Rafael Delgado (footballer)

Rafael Marcelo Delgado (born 13 January 1990) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Defensa y Justicia.^[2]

Rafael Delgado

Rosario Central 2-Olympus of Bahía Blanca 2, played on March 18, 2013
Personal information
Full name	Rafael Marcelo Delgado
Date of birth	(1990-01-13) 13 January 1990 (age 35)
Place of birth	Reconquista, Argentina
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Left-back[1]
Team information
Current team	Defensa y Justicia
Number	34
Youth career
	Rosario Central
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011–2014	Rosario Central	96	(4)
2015	Estudiantes	4	(0)
2015–2020	Defensa y Justicia	104	(4)
2018	→ Atlético Nacional (loan)	11	(0)
2020–2023	Colón	90	(2)
2024	Belgrano	21	(0)
2025–	Defensa y Justicia	1	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 17:02, 10 March 2025 (UTC)

Career

Delgado began with Rosario Central in 2011.^[2][3] He scored on his professional career debut on 4 April, netting the opening goal in a 3–0 win over Ferro Carril Oeste in Primera B Nacional.^[2] In his first three seasons, Delgado scored two goals in fifty-two matches including twenty-eight appearances during 2012–13 which ended with promotion to the Argentine Primera División.^[2] He went onto score twice in forty-four games in the top-flight.^[2] In January 2015, Delgado joined Estudiantes.^[4] He made his debut on 9 March versus San Lorenzo, prior to making three further appearances during the 2015 Argentine Primera División campaign.^[2]

On 1 July 2015, seven months after arriving, Delgado departed Estudiantes to sign for Defensa y Justicia.^[5][6] He scored his first goal for Defensa in April 2016 during a 3–1 defeat to Atlético Tucumán.^[2] After sixty-six appearances and one goal in his first four seasons with Defensa y Justicia, Delgado left the club on loan in February 2018 to join Categoría Primera A side Atlético Nacional.^[7] Fourteen appearances in all competitions later, Delgado returned to Defensa y Justicia and subsequently made his 200th career appearance in the Primera División against Independiente on 24 August.^[2]

Career statistics

As of 6 September 2018.^[2]

Club statistics

Club	Season	League			Cup[a]		League Cup		Continental[b]		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Rosario Central	2010–11	Primera B Nacional	11	2	0	0	—		—		0	0	11	2
	2011–12		13	0	0	0	—		—		0	0	13	0
	2012–13		28	0	1	0	—		—		0	0	29	0
	2013–14	Primera División	30	0	0	0	—		—		0	0	30	0
	2014		14	2	5	0	—		2[c]	0	0	0	21	2
	Total		96	4	6	0	—		2	0	0	0	104	4
Estudiantes	2015	Primera División	4	0	0	0	—		0	0	0	0	4	0
Defensa y Justicia	2015		14	0	1	0	—		—		0	0	15	0
	2016		15	1	1	0	—		—		0	0	16	1
	2016–17		24	0	1	0	—		3[d]	0	0	0	28	0
	2017–18		13	0	2	0	—		1[e]	0	0	0	16	0
	2018–19		1	0	1	0	—		0	0	0	0	2	0
	Total		67	1	6	0	—		4	0	0	0	68	1
Atlético Nacional (loan)	2018	Categoría Primera A	9	0	0	0	—		4[f]	0	2[g]	0	15	0
Career total			176	5	12	0	—		10	0	2	0	200	5

1. Includes the Copa Argentina and Copa Colombia
2. Includes the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana
3. Two appearances in 2014 Copa Sudamericana
4. Three appearances in 2017 Copa Sudamericana
5. One appearances in 2017 Copa Sudamericana
6. Four appearances in 2018 Copa Libertadores
7. Two appearances in 2018 Categoría Primera A play-offs

Honours

Rosario Central^[2]

• Primera B Nacional: 2012–13