Felipe Baloy

Felipe Baloy

Personal information
Full name	Felipe Abdiel Baloy Ramírez
Date of birth	(1981-02-24) 24 February 1981
Place of birth	Panama City, Panama
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Central Defender, Right Back
Team information
Current team	Municipal
Number	81
Youth career
	Euro Kickers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1999	Euro Kickers	25	(3)
2000	Sporting '89	30	(4)
2001–2002	Envigado	37	(3)
2003	Independiente Medellín	9	(0)
2003–2004	Grêmio	50	(3)
2005	Atlético Paranaense	5	(0)
2005–2009	Monterrey	145	(10)
2010–2013	Santos Laguna	125	(4)
2014–2016	Morelia	13	(0)
2015–2016	→ Atlas (loan)	19	(2)
2016–2017	Rionegro Águilas	13	(0)
2017	Tauro	5	(2)
2017-	Municipal	0	(0)
International career‡
2001–	Panama	93	(3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 March 2017 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14 November 2012

Felipe Abdiel Baloy Ramírez (born 24 February 1981, in Panama City) is a football defender who currently plays for Guatemalan club Municipal and is the current captain of the Panama national football team. He also holds Mexican citizenship.

Early life

He was the second youngest of his seven brothers and grew in the populous barrio of Cerro Batea in the San Miguelito district after moving from the San Martin barrio. Pipe grew interested in football after playing in the streets with his friends.

Baloy graduated from elementary and high school, never continued on to university, and instead pursued his career in football where "things have been going well".

Club career

Early career

At aged 18, he started his football career in ANAPROF team Eurokickers, although it lasted only a year as the team was relegated that year. He then moved to Sporting '89 and managed to be part of the Panama U-20 squad where he was spotted by Colombian international representative Luis Felipe Posso, was signed to his agency and the doors opened for Baloy in Colombia.

Colombia

At aged 19, Baloy moved to Colombia to play for Copa Mustang team Envigado in 2001. He played a year with the Antioquia before moving to Independiente Medellín. With the Medellín he had more success; he played in Copa Libertadores in 2003 where DIM finished 3rd. After 2003, he was signed by Brazil's Grêmio.

Brazil

Baloy started his career in Brazil with Grêmio where he played the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A 2003-2004 season. He Finished 20th (2003) and 24th (2004). Baloy was signed by Clube Atlético Paranaense but he was in 2004 with Porto Alegre; they were eliminated in the first round. Baloy was also made captain in Grêmio despite his youth.

In Clube Atlético Paranaense, Baloy had some success after finishing 6th in the 2005 season and playing on the side that finished runner-up in the 2005 season. However Baloy did not play the final because he was signed by Monterrey and had to depart to Mexico. He was also captain of the Curitiba side.

Mexico

Baloy arrived in 2005 to Mexico to play to Monterrey in the Primera División ((First Division), he debuted on 30 July 2005 in the 1–2 C.F. Pachuca match. However Baloy had to settle in with the Mexican fans since he was replacing a fan favourite, the Argentine Defender Pablo Rotchen. After a couple of good performances, Baloy gained fan favour.
In 2005, Pipe had a good start with Rayados where in the 2005 Apertura they finished runner-up. After that season, Monterrey were not at the same competitive level as they were before; but Baloy managed to figure in the team and has been called at numerous times one of the best defenders in Mexico.

In 2007, Baloy played in the 2007 Copa Libertadores after he was loaned out to Club América for that competition.

In recent years Baloy has been linked many times with clubs in Europe. In the 2007 winter transfer window he was pretended by Premier League side Derby County, however the move never happened. In 2008, he was linked to Premier League side Arsenal.

On the 2009 Apertura, Baloy and Monterrey were crowned champions after defeating Cruz Azul in a 6–4 aggregate score. Baloy became the first Panamanian-born player to ever win the Mexican First Division championship. Pipe was nominated that year for the Mexican Golden Ball as best defender of the year, but came in second behind his team mate Duilio Davino.

Shortly after winning the championship, Baloy made a surprise move to Santos Laguna. That ended a four-year spell in Monterrey where he played 145 times and scored 10 goals.

On 14 December 2013 it was announced Baloy was sold to Monarcas Morelia.

International career

Baloy played in the Panama U-20 squad which attempted to qualify to the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship in Argentina. However, Baloy never managed to qualify to the World Cup even though the team was considered as one of Panama's best. He played alongside José Luis Garcés, Luis Tejada, Jaime Penedo among others.

He made his senior debut for Panama in a May 2001 UNCAF Nations Cup match against Honduras and has, as of 15 March 2015, earned a total of 93 caps, scoring 3 goals. Pipe has represented Panama participating in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification. He is currently the captain of the national team. He was also part of the 2005 and 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI. He also was part of the side that finished runner-up on both 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup and UNCAF Nations Cup 2007.

International goals

Scores and results list Panama's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	17 November 2004	Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City, Panama	El Salvador	2–0	3–0	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.	16 February 2007	Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador	Guatemala	2–0	2–0	2007 UNCAF Nations Cup
3.	29 March 2016	Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City, Panama	Haiti	1–0	1–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)

Personal life

Felipe Baloy is married and has two children. He currently lives in Mexico with this family. Baloy is a naturalized citizen of Mexico. He also holds a close friendship with fellow Panama national team mates Blas Pérez and Gabriel Enrique Gómez.

Quotes

• "I still can remember my first years. I was mischievous. I did things that would anger my mother and other people, but what I remember the most is that in those days at 6 a.m. where the Torneos de Barrios (District Tournaments), and at that time I was in the field. I was the first to arrive and the last to leave"

Honours

Club

Paranaense

• Campeonato Paranaense (1): 2005

Monterrey

• Primera División (1): Apertura 2009

Santos Laguna

• Primera División (1): Clausura 2012

Individual

• 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup Tournament Best XI

External links

• Official website
• Felipe Baloy – Liga MX stats at MedioTiempo.com (archived) (in Spanish)
• Felipe Baloy at Soccerway