The Chilean miner who was a footballer

M. A. Umair

Sports Editor

Last Updated: 5 Apr 2023 1 min read

As we all recently saw the rescue of the 33 Chilean miners who were trapped in the San Jose mine. The 27th miner to be rescued was a former professional footballer in Chile.

The Chilean miner who was a footballer — Chile President Sebastian Pinera (left) hands a signed football to Franklin Lobos (right)

Franklin Lobos debuted for Chilean second division Regional Atacama in 1980 and 15 years and six clubs later, he finished his career in 1995 playing for Regional Atacama. He was best known for his powerful free-kicks. He also represented Chile in the CONMEBOL Men Pre-Olympic Tournament, a qualifying tournament for the 1984 Olympic Games.

He quit football and became a taxi-driver and in 2005, a miner. He was working as a truck driver in the Copiapo mine, where in August 2010, he was one of the 33 miners trapped in the 2010 Copiapo mining accident. He was the 27th miner to be rescued on October 13th.

Here’s the video of Lobos being rescued from the mine:

And here are some highlights from his playing career:

Thanks to Steve Amoia of World Football Commentaries for sharing it with Soccerlens. For more details about Franklin Lobos and his rescue: Franklin Lobos: “This was the toughest match of my life.”

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