Carlos Lobatón
Carlos Augusto Lobatón Espejo is a Peruvian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
Club career
Lobatón was born in Barranquilla, Colombia. He first developed as footballer in the popular Academia Cantolao along with his brother Abel Lobatón, at the age of 7. There he had as his first coach Víctor "El Chino" Rivera. Lobatón later joined the renowned youth system of Sporting Cristal. At the age of 18, he was loaned to Sport Boys. In 1998, he made his professional debut wearing their famous pink jersey. Later he played for various clubs in the Peruvian league until arriving at Cienciano. There he would find both national and international success. In 2003, he helped Cienciano win the Copa Sudamericana beating River Plate in the final. In the following year he also won the Recopa Sudamericana this time defeating Boca Juniors. Then in 2005 he won the Peruvian Torneo Apertura with Cienciano. Later in the second half of the 2005 season he returned to Sporting Cristal and helped them win the 2005 Torneo Clausura. In 2007, he suffered burns on the soles of his feet after playing on artificial turf or artificial pitch in the blazing sun.In the last years, Carlos Lobatón has been an emblatic player in Sporting Cristal. He has played in the club for the last 10 years, winning the national championship four times and scoring amazing goals.
Lobatón retired from football at the end of 2019.