Miller Alejandro Bolaños Reasco (born 1 June 1990) is an Ecuadorian footballer who plays as a striker for Ecuadorian Serie A club Emelec.
Club career
LDU Quito
Bolaños was born in Esmeraldas, and began his career in the youth ranks of Caribe Junior. In 2006, he joined Barcelona SC and made his professional debut the same year. In 2009 the promising forward was transferred to LDU Quito. On 29 August 2009 in a 4–0 win over LDU Portoviejo, Bolaños scored the 2,500th goal in LDU Quito's history.[1] He was an important player for LDU Quito during the most glorious period of the club's history as he helped the Ecuadorian club capture the 2010 Serie A title, 2009 Copa Sudamericana, and the 2009 and 2010 Recopa Sudamericana.
Loan to Chivas USA
On 11 January 2012 it was announced that Bolaños would be joining Chivas USA in Major League Soccer, accompanying compatriot Oswaldo Minda.[2] On 18 July, he scored his first MLS goal against the Portland Timbers at The Home Depot Center, finishing a Ryan Smith pass for the only goal of the game in the 16th minute.[3]
Loan to Emelec
Miller joined Emelec by loan on the summer of 2013. Though Miller only played 5 league games, he won the 2013 Ecuadorian Serie A season. Miller scored 19 league-goals in 36 games, including 2 goals in the season final match against club-rivals Barcelona SC, winning the 2014 Ecuadorian Serie A. Miller Bolaños became top scorer in the 2014 Copa Sudamericana with 5 goals. During the 2013 season he noticeably formed a successful striking partnership with Denis Stracqualursi which was known affectionately as Straq-Bol by Emelec fans. This was a play on words of Spag-Bol, the Italian pasta dish.
Grêmio
On 7 February 2016, it was confirmed that Miller would play for Grêmio.[4]
International career
Bolaños represented Ecuador at various youth levels. He participated in the 2007 South American Under-17 Football Championship, helping Ecuador to a 5–4 victory over Brazil.
Bolaños made his debut for Ecuador on 28 March 2015 in a match against Mexico, playing all 90 minutes of the game. Three days later he went on to score his first goal, equalising in a 2–1 friendly loss to Argentina in New Jersey.[5]
Bolaños was selected for the 2015 Copa América in Chile, his first major international tournament. In the opening game against the hosts at the Estadio Nacional, he fouled Arturo Vidal, who consequently scored the first goal of the tournament from the penalty spot as his team defeated Ecuador 2–0.[6] In the second match, he scored from outside the penalty area, albeit in a 2–3 defeat against Bolivia.[7] In the third match in Rancagua, he opened the scoring in a 2–1 victory over Mexico which eliminated the opponents, also setting up the second for Enner Valencia.[8]
Career statistics
Club
- As of 31 December 2022
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Barcelona SC | 2006 | Serie A | 7 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 7 | 0 | ||
| 2007 | Serie A | 15 | 3 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 15 | 3 | |||
| 2008 | Serie A | 15 | 1 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 15 | 1 | |||
| Total | 37 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 4 | ||
| LDU Quito | 2009 | Serie A | 35 | 6 | – | 7 | 1 | – | 42 | 7 | ||
| 2010 | Serie A | 24 | 9 | – | 7 | 1 | – | 31 | 10 | |||
| 2011 | Serie A | 21 | 3 | – | 9 | 1 | – | 30 | 4 | |||
| Total | 80 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 103 | 21 | ||
| Chivas USA | 2012 | MLS | 24 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 25 | 3 | |
| 2013 | MLS | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 6 | 0 | ||
| Total | 29 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 3 | ||
| Emelec | 2013 | Serie A | 6 | 0 | – | 3 | 1 | – | 9 | 1 | ||
| 2014 | Serie A | 36 | 19 | – | 12 | 5 | – | 48 | 24 | |||
| 2015 | Serie A | 34 | 25 | – | 14 | 11 | – | 48 | 36 | |||
| Total | 76 | 44 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 105 | 61 | ||
| Grêmio | 2016 | Série A | 18 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 28 | 7 |
| 2017 | Série A | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 7 | 18 | 8 | |
| Total | 20 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 17 | 8 | 46 | 15 | ||
| Tijuana | 2017–18 | Liga MX | 28 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | 33 | 9 | |
| 2018–19 | Liga MX | 32 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | 42 | 10 | ||
| 2019–20 | Liga MX | 26 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | 34 | 2 | ||
| 2020–21 | Liga MX | 4 | 1 | – | – | – | 4 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 90 | 20 | 17 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 113 | 22 | ||
| Shanghai Shenhua | 2020 | Chinese Super League | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 4 | 3 | |
| 2022 | Chinese Super League | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 7 | 0 | |||
| Total | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 | ||
| Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic (loan) | 2021 | Chinese Super League | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 12 | 2 | ||
| Career total | 375 | 97 | 22 | 4 | 63 | 22 | 17 | 8 | 477 | 131 | ||
International
- As of 20 November 2018
| Ecuador | ||
| Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 12 | 6 |
| 2016 | 7 | 2 |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 |
| 2018 | 5 | 0 |
| Total | 25 | 8 |
- Score and Result list Ecuador's goal tally first[9]
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 1 April 2015 | MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, United States |  Argentina |
1–1 |
1–2 |
Friendly |
| 2. | 6 June 2015 | Estadio George Capwell, Guayaquil, Ecuador |  Panama |
1–0 |
4–0 |
Friendly |
| 3. | 15 June 2015 | Estadio Elías Figueroa Brander, Valparaíso, Chile |  Bolivia |
2–3 |
2–3 |
2015 Copa América |
| 4. | 19 June 2015 | Estadio El Teniente, Rancagua, Chile |  Mexico |
1–0 |
2–1 |
2015 Copa América |
| 5. | 8 September 2015 | Estadio Olimpico Atahualpa, Quito, Ecuador |  Honduras |
2–0 |
2–0 |
Friendly |
| 6. | 13 October 2015 | Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito, Ecuador | Bolivia |
1–0 | 2–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 7. | 8 June 2016 | University of Phoenix, Glendale, United States |  Peru |
2–2 | 2–2 | Copa América Centenario |
| 8. | 15 November 2016 | Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito, Ecuador |  Venezuela |
2–0 |
3–0 |
2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Honors
Club
LDU Quito
- Ecuadorian Serie A: 2010
- Copa Sudamericana: 2009; runner-up: 2011
- Recopa Sudamericana: 2009, 2010
Emelec
Gremio
Individual
- Ecuadorian Serie A Best Player: 2014, 2015
- Ecuadorian Serie A top scorer: 2015
- Ecuadorian Serie A assist leader: 2015
- Copa Sudamericana top scorer: 2014, 2015
Personal life
His older brother is Álex Bolaños, also a midfielder. He too represented Barcelona and LDU among others, and played internationally for their country.
References
- ^ Bolaños scores 2,500th goal for LDU
- ^ Bolaños joins Chivas
- ^ "Recap: Bolanos nets for Chivas as Portland falter again". Major League Soccer. 18 July 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
- ^ "Miller Bolaños happy to join Grêmio after turning down the chance to go to China". Samba Foot. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
- ^ Fenn, Alec (31 March 2015). "Argentina 2-1 Ecuador: Pastore the hero in Messi's absence". Goal.com. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
- ^ "Vidal and Vargas lead hosts Chile to opening Copa América victory". The Guardian. 12 June 2015.
- ^ "Miler Bolaños anotó golazo desde fuera del área a Bolivia" [Miler Bolaños scored a wondergoal from outside the area against Bolivia]. El Comercio (in Spanish). 15 June 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
- ^ "Mexico 1-2 Ecuador: Copa America ends in disaster for El Tri". Goal.com. 19 June 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
- ^ "Bolaños, Miler". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
External links
- Miller Bolaños at National-Football-Teams.com
- Miller Bolaños at Soccerway
- Miller Bolaños at Major League Soccer
- Bolaños' player card on FEF at the Wayback Machine (archived 2007-06-06) (in Spanish)
- Miller Bolaños at ESPN FC
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