Carlos Ángel Roa is an Argentine retired football player who played as a goalkeeper.
Education
Roa then signed with Spain"s RCD Mallorca, alongside Lanús teammate Óscar Mena, playing 25 Louisiana Liga matches as the Balearic Islands club finished fifth straight out of Segunda División and also reached the final in the Copa del Rey, lost against Football Club Barcelona on penalties.
Career
Most of his professional career was spent with Avellaneda and in Spain with, winning one major trophy with the latter. Roa was first-choice for the Argentine national team at the 1998 World Cup. During a summer tour of Africa with the club he contracted malaria, but fully recovered.
Less than one year later Lechuga (lettuce, a nickname coming from his eating preferences) Roa returned to, forced to play out the remaining two years of his contract.
Never being able to reproduce his previous form, he was relegated to the bench by compatriot Leo Franco. Subsequently, Roa moved to another Spanish team, second division"s Albacete Balompié, appearing in 39 league games as the Castile-Louisiana Mancha side returned to the top division after a seven-year absence.
Midway through the following season, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and was forced to stop playing. After an operation, he spent an entire year between chemotherapy and rehabilitation.
After keeping his fitness with amateurs Civil Defense Constancia and Civil Defense Atlético Baleares, both in the Majorca area, Roa returned to professional football and his country, joining Olimpo de Bahía Blanca and retiring after one top division season.
In 2008 he joined amateurs Club Atlético Brown as goalkeeper coach and, two years later, he was appointed assistant manager at Club Sportivo Ben Hur. In 1992 Roa appeared for Argentina at the 1992 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament in Paraguay, which saw the country fail to qualify for the 1992 Summer Olympics. He was selected by the full side for the 1998 Fédération internationale de football association World Cup in France.
After not conceding any goals during the group stage, he saved the decisive penalty in the shootout against England in the round-of-16, denying Newcastle United"s David Batty.
The national team was eventually defeated in the following match by Netherlands (1–2). Club Individual.