Christian Bolaños

Christian Bolaños Navarro (born 17 May 1984) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a winger for Liga FPD club Saprissa. Since his international debut in 2005, Bolaños has earned over 80 international caps and played at three FIFA World Cups.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Bolaños and the second or maternal family name is Navarro.

Christian Bolaños
Personal information
Full name Christian Bolaños Navarro[1]
Date of birth (1984-05-17) 17 May 1984[2]
Place of birth Hatillo de San José, Costa Rica
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[3]
Position(s) Right winger
Team information
Current team
 Saprissa
Number 2
Youth career
Saprissa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2007 Saprissa 154 (12)
2007–2008 OB 24 (3)
2008–2010 Start 45 (13)
2010–2014 Copenhagen 101 (14)
2014 Cartaginés 12 (0)
2015 Al Gharafa 11 (4)
2015 Saprissa 13 (5)
2016–2017 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 48 (5)
2018–2020 Saprissa 98 (34)
2020 Start 12 (2)
2021–2020 Saprissa 98 (33)
2020 Start 12 (2)
2020- Saprissa 73 (19)
International career‡
2001 Costa Rica U17 4 (0)
2005–2021 Costa Rica 87 (6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 3 June 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13 October 2021

His brother Jonathan is also a footballer.[4]

Club career

Deportivo Saprissa

With Saprissa Bolaños won various national championships as well as a UNCAF Cup title and a CONCACAF Champions Cup title. Bolaños participated in the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship Toyota Cup with his team, and was awarded by FIFA as the third best player of the tournament. Following this success he was invited to attend a ten-day trial with Liverpool, although he was not signed on a permanent basis.

On 9 August 2006, he signed a one-year loan deal with Premier League side Charlton Athletic. However, he failed to obtain a work permit having not played enough games for his country, and the deal fell through.[5]

OB

On 2 June 2007, he signed a three-year contract with the Danish side OB in the top-flight Danish Superliga championship. Struggling to make an impact on the strong Danish midfield, Bolaños was a target for other clubs.

Start

On 6 November 2008, he signed a contract with newly promoted Norwegian side Start starting 1 January 2009.

In IK Start's first test against a Tippeligaen side, Bolaños received rave reviews from the media after outplaying Norwegian international Trond Erik Bertelsen of Viking, who a few days earlier had controlled Bastian Schweinsteiger during Norway's win against Germany. Start coach Knut Tørum said after the game that he will be playing on the right wing during the 2009 season.[6] In his first official match for Start, Bolaños scored two goals against Strømsgodset.

FC Copenhagen

On 30 August 2010, he signed a three-year contract with the defending champions of Denmark, FC Copenhagen at a cost of 1 mill. euros, or 7,5 mio. DK kroner.

On 22 August 2012, Bolaños was linked with a £3 million move to English side Wolverhampton Wanderers, which could re-unite him with former Copenhagen manager Ståle Solbakken.[7][8]

Cartaginés

On 8 September 2014, he signed with Cartaginés,[9] only to leave them for Qatari side Al Gharafa after the winter championship.[10]

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

On 20 January 2016, he signed a multi-year contract with Vancouver Whitecaps FC of Major League Soccer for an undisclosed amount.[11]

Saprissa

Following two years with Vancouver, Bolaños returned to Saprissa again after his option was declined following the 2017 season.[12]

International career

He played in the 2001 FIFA U-17 World Championship held in Trinidad and Tobago.[13]

He made his debut for the senior national team in a May 2005 friendly match against Norway and has, as of November 2016, collected a total of 71 caps, scoring 6 goals.[14] He has represented his country in 25 FIFA World Cup qualification matches[13] and played at both the 2006 FIFA World Cup[13] and the 2014 FIFA World Cup[13] as well as at the 2005,[15] 2007[16] and 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cups.[17]

In May 2018 he was named in Costa Rica's 23 man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[18] By entering as a substitute in the first matchday defeat against Serbia, Bolaños became the only Costa Rican to play at three different FIFA World Cups,[19] and overtook Michael Umaña as the Costa Rican with most matches played at the competition.[20]

Career statistics

Club
Club performance League Cup Continental Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Costa Rica League Cup North America Total
2001–02SaprissaPrimera División171--20191
2002–03211----211
2003–04162----162
2004–05331--101432
2005–06342--141483
2006–07335--10345
Denmark League Danish Cup Europe Total
2007–08OBDanish Superliga2231040273
2008–09203050
Norway League Norwegian Cup Europe Total
2009StartTippeligaen25721--278
201020650256
Denmark League Danish Cup Europe Total
2010–11CopenhagenDanish Superliga2463080356
2011–1232340102465
2012–132321181324
2013–142233060313
Costa Rica League Cup North America Total
2014–15CartaginésPrimera División120----120
Qatar Qatar Stars League Cup AFC Champions League Total
2014–15Al-GharafaQatar Stars League114----114
Costa Rica League Cup North America Total
2015–16SaprissaPrimera División135--10145
USA League Cup North America Total
2016Vancouver WhitecapsMLS27520--295
2017240--20260
Costa Rica League Cup North America Total
2017–18SaprissaLiga FPD100--20120
2018–194910--205110
2019–203923--1215124
Norway League Cup Europa Total
2020StartEliteserien122----122
Costa Rica League Cup North America Total
2020-21SaprissaLiga FPD188--422210
2021-22361011644315
2022-231915122264
Total Costa Rica 3507962561141282
Denmark 1251712139317621
Norway 571571--6416
Qatar 114----114
USA 5152020555
Career total 5941102749714718128

International
As of match played 13 October 2021[21]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Costa Rica 2005121
200660
200740
200810
200980
201020
201180
201241
201380
201470
201520
2016104
201780
201840
201920
202110
Total876

International goals
Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first.
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
116 July 2005Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, United States Honduras1–32–32005 CONCACAF Gold Cup
216 October 2012Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica Guyana5–07–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
36 September 2016 Panama1–03–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification
42–0
511 November 2016Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago1–02–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
615 November 2016Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica United States2–04–0

Honours

Saprissa

Copenhagen

Individual

References
  1. "FIFA World Cup Russia 2018: List of Players: Costa Rica" (PDF). FIFA. 15 July 2018. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2019.
  2. "FIFA Club World Championship Japan 2005 – Official Rosters". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 December 2005. Archived from the original on 19 December 2005.
  3. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  4. Devji, Farhan (20 January 2016). "10 things: Get to know Christian Bolaños". Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
  5. "Charlton fail with Bolanos permit". BBC. 30 August 2006. Retrieved 5 November 2007.
  6. Per Opsahl. "Her er spilleren Myggen vil holde "hemmelig"". VG. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  7. "Bolanos would consider move". Sky Sports. 22 August 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  8. "Wing men are on Solbakken radar". Express & Star. 23 August 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  9. Christian Bolaños jugará con Cartaginés – Nación (in Spanish)
  10. Christian Bolaños jugará dos años con el Al-Gharafa de Qatar desde 2015 Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine – Al Día (in Spanish)
  11. "Whitecaps FC acquire experienced Costa Rican midfielder Christian Bolaños". Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  12. "Deportivo Saprissa". www.deportivosaprissa.com. Archived from the original on 21 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  13. Christian Bolaños – FIFA competition record (archived)
  14. Passo Alpuin, Luis Fernando (25 April 2013). "Costa Rica – Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  15. CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 2005 – Full Details – RSSSF
  16. CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 2007 – Full Details – RSSSF
  17. CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 2011 – Full Details Archived 1 February 2013 at archive.today – RSSSF
  18. "Costa Rica national team World Cup squad: Oscar Ramirez names 23-man roster featuring Keylor Navas, six MLS players | Goal.com". Archived from the original on 16 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  19. Solano, Hermes (17 June 2018). "Cristian Bolaños se mete en la historia tica en mundiales | Crhoy.com". CRHoy.com | Periodico Digital | Costa Rica Noticias 24/7 (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  20. Ceccato, Eduardo (17 June 2018). "Bolaños es el tico con más partidos en mundiales". Fútbol Centroamérica (in European Spanish). Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  21. "Christian Bolaños". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  22. "Bryan Ruiz and Alex Morgan Named 2016 CONCACAF Players of the Year". CONCACAF. 18 January 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
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