La Paz F.C.
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| Full name | La Paz Fútbol Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | Los Ingenieros (the Engineers) Los Azulgranas (the Blue-Reds) Los Hombres Condor (the Condor Men) |
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| Founded | 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Estadio Hernando Siles La Paz, Bolivia (Capacity 42,000) |
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| Chairman |  Mauricio González |
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| Manager | Sergio Apaza |
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| League | Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Clausura 2007 | 2nd | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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La Paz Fútbol Club, also known as La Paz F.C., is a professional football (soccer) team from La Paz, currently playing in the Bolivian First Division Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano. Formerly known as Atlético González, the team gained promotion to the First Division in 2003 (there are twelve teams in the Bolivian First Division).
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[edit] History
La Paz F.C. is the "Cinderella" sensation of Bolivian football. It is the third most important professional football/soccer team in the city of La Paz, Bolivia behind The Strongest and Club Bolívar, both of which have much longer histories, more numerous followings, and larger payrolls than La Paz F.C. Nevertheless, the team has been able to be competitive with the bigger, more established clubs by virtue of its humility, work ethic, and tenacity under pressure.
The team's motto is 'Plus Altus', meaning "something higher"-- a reference both to the team's aspirations as well as to the team's high altitude home. (The City of La Paz is located at an elevation of 3,600 meters above sea level and is the highest capital in the world.) The team colors are blue, red and white. Blue symbolizes the perennial cobalt skies over the City of La Paz and the loyalty of its fans; red symbolizes the passion and love of football; and white symbolizes the snow cap of Mt. Illimani (the symbol of the City of La Paz) and the purity of Our Lady of Peace, patroness of the team. The uniform design is similar to that of Barcelona F.C. (Spain) and San Lorenzo de Almagro (Argentina). La Paz F.C. plays its home matches at Estadio Hernando Siles, informally known as the "nest of condors".
The founder, owner and president of La Paz F.C. is Mauricio González (also known as Mauricio González Sfeir). The original name of the team is in honor of Mr. González's late father Ing. Walter González (see also "Premio Academico Ing. Walter González"), a past president of the Bolivian Society of Engineers. Educated at DePaul, Yale, Oxford and Harvard Universities, Mauricio González has had a life-long involvement in sports (he represented Bolivia in junior Davis Cup tennis competition at the South American level) and is a charismatic promoter of Bolivan football/soccer, including youth and women's programs. Moreover, he is an articulate advocate for the proposition that Bolivia has the right--based on history, medical science, and fairness--to play international matches in its high altitude cities of La Paz, Potosi and Oruro. He is a leading member of an ad hoc committee of prominent Bolivians formed to design a strategy to campaign against the FIFA altitude ban. Finally, Mr. González has shown a shrewd ability to combine young, unproven players of high potential together with seasoned veteran players making the most of their last opportunities for athletic glory. This is one of the key reasons for the surprising success of La Paz F.C. despite its minuscule budget.
The manager ("Director Técnico") of La Paz F.C. is Sergio Apaza. 2007 was Mr. Apaza's first season as manager of the team; however, in 2004 he served as assistant manager of the team under Felix Berdeja. Mr. Berdeja subsequently managed Club Bamin Real Potosí to the Copa Libertadores 2007. Mr. Apaza played semi-professionally in the 1970s and 1980s with Club 31 de Octubre, a second division club from La Paz sponsored by the Bolivian national mining company ("Corporacion Minera de Bolivia"--COMIBOL), a team he also managed in the 1990s. A co-founder of the Instituto Superior de Entrenadores de Futbol, Mr. Apaza is a devotee of the attacking style of Rinus Michels, the manager of Holland in the FIFA World Cup 1974. Mr. Apaza is a strict disciplinarian who strongly believes in team ensemble (rather than individual brillance), top physical conditioning and positive mental attitudes. With his barrel chest, Fu Manchu moustache, and piercing glare, he strikes an imposing presence on the sideline.
La Paz F.C. fields mostly Bolivian players; however, it has also benefited from the services of Argentinean, Brazilian,Colombian, Peruvian and United States players. In addition, several La Paz F.C. players have played in Europe and China. The team captain for the past several years has been Romulo Alaca, a veteran who has been with the team since its days in the lower divisions. La Paz F.C. players that have been "capped" (selected) for the Bolivian national team include Ronald Gutierrez, Augusto Andaveris,Helmuth Gutierrez and Didi Torrico.
La Paz F.C.'s fan base is concentrated in the City of La Paz and the City of El Alto. However, it also has a small but spirited following in the United States within the Bolivian expatriate community, especially among medical doctors.
2007 Season
During the entire year of 2007, La Paz F.C. was consistently the best professional team in Bolivia. It started the year by winning the six-team pre season round robin called Copa Aerosur del Sur, finished third in Apertura 2007 and second in Clausura 2007. Had Apertura 2007 and Clausura 2007 been combined into one tournament, La Paz F.C. would have been the absolute champion. The team almost delivered a thrilling year-end surprise, as they nearly won the Clausura 2007 tournament, losing 1-0 in the final match against San José, a feat never achieved by such a minor team. San José had the benefit of receiving substantial financial and moral support from the President of Boliva, Evo Morales. La Paz F.C. has become a favorite of local sports journalists, who have dubbed the team "bueno, bonito y barato" ("good quality, good looking, and good price").
During the 2007 season, the standouts on La Paz F.C. were its attacking midfielder Ronald Gutierrez, team leader in goals scored with eight, forward Augusto Andaveris, with seven goals scored, and its goalkeeper Mauro Machado, who had the least-scored-upon goal in the Bolivian First Division. Gutierrez and Andaveris have been selected to play for the Bolivian national team. Machado is Brazilian.
La Paz F.C. is one of three Bolivian representatives in the Copa Libertadores 2008 South American champions league. La Paz F.C. played in the preliminary round, with away and home legs in Guadalajara, Mexico on January 30, 2008 and La Paz, Bolivia on February 6, 2008, respectively. The team's opponent was F.C. Atlas, which was one of the winners of the Mexican Interliga 2008 tournament. On January 30th in Guadalajara, F.C. Atlas defeated La Paz F.C. 2-0. La Paz F.C. was disadvantaged by the fact that its star player Ronald Gutierrez did not play. He signed with Turkish First Division team Bursaspor only days before the game against F.C. Atlas. On February 6th in La Paz, La Paz F.C. avenged its loss in Guadalajara, defeating F.C. Atlas 1-0. However, Atlas F.C. advances to the next round because of its favorable goal differential.
2008 Season
After sixteen games in Apertura 2008, La Paz F.C. is in fourth place in the standings. In addition, La Paz F.C. is the second most prolific goal-scoring team in the league. After seven games, La Paz F.C. was in third place in the standings, only one point behind co-leaders Club Universitario and Oriente Petrolero. A three-game losing streak dropped La Paz F.C. to the middle of the standings. However, La Paz F.C. broke the losing streak by winning three games in a row, scoring five goals in back-to-back victories (5-2 against Club San Jose and 5-0 against Real Mamore) and winning 4-2 against Oriente Petrolero.
In January 2008, La Paz F.C. signed talented Brazilian striker Regis de Souza, formerly with Oriente Petrolero. De Souza is left-footed and has explosive speed. He has successfully filled the leadership role left vacant by the departure of Ronald Gutierrez. In the first six games of Apertura 2008, De Souza scored six goals, including, among others, a free kick over a wall, a header, and a right-footed shot from outside the penalty area. After sixteen games, De Souza has scored eight goals.
In February 2008, La Paz F.C. lost promising American defender Kyle Zenoni to a foot injury (hairline fracture). Zenoni had made his Copa Libertadores 2008 debut against F.C. Atlas in Guadalajara in late January.
In March 2008, forward Augusto Andaveris traveled to Hong Kong for a try out with Chinese First Division team Shandong Luneng Taishan F.C., for whom Andaveris played one exhibition game and scored one goal. However, definitive commercial terms for his transfer were not reached, and, thus, Andaveris returned to Bolivia in April. Eduardo Fierro, a young striker from Paraguay, stepped into the position left vacant by Andaveris and scored two goals in his first two games as a starter. Together with Carlos Vargas (5 goals), Alain Nino de Guzman (2 goals) and Erland Alvarez, Fierro will continue to challenge Andaveris for a spot on the first team.
However, Andaveris did not take long to reassert his place in the starting lineup. He has scored nine goals in Apertura 2008 despite missing four games. Morover, he has had three games in which he scored two goals. Colombian midfielder Diomedes Pena has scored seven goals. Bolivian midfielder Helmuth Gutierrez has scored two goals.
[edit] Achievements
[edit] National and Regional Honours
- Copa AeroSur del Sur Pre-season Round Robin:
- Champions: 1 (2007)
- Copa Simón Bolívar National Second Division:
- Champions: 1 (2003)
- AFLP Primera "A":
- Champions: 1 (2003)
- AFLP Primera "A":
- Champions: 1 (2002)
- AFLP Primera "A" No Aficionados:
- Champions: 1 (1997) (as Atletico Gonzalez)
- AFLP Primera "A" No Aficionados:
- Champions: 1 (1996) (as Atletico Gonzalez)
- AFLP Primera "A" No Aficionados:
- Champions: 1 (1995) (as Atletico Gonzalez)
- AFLP Primera "B" No Aficionados:
- Champions: 1 (1993) (as Atletico Gonzalez)
- AFLP Primera "A" Aficionados:
- Champions: 1 (1992) (as Atletico Gonzalez)
[edit] Performance in CONMEBOL competitions
- Copa Libertadores: 1 appearance
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- Best: Preliminary Round in 2008
[edit] Current squad
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[edit] Media Coverage
- La Paz FC se volvió el equipo goleador [1]
- VIDEO Highlights of La Paz FC defeat of Club San Jose, 5-2 on April 27, 2008 [2]
- Augusto Andaveris vuelve a la titularidad de La Paz FC [3]
- La Paz FC suma y sigue: derrotó a Guabirá en su casa [4]
- Los goles de Augusto se van al futbol chino [5]
- Apertura 2008 2da Fecha: La Paz FC 4 - Wilstermann 1 VIDEO [6]
- Fin del sueño "azulgrana" [7]
- La Paz FC viaja el lunes a Guadalajara [8]
- Vivas (Atlas) analiza a La Paz [9]
- La Paz FC goleó a San José en su propia cancha VIDEO [10]
- La Paz se trae los goles de De Souza [11]
- La Paz F.C. invertirá 600 mil dólares [12]
- El fútbol de hoy exige correr y marcar [13]
- El chaqueño que brilló en la Liga del 2007--Ronald Gutierrez [14]
- "La Paz FC hará historia en la Libertadores"--Entrevista a Mauricio González Sfeir [15]
- El joven subcampeón [[16]]
- Se consolidó un patrimonio de los paceños [17]
- En el Siles se ovaciona al plantel azulgrana [18]
- La Paz y San José van por el título [19]
- Al grano. "Dirijo a gente que quiere ganar"--Entrevista a Sergio Apaza [20]
- Histórica clasificacion de La Paz FC [21]
- La Paz FC no deja de soñar con el titulo [22]
- La Paz FC retomó la punta [23]
- La Paz FC sigue imparable en el torneo liguero [24]
- La Paz FC "apaleó" al Tigre [25]
- La Paz FC fue mucho más que Bolivar [26]
- El ascenso vertiginoso de La Paz FC [27]
- La Paz FC sueña con construir su propio complejo [28]
[edit] External Links
- Team Website: http://www.lapazfutbolclub.com
- League Standings: http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=bol/nationalleague/standings.html
- Premio Academico Ing. Walter Gonzalez: http://ingenieria.umsa.edu.bo/carreras/civ/reshis.htm
- Numerous articles regarding Mr. Gonzalez's advocacy in defense of Bolivian high-altitude football/soccer [29]
- Team Coat of Arms ("Escudo"): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image: Escudo_La_Paz_FC.jpg.
- Article in Spanish Wikipedia: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Paz_FC
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