Ronald Raldes Balcázar (born April 20, 1981) is a Bolivian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is the first Bolivian player in history to reach 100 international appearances.
Due to his high performance displayed with Oriente Petrolero and the Bolivia national team, Raldes was signed by Argentine club Rosario Central in 2003.
In 2008, and after five great years with the canallas, Raldes announced his imminent departure from the institution once the Torneo Clausura ended in mid June. Not long after, he signed for Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal. On March 20, 2009, he joined Mexican side Cruz Azul.[1] He made his debut on April 22, 2009, against Atlante, in the first-leg match of the CONCACAF Champions League finals. After only making two appearances for the cementeros, Raldes decided to let go the contract with Cruz Azul and signed with Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv in September 2009.[2]
In May 2010, Raldes returned to Argentina and joined Colón de Santa Fe on a two-year deal.[3][4] On January 25, 2012, while doing the pre-season with Colón, Raldes fractured his left fibula bone during a friendly match against Patronato causing him to miss the entire Clausura tournament.[5]
In November 2013, Raldes left Colón due to the club's failure to pay his wages.[6] He was signed by Oriente Petrolero, on January 9, 2014.[7]
On 18 November 2014, he scored his first international goal in a 3–2 friendly home win over Venezuela.
Raldes was captain of the Bolivian squad for the 2015 Copa América in Chile. On 15 June, he scored in the team's second group match – a 3–2 defeat of Ecuador – to give La Verde its first win at the Copa América since the 1997 tournament.[9]
