecheria and to Guanta. Geography The cit ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, , , , 3–1 , , 3–2 , , 2014 World Cup qualification , , , - , 2. , , 5 March 2014 , ,

Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano is a multi-purpose stadium in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. It is currently used mostly for football matches and also has facilities for athletics. It has a capacity of 37,325. History It was built in 1997 for the ...

San Pedro Sula San Pedro Sula () is the capital of Cortés Department, Honduras. It is located in the northwest corner of the country in the Sula Valley, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Puerto Cortés on the Caribbean Sea. With a population of 701, ...

, Honduras , , , , 1–1 , , 2–1 , , Friendly , , , - , 3. , , 24 March 2016 , , Estadio Nacional,

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, , , , 1–0 , , 2–2 , , rowspan=4, 2018 World Cup qualification , , , - , 4. , , 29 March 2016 , , Estadio Agustín Tovar, Barinas,

, , , , 1–0 , , 1–4 , , , - , 5. , , 10 November 2016 , , Estadio Monumental de Maturín,

Maturín Maturín () is a city in Venezuela, the capital of the Venezuelan state of Monagas and a centre for instrumental exploration and development of the petroleum industry in Venezuela. The metropolitan area of Maturín has a population of 401,384 inha ...

, , , , 5–0 , , 5–0 , , , - , 6. , , 23 March 2017 , , Estadio Monumental de Maturín,

, , , , 2–0 , , 2–2 , ,

Honours

;Caracas *

Venezuelan Primera División The Primera División (; ), or Liga Venezolana (; ) is the top-flight professional football league of Venezuela. It was created in 1921 and turned professional in 1957. It is organized by the Federación Venezolana de Fútbol. Format Starting i ...

: 2009–10 ;Atlético Mineiro *

Campeonato Mineiro The Campeonato Mineiro is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. It is run by the Minas Gerais Football Federation (FMF). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: bef ...

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 ...

;Santos *

Campeonato Brasileiro Série B The Campeonato Brasileiro Série B (commonly referred to as the Brasileirão Série B, the Série B or the Brazilian Série B to distinguish it from the Italian and the Ecuadorian Serie B), and currently officially called Brasileirão Série B ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

;Individual * Saudi Professional League Player of the Month: October 2018

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Otero, Romulo 1992 births Living people Footballers from Caracas Venezuelan men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Venezuelan Primera División players Caracas F.C. players Chilean Primera División players Huachipato FC footballers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Clube Atlético Mineiro players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players Fortaleza Esporte Clube players Saudi Pro League players Al Wehda FC players S.D. Aucas footballers Santos FC players Club Nacional de Football players Liga MX players Ecuadorian Serie A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Cruz Azul footballers Copa América Centenario players 2021 Copa América players Venezuela men's international footballers Venezuelan expatriate men's footballers Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Chile Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Ecuador Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Uruguay Expatriate men's footballers in Chile Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Ecuador Expatriate men's footballers in Uruguay