Throughout history, thousands of soccer players made their senior debut at a young age, but a Bolivian holds the world record.
Mauricio Baldivieso, the youngest player to debut in the First Division. (AS Newspaper)
The clubs’ youth teams have produced youth players who dazzle with their level to the point of making their debut in the First Division in a very short time, even before reaching the age of majority. There is a footballer who broke all records and made his debut in the top category at just 12 years old.
Mauricio Baldivieso is the player to debut at the youngest age in the First Division, since the Bolivian in the 1996 category entered the match between Aurora, his club, and La Paz in a Bolivian League match at just 12 years old, a fact unprecedented in the history of football.
However, and beyond the conditions he had, his debut in the first division had a peculiarity, and that is that Aurora’s coach was Julio César Baldivieso, his father. Faced with this situation, the club’s Board of Directors prohibited the coach from putting his son back, a decision that caused both of them to leave the club: the coach a few weeks later, and Mauricio a few years later.
Mauricio Baldivieso with his father on the day of his professional debut.
Despite not playing anymore, his young age meant that he remained a soccer player for Aurora until 2011, when he went on loan to Real Potosí in his country. There he also failed to settle, he only played five games, and a year later he returned to his club of origin.
In the 2012/13 season, the midfielder reached his best level at the age of 17 and played 23 games throughout the year, but this was not enough and twelve months later he went on loan again, this time to Nacional Potosí. With the Red Band he played 16 games in two years.
His career continued in the same vein, and after Nacional he went through Universitario San Francisco, Jorge Wilstermann and San José, all teams from his country. In this last club he played 13 games and when his contract ended at the end of 2017, they did not renew his contract, he was free, and since then he has been without a team.
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