BIOGRAPHY
Raul Ruidiaz was born July 25, 1990, in Villa Maria del Triunfo, Peru. He is a forward in Major League Soccer.
He grew up in the Lima neighbourhood of Villa María del Triunfo and made his first steps in club football at Primera División club Universitario de Deportes aged eight. In January 2008, the player was promoted to the first adult team and immediately loaned to América Cochahuayco, the club's filial team, directed by the coach Héctor Chumpitaz, an historic football player of the Peruvian national team in the 1982 World Cup. His first professional goal was against Hijos de Acosvinchos. After the arrival of Jorge Gonzáles, he began to play as a striker.
Ruidíaz made his professional debut in the Peruvian First Division on October 4, 2009, against Total Chalaco in the Monumental, at the age of 19. The coach at the time, Juan Reynoso, decided to play him from the start of the match, which finished 2–1 in favor of Universitario. He finished the season by scoring 3 goals in 7 games in the Peruvian 2009 Championship and also won his first National title with Universitario de Deportes. Ruidíaz has often been called pequeño Messi (little Messi) in his home country, mainly because of his ability to charge a player one on one, as well as his unique technical skills. Ruidiaz was listed among the greatest talents of South American football by O Globo Brazilian newspaper in 2010.
On January 20, 2012, Ruidíaz was appointed as new player of the Primera División club Universidad de Chile.Despite some early success with his new club, Raul's lack of match fitness and the emergence of young talented strikers at the club Ruidíaz fell out of favour with the Universidad de Chile manager towards the end of the season. On July 15, 2012, Ruidíaz and club Universidad de Chile had mutually agreed to release him.
After participating in the Copa América Centenario, Ruidíaz signed for Mexican club Monarcas Morelia on a season-long loan deal for a reported fee of €105,000. He was presented to the media in Morelia on July 1, 2016, and was given the number 9 shirt. Ruidíaz made his Liga MX debut on July 15, 2016, replacing Diego Valdés in a 2–0 away loss to Tijuana. The following week, in Morelia's home opener, Ruidíaz scored his first goal in a 2–2 draw against Querétaro. On August 1, 2016, Ruidíaz scored a hat-trick in a 4–2 away win against Santos Laguna. Ruidíaz ended the season with 11 goals which made him the season's top scorer along with Tijuana's Dayro Moreno.
Before Morelia's Clausura 2017 home opener against Tijuana, Ruidíaz was honored with a commemorative plaque at Estadio Morelos for being the club's first Liga MX scoring champion. Ruidíaz later scored the second goal in Morelia's 2–0 opening match victory over Tijuana. Later that night, it was announced Morelia signed Ruidíaz to a permanent three-year transfer. Later in the season Ruidíaz scored his second hat-trick for Morelia in a 4–0 win over UNAM. In the final game of the season, Ruidíaz scored a crucial game-winning goal in a 2–1 away victory over Monterrey. The goal helped Morelia avoid relegation, helped the team qualify to the liguilla and helped Ruidíaz win his second straight Liga MX scoring title.
On June 6, 2018, it was reported that Ruidíaz would be signing a contract with MLS side Seattle Sounders. The signing was made official on June 29, as the club announced Ruidiaz as a Designated Player. He set club records for being the fastest to 10 goals in MLS play (in 14 games) and scoring in the most consecutive appearances (8 games).
On November 10, 2019, Ruidíaz scored Seattle's final goal in a 3–1 home win over Toronto FC in the MLS Cup Final.
