Joao Grimaldo

Joao Alberto Grimaldo Ubidia is a Peruvian footballer who plays as a forward for Sporting Cristal and the Peru national team.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Grimaldo and the second or maternal family name is Ubidia.
Joao Grimaldo
Personal information
Full name Joao Alberto Grimaldo Ubidia
Place of birth Lima, Peru
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Sporting Cristal
Number 20
Youth career
0000–2015 Esther Grande
2016–2020 Sporting Cristal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020– Sporting Cristal 58 (6)
International career‡
2019 Peru U17 9 (0)
2020 Peru U20 2 (0)
2023– Peru 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 04:30, 2 July 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 04:37, 13 October 2023 (UTC)

Early years

Grimaldo was born in Lima, the capital of Peru. His family was based in the province of Lima, Rímac, a town located in the central subregion of Metropolitan Lima, Cono Centro.

From the first moments in which he played ball, he was inclined to practice offensive soccer. Although he developed his game at the María Reina del Cielo School, his first contact occurred in 2009, when a close relative created a futsal team in the Rímac District. He was tested to enter the lower divisions of the Atlético Ritma club. Colegio San Andrés was the name of the 2002 class team, created to play the Toque y Gol Cup in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The team won that tournament, remaining on the squad until it was 12 years old, the age at which Esther Grande de Bentín was able to sign him and the rule that governs the Peruvian Football Federation to include a footballer from that age.

This team became part of the minor divisions of the club, after being key in various matches of the different competitions, it was in the sights of the directors of Sporting Cristal who managed to make it part of the club's reserves at the beginning of 2016. Jorge Soto assigned him, along with the rest of his classmates —among them Carlos Ruiz, Marlon Perea, Flavio Alcedo, Leonardo Díaz, Gilmar Paredes and Aldair Vásquez—, psychologists, personalized tutors who guided him in his studies and doctors who observed his physical growth, making him that contributed to his formation as a person and footballer. Together with the team from the minor divisions, he won the 2018 Under-15 Centenary Tournament and the U-18 Copa Generación in his last season with the reserve.[1]

Club career

2020–2022: Rise to the first team

In 2021 Grimaldo already established himself in the team's starting lineup, and had a good season for La Celeste, playing 27 games and scoring one goal. During a match against Racing for the Copa Libertadores, he entered the starting lineup. However, the match was unsuccessful for both Joao and the club, which lost 2-0. However, Cristal had an excellent performance in the domestic cups, since on May 30 he won Phase 1 against the San Martín University 2-0 with goals from Hohberg and Riquelme. The following month, on June 25, he scored his first goal in a match against Ayacucho de Huamanga. The goalkeeper was Maximiliano Cavallotti. On the 27th of the following month, he won the Bicentennial Cup, against Carlos Mannucci, with Joao Grimaldo scoring a goal in the tournament.

By the beginning of 2022, Joao was shaping up to be one of those included in the first team. During the 2022 League 1, his scoring average increased considerably, going from 0.09 last year to 0.38 during the current championship.[2] However, despite his growing figure in Peruvian soccer, he was not considered by the coach of the senior team at that moment. In April, Joao played a match with Sporting Cristal against San Martín for the opening championship, where he scored two goals.[3] In September, he suffered the first expulsion of his career, playing against Binacional at the Guillermo Briceño Rosamedina.[4] The semifinal of La Liga was played against the Foot Ball Club Melgar, on November 2 and 6. The first match was won by Melgar, at the Monumental, 2-0, while the second ended with the same result for the rival, at the Nacional de Lima. In this match, during the 36th minute, Grimaldo was removed and had suffered muscle discomfort in his right leg after a hard challenge from Alec Deneumostier nineteen minutes into the game.[5] At the end of the season, in which Cristal finished 3rd in the national championship, Grimaldo ended up scoring a total of 4 goals in 25 games played.[6]

Career statistics

Club
As of 2 July 2023.[7]
Club Season League Cup[lower-alpha 1] Continental[lower-alpha 2] Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Sporting Cristal 2020 Liga 1 10—00—10
2021 1604170—271
2022 24 4 — 1 0 — 25 4
2023 17 2 — 9 1 — 26 3
Career total 5864117100798
Notes
  1. Four appearances in the Copa Bicentenario
  2. Thirteen appearances in the Copa Libertadores, four appearances in the Copa Sudamericana

References
  1. "La cantera de Sporting Cristal cambió la cara del equipo". Diario AS (in Spanish). 2021-07-15. Retrieved 2023-07-04.
  2. Reátegui, Sebastián (2022-09-25). "Grimaldo es el único jugador de Sporting Cristal que suma en la bola de minutos". Strikers (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-07-04.
  3. "El Show de Joao Grimaldo: Futbolista de Cristal marcó un doblete". Diario Líbero (in Spanish). 2022-02-05. Retrieved 2023-07-04.
  4. "Joao Grimaldo se fue expulsado en los minutos finales del Binacional vs. Sporting Cristal". El Comercio (in Spanish). 2022-09-18. ISSN 1605-3052. Retrieved 2023-07-04.
  5. "Sporting Cristal detalló las lesiones de Yoshimar Yotún y Joao Grimaldo". ESPN (in Spanish). 2022-11-08. Retrieved 2023-07-04.
  6. Zevallos Francia, Santiago Emilio (2022). Sistema web "Cantolao" para la evaluación del rendimiento de futbolistas de la Liga 1 en Perú utilizando modelos matemáticos, 2022 (Bachelors thesis). Repositorio Institucional - UCV. p. 13. hdl:20.500.12692/101303.
  7. Joao Grimaldo at Soccerway
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