Pablo Escobar (footballer, born 1979)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Pablo Daniel Escobar Olivetti (born 23 February 1979) is a football coach and former player. He played mainly as an attacking midfielder or second striker and is the head coach of Bolivia’s under-17 national team. Born in Asunción, Paraguay, Escobar later represented Bolivia after gaining Bolivian citizenship in 2008.

Career in brief
- Youth: Olimpia (1991–1998)
- Olimpia (1999–2000): 23 appearances, 1 goal
- Gimnasia de Jujuy (2000–2003): 34 appearances, 3 goals
- San José (2004): 38 appearances, 22 goals
- The Strongest (2005–2008): 96 appearances, 47 goals
- Cerro Porteño (loan) (2006): 28 appearances, 4 goals
- Ipatinga (loan) (2008): 11 appearances, 3 goals
- Santo André (loan) (2009): 25 appearances, 3 goals
- Mirassol (2010): 9 appearances, 4 goals
- Ponte Preta (2010): 21 appearances, 3 goals
- Botafogo SP (2011): 13 appearances, 0 goals
- The Strongest (2011–2018): 277 appearances, 157 goals
- International: Bolivia (2008–2018): 23 caps, 6 goals

Coaching career
- The Strongest (2019)
- Sol de América (2019–2020)
- Bolivia assistant coach (2020–2023)
- Bolivia U20 (2021–2023)
- Bolivia interim coach (2022)
- Bolivia U17 (2023–)

Notable moments and facts
- He scored a second-half hat-trick in the 2017 Copa Libertadores qualifying, becoming the oldest hat-trick scorer in the competition at that time (38 years old).
- In 2018, he had two four-goal games (poker) at age 39, becoming the oldest player to score four goals in a top-tier match in the 21st century (a record later surpassed).
- He was the first player to score two pokers in top-tier matches after turning 38 since Ferenc Puskás in 1965.
- Escobar became a Bolivian citizen in 2008 to play for the Bolivia national team.