Daniel Vaca

Early career

Having joined the ranks of Blooming as a teenager in the mid-1990s, Vaca made his debut in the Bolivian Primera División on 12 December 1999, aged 21, in a 1–1 draw with his future club The Strongest. Unsatisfied with his lack of playing time, he left the club in 2005, joining San José ahead of the 2006 season, with whom he played until 2009.

The Strongest

Vaca signed for The Strongest in 2011. During the first half of a derby against Bolívar on 30 October 2016, Vaca set a club record for the most minutes without conceding a single goal, breaking the previous one set at 706 minutes by Paraguayan Miguel Gariazú and Chilean Víctor Aragón in 1989; he extended the record until 737 minutes, when he conceded a goal from Juanmi Callejón in the second-half. On 4 August 2017, he made his 300th appearance for The Strongest in a match that included a hat-trick and the debut of three young players. Five days later, on 9 August, Vaca made his 50th Copa Libertadores appearance in a loss to Lanús, becoming the goalkeeper with the most such appearances in Strongest's history. On 27 October 2018, he made his 297th appearance for The Strongest in a match against Destroyers, surpassing Luis Galarza as the player with the most appearances for the club. The following month, on 30 November, Vaca made his 300th appearance for The Strongest in Bolivian tournaments in a match against Bolívar, wearing the captain's armband in the absence of the red-carded Pablo Escobar…

In total, Vaca earned 16 caps for the Bolivian national team between 2010 and 2019, the last of which on 10 September, in a friendly match against Ecuador, becoming, at the age of 40 years, 10 months, and 8 days, the oldest-ever player in the history of the national team, surpassed Carlos Trucco's record set in the 1994 FIFA World Cup at the age of 40 years, 3 months, and 5 days. In January 2022, Vaca, now a free agent, was surprisingly called up by coach César Farías for three matches during that month, including two World Cup qualifiers, becoming, at the age of 43, the oldest player in any CONMEBOL squad; he remained an unused substitute in every game.

During his youth, Vaca played as a forward, making his debut under the sticks at the age of 13, in an inter-neighborhood championship final organized by the Tahuichi Academy, only because the team's starting goalkeeper was not allowed to go due to a storm. As a forward, he was able to anticipate the opposing attackers, making several saves to help his side win the final, after which the Tahuichi Academy gave him a scholarship to train as a goalkeeper, where he was taught the basics of that position by Erwin Frey, a longtime Blooming goalkeeper.

In 2002, Vaca married Marcela del Río Ossandon, with whom he had four children: Daniela, Gabriela, Mathías, and Adrián.