Ricardo Rojas

Ricardo Ismael Rojas Mendoza (born 26 January 1971) is a retired Paraguayan professional footballer who played as a full-back.

He first came into notability at Libertad in Paraguay, transferring to Estudiantes in 1995, where he established himself and received his first call-up for Paraguay national team. In 1999, he moved to Benfica, but less than a year and half later was back at Argentina, playing for River Plate until 2006. He represented Paraguay seven times, being a participant at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Club career Born in Posadas, at the Argentine province of Misiones, Rojas played for Argentinos Juniors at the same time as Christian Dollberg in 1991. He moved to Cerro Corá in the same year and participated in their campaign in the Primera División. In 1992, he joined the larger Club Libertad, where he secured a place in the first team, amassing over 50 league matches in three seasons. According to Record, the fee for both was three million dollars. He made his debut on 12 September, in a 3–0 away win against Santa Clara, and went on to play 30 games in all competitions, mainly as a right-back. However, in 2000–01, the signings of Ivan Dudić on the right, and the breakthrough of Diogo Luís on the left, severely diminished his playing time, so in February 2001, he was loaned to River Plate. His pay-check there was a reported 500 thousand dollars, one of highest in the league.

Initially, under Américo Gallego, he could only play in the Copa Libertadores due to his late arrival in the season. On 11 March 2002, he scored his only top tier goal, in a 3–0 victory of River over its main rivals, Boca Juniors. After scoring that goal, he was nicknamed vaseline. He would play for River for a further four years, retiring in 2007 after a brief spell at Belgrano. and was a participant at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, but did not make any appearances. In total, he received 7 call-ups from 1997 to 1998.