Ángel Clemente Rojas

1963/71 Boca Juniors (ARG) 222 matches, 91 goals

1972/73 Deportivo Municipal (PER) 35 matches, 8 goals

1974 Racing Club (ARG) 17 matches, 1 goal

1975 Nueva Chicago (ARG) 5 matches, 1 goal

1976/77 Lanús (ARG) 21 matches, 3 goals

1978 Argentino de Quilmes ( ARG) 9 games, 1 goal

With the National Team :

2 selections, 1 goal

(Friendly match: 1 selection)

(World Cup qualifier: 1 selection, 1 goal)

1st selection: July 14, 1965 against Chile (1-0)

Last selection: August 17, 1965 against Bolivia (4-1)

Ángel Clemente Rojas

Born on August 28, 1944 in Sarandi (ARG)

Argentine, striker

Nickname: "Rojitas"

Ángel Clemente Rojas was born on August 28, 1944 in Sarandi. From a very young age he started playing football with his friends in the neighborhood. Preferring to have fun than to study, the young boy would miss many days of school to play football. At the same time, he started working for his godfather who ran a foundry.

When he was only 13 years old, his godfather who saw the young boy's love of football took him to be detected for the River Plate club, unfortunately for them, they did not know that a call-up was required. Frustrated, they went to see the rival, Boca Juniors. The scouts recruited him directly after an X-ray.

In 1962, he was sent at 18 to play for the Arsenal club in Lavallol which belonged to Boca Juniors for a year. There, he began to be paid, 4000 pesos per month, 1500 additional pesos per match won. The player was more than delighted with the news.

He then played his first match against the Piraña club, a 4-1 victory under the orders of Mr. Muñiz. But later it was Adolfo Pedernera, the former River Plate legend who would coach the Rojas club.

In 1962, he made his debut against Estudiantes, stressed, he was encouraged by his teammates, Rulli, Grillo, Silvero for example, despite a missed penalty by the young player, the club easily won 4-1, overall he had a good match.

The fans and his teammates wanted to see him return to play in the first team, which was the case. The coach at the time decided to have him play the following Sunday. Boca Juniors won 3-0 against Vélez, with Corbatta scoring a hat-trick and Rojitas scoring three assists. At the end of the match, the newspaper El Gráfico ran the headline on its back page: "Has an idol been born in Boca?"

He then played Copa Libertadores matches and established himself as one of the technical leaders of the team, he was not only a finishing striker, far from it, he was a creator, a dribbler, he made his teammates play and made them shine. Thanks in particular to Sanfilippo, the Boca Juniors club reached the final of the Copa Libertadores 1963. In the final, despite Sanfilippo's 3 goals, the Argentinian club lost to Pelé's Brazilian club: Santos.

And while everyone saw Rojas as the new great Boca Juniors player, it was a tragedy. During the first match of the 1964 season, against Huracán, Devoto tackled the player, on the action Rojas tore the cruciate ligaments in his right knee... The player had to stay in bed for 3 months.

On his return to the field, he played again at Huracán, overweight (something he hated about himself), he found his teammates, Valentim, Corbatta and Menéndez. But during the last match of the season, against River Plate, he was charged by 300 River Plate supporters, who angrily attacked him following an anecdote where he stole the cap of the Millonario goalkeeper Amadeo Carizzo in a previous match. A cap that warded off the demons of the goal and that allowed him to be in his eighth match without conceding a goal. Without his talisman, he would concede two goals and lose the match. A real stroke of genius for someone who had only worn the Albiceleste jersey twice!

He had a great 1966 season where he played 33 games for 23 goals. The best season of his career by far! However, this came when Boca Juniors were struggling to win titles... His next trophy did not come until 1969. Far from being a striker who finished his moves, he ended his adventure with Boca Juniors in 1971 after a dismal season with 15 games for 4 goals, in total, he scored 91 goals in 222 games for Boca Juniors.

He then left for Peru, in the Deportivo Municipal club for 2 seasons before returning to his country, but he was no longer the player he was, worn out, at 30 years old, he finished 1974 with only one goal in seventeen games. He then played for clubs such as Nueva Chicago, Lanús and Argentino de Quilmes in his native country before retiring in 1978 at the age of 34.

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