Like Gianluca Lapadulaone of the footballers who could have been called up in the early years of the Ricardo Gareca era was Alexei Rios, who worked as a right back. He was born in Belarus, but had options to play for the rojiblanca because his father is Peruvian. However, his call never materialized, unlike what happened with the ‘Bambino’, who finally agreed to wear the bicolor. What happened to Rios? What happened to him?
Alexei, who played for BATE Borisov in the Belarusian Premier League between 2015 and 2019, always waited for his call to the national team. In fact, he used his social networks to leave messages of encouragement when he played for the Inca squad, to be in contact with the Peruvian fans and to regret his non-calls.
However, he was never part of the ‘Tiger’ roster, until, possibly, he got tired of waiting and decided to accept the proposal to defend the colors of his country of birth. He made his debut playing a friendly against Norway and, months later, he played a qualifying match against the Netherlands, where he scored a goal.
After his debut with the Belarusian jacket, the then sports director of the FPF Juan Carlos Oblitas spoke out and indicated that Alexei did not feel part of the bicolor. “We tried to communicate with him and it was always difficult, just like with Lapadula. It is clear that they do not feel Peruvian and do not want to play here. In the same way we follow the others, ”said the manager in August 2016. The player’s response was immediate and through a message on Facebook he said:“ What do I not feel about Peru? Hahaha”.
What happened to him?
The European of Peruvian descent, now 36 years old, played a total of 10 games with the Belarusian team, between friendlies and official tournaments. The last was in the 2018-19 UEFA Nations League, when he faced Moldova in October 2018. The match was tied without goals. He only scored one goal in his time in the ‘White Wings’ box.
As for the club level, after his stay at BATE Borisov (with which he won the Belarusian Premier League 4 times), he landed at Dinamo Minsk, where he was between 2020 and 2021. Then, a year later, he moved to BFSO Dinamo Minsk. Currently, according to the specialized Transfermarkt statistics page, he is without a team. Unfortunately, he could not make it, like Lapadula, to the national team. But, in his networks, he was supporting the bicolor, at least until Russia 2018.
Alexei Rios’ team | Country | seasons |
---|---|---|
Shakhtyor Soligorsk | belarus | 2006-2014 |
BATE Borisov | belarus | 2015-2019 |
Dynamo Minsk | belarus | 2020-2021 |
BFSO Dynamo Minsk | belarus | 2022 |
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