{{short description|Venezuelan footballer (born 1989)}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Alain Baroja | image = | fullname = Alain Baroja Méndez | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1989|10|23|df=y}} | birth_place = Caracas, Venezuela | height = {{height|m=1.83}} | position = Goalkeeper | currentclub = Always Ready | clubnumber = 1 | youthyears1 = 2005–2009 | youthclubs1 = Caracas | years1 = 2009–2020 | clubs1 = Caracas | caps1 = 133 | goals1 = 0 | years2 = 2011–2012 | clubs2 = → Llaneros de Guanare (loan) | caps2 = 29 | goals2 = 0 | years3 = 2015–2016 | clubs3 = → AEK Athens (loan) | caps3 = 25 | goals3 = 0 | years4 = 2016–2017 | clubs4 = → Cádiz (loan) | caps4 = 0 | goals4 = 0 | years5 = 2016–2017 | clubs5 = → Sud América (loan) | caps5 = 32 | goals5 = 0 | years6 = 2017–2018 | clubs6 = → Monagas (loan) | caps6 = 23 | goals6 = 0 | years7 = 2018 | clubs7 = → Carabobo (loan) | caps7 = 13 | goals7 = 0 | years8 = 2020–2021 | clubs8 = Delfín | caps8 = 22 | goals8 = 0 | years9 = 2022–2023 | clubs9 = Caracas | caps9 = 65 | goals9 = 0 |years10 = 2024– |clubs10 =Always Ready |caps10 = 35 |goals10 = 0 | nationalyears1 = 2015– | nationalteam1 = Venezuela | nationalcaps1 = 15 | nationalgoals1 = 0 | club-update = 21 December 2024 | nationalteam-update = 24 March 2023 }} {{family name hatnote|Baroja|Méndez|lang=Spanish}} '''Alain Baroja Méndez''' (born 23 October 1989) is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Always Ready and the Venezuela national team.
== Club career== Born in Caracas, Alain debuted for the national team at age 25. Initially second-choice to Dani Hernandez, he soon worked his way up to first-choice and eventually earned his first senior cap following some brilliant performances at club level with Caracas FC.
On 17 July 2015, AEK Athens reached an agreement with Caracas FC for the transfer of Alain Baroja on a one-year loan. The 25-year-old Venezuelan goalkeeper was under AEK Athens radar for a while and as his team, Caracas FC, officially announced his transfer -on a one-year loan- to the Greek club was completed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sdna.gr/gr/news-in-english/arthro-news-in-english/53263/aek-clinch-deal-for-baroja-/|title=AEK clinch deal for Baroja|publisher=www.sdna.gr|date=17 July 2015|access-date=18 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721112521/http://www.sdna.gr/gr/news-in-english/arthro-news-in-english/53263/aek-clinch-deal-for-baroja-/|archive-date=21 July 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> He started as the indisputable first goalie of the club, till 17 December 2015 when he suffered a finger injury in training and will remain out of action for at least one month.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sdna.gr/news-english/article/147715/baroja-injured-training |title=Baroja out for a month with injury | publisher=www.sdna.gr|date= 18 December 2015}}</ref> On 13 February 2016, almost two months from his last appearance, he replaced his teammate Giannis Anestis, being the first choice of the manager Gustavo Poyet, in a glorious 1-0 derby win against the undefeated, till that game, champions Olympiakos.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sdna.gr/podosfairo/superleague/article/168188/mparoxa-oloi-thysiastikan |title=Mπαρόχα: "Όλοι θυσιάστηκαν"| publisher=www.sdna.gr|date= 14 February 2016}}</ref> On 9 June 2016, the officials of AEK Athens announced that they are not intended to activate the buying clause on Alain Baroja's loan contract and the Venezuelan goalkeeper will return to Caracas FC.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sdna.gr/news-english/article/209743/baroja-officially-leaves-aek |title=Baroja officially released from AEK| publisher=www.sdna.gr|date= 9 June 2016}}</ref>
On 24 August 2016, Baroja was loaned to Spanish Segunda División club Cádiz CF, being immediately loaned out to Sud América in Uruguay.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://web.cadizcf.com/noticia/15878/el-cadiz-ficha-a-alain-baroja-y-lo-cede-al-sud-america-uruguayo|title=El Cádiz ficha a Alain Baroja y lo cede al Sud América uruguayo|trans-title=Cádiz sign Alain Baroja and loan him to Uruguayan Sud América|publisher=Cádiz CF|language=es|date=24 August 2016|accessdate=27 August 2016}}{{Dead link|date=December 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref>
==International career== On 1 October 2012, Baroja received his first call-up to the Venezuelan senior side, for a match scheduled to be played against Ecuador on 16 October 2012 for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification, but he didn't play. He was called again to play a friendly match against Nigeria but he didn't play either.
Under the new management of Noel Sanvicente, Dani Hernandez was used as first choice goalkeeper in the first 4 friendly games of Sanvicente. In February 2015, there were scheduled 2 matches against Honduras, but because they were out of the FIFA calendar, Sanvicente could only call players from the Venezuelan Primera División for the national team. Baroja was chosen as the starting goalkeeper and finally debuted for the national team at age 25. Venezuela won both matches against Honduras and Baroja's performance was very well received.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://deportes.starmedia.com/futbol/resultado-partido-amistoso-venezuela-vs-honduras-11-febrero-2015.html|title=Resultado del partido amistoso Venezuela vs. Honduras, 11 de febrero 2015|publisher=deportes.starmedia.com|date=11 February 2015|access-date=18 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721220229/http://deportes.starmedia.com/futbol/resultado-partido-amistoso-venezuela-vs-honduras-11-febrero-2015.html|archive-date=21 July 2015|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Baroja started again against Peru on March, a game Venezuela won 1–0 with another good performance of the goalkeeper.
On 10 November 2015, Baroja is doubtful for the games with his national team, but his injury isn't serious enough to worry AEK Athens. Baroja played for a couple of minutes at the end of the game against Asteras Tripolis suffering two-headed muscle injury. The footballer travelled to Venezuela and according to the National team's medical staff his injury isn't too severe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sdna.gr/news-english/article/134185/positive-messages-baroja |title=Good news for Baroja| publisher=www.sdna.gr |date= 10 November 2015}}</ref>
===2015 Copa America=== On 12 May 2015, Baroja was named in Venezuela's 23-man squad for the Copa America 2015 and assigned the number 1 shirt.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.espnfc.com/copa-america/story/2445502/2015-copa-america-squad-lists|title=2015 Copa America squad lists| publisher=www.espnfc.com|date= 28 May 2015}}</ref> Initially second-choice to Dani Hernandez, he soon worked his way up to first-choice following some brilliant performances at club level with Caracas FC and earned his first cap in a competitive match. In the team's opening match of the tournament against Colombia, he kept a clean sheet and stopped a shot from James Rodríguez helping the team's victory.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.totalsportek.com/highlights/colombia-vs-venezuela-2015-copa-america/|title=Venezuela 1-0 Colombia Highlights 2015 Copa America| publisher=www.totalsportek.com|date= 14 June 2015}}</ref> Baroja started the next 2 group games of Venezuela and made a world-class save in the last group match, stopping a header from Brazil's centre-back Thiago Silva. Despite his good performance in the tournament Venezuela was eliminated in the group stage.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}
== Career statistics== ===Club=== {{updated|match played 21 December 2024}}<ref>{{Soccerway|alain-baroja/118802}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition |- !rowspan="2"|Club !rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="3"|League !colspan="2"|Cup !colspan="2"|Continental !colspan="2"|Other !colspan="2"|Total |- !Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals |- | rowspan="6"|Caracas |2012–13 | rowspan="5"|Venezuelan Primera División |27||0||0||0||5||0||colspan="2"|—||32||0 |- |2013–14||32||0||0||0||2||0||colspan="2"|—||34||0 |- |2014–15||31||0||0||0||4||0||colspan="2"|—||35||0 |- |2016||2||0||0||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||2||0 |- |2019||41||0||0||0||8||0||colspan="2"|—||49||0 |- ! colspan="2" | Total !133!!0!!0!!0!!19!!0!!colspan="2"|—!!152!!0 |- |Llaneros de Guanare (loan) |2011–12||Venezuelan Primera División||29||0||0||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||29||0 |- |AEK Athens (loan) |2015–16 |Super League Greece |25||0||4||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||29||0 |- | rowspan="3"|Sud América (loan) |2016 | rowspan="2"|Uruguayan Primera División |14||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||14||0 |- |2017||18||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||18||0 |- ! colspan="2" | Total !32!!0!!colspan="2"|—!!colspan="2"|—!!colspan="2"|—!!32!!0 |- | rowspan="3"|Monagas (loan) |2017 | rowspan="2"|Venezuelan Primera División |11||0||1||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||12||0 |- |2018||12||0||colspan="2"|—||5||0||colspan="2"|—||17||0 |- ! colspan="2" | Total !23!!0!!1!!0!!5!!0!!colspan="2"|—!!29!!0 |- |Carabobo (loan) |2018 |Venezuelan Primera División |13||0||1||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||14||0 |- | rowspan="3"|Delfín |2020 | rowspan="2"|Ecuadorian Serie A |10||0||colspan="2"|—||2||0||1||0||13||0 |- |2021||12||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||0||0||12||0 |- ! colspan="2" | Total !22!!0!!colspan="2"|—!!2!!0!!1!!0!!25!!0 |- | rowspan="3"|Caracas |2022 | rowspan="2"|Venezuelan Primera División |35||0||colspan="2"|—||6||0||colspan="2"|—||41||0 |- |2023||30||0||colspan="2"|—||1||0||colspan="2"|—||31||0 |- ! colspan="2" | Total !65!!0!!colspan="2"|—!!7!!0!!colspan="2"|—!!72!!0 |- |Always Ready |2024 |Bolivian Primera División |35||0||colspan="2"|—||12||0||colspan="2"|—||47||0 |- ! colspan="3" | Career total !377!!0!!6!!0!!45!!0!!1!!0!!429!!0 |}
===International=== {{updated|match played 24 March 2023}}<ref>{{NFT player|58172|access-date=27 March 2025}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ Appearances and goals by national team and year !National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals |- |rowspan="10"|Venezuela |- |2012||0||0 |- |2013||0||0 |- |2015||12||0 |- |2016||1||0 |- |2017||1||0 |- |2020||0||0 |- |2022||0||0 |- |2023||1||0 |- |2024||0||0 |- !colspan="2"|Total!!15!!0 |}
==Honours== '''Caracas''' * Copa Venezuela: 2013
'''AEK Athens''' * Greek Cup: 2015-2016
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Venezuela squad 2015 Copa América}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baroja, Alain}} Category:1989 births Category:Living people Category:Footballers from Caracas Category:Men's association football goalkeepers Category:Venezuelan men's footballers Category:Venezuelan expatriate men's footballers Category:Venezuela men's international footballers Category:2015 Copa América players Category:Venezuelan Primera División players Category:Ecuadorian Serie A players Category:Uruguayan Primera División players Category:Super League Greece players Category:Caracas F.C. players Category:Llaneros Escuela de Fútbol players Category:AEK Athens F.C. players Category:Cádiz CF players Category:Sud América players Category:Monagas S.C. players Category:Carabobo F.C. players Category:Delfín S.C. footballers Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Uruguay Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Ecuador Category:Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Greece Category:Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Uruguay Category:Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Ecuador