Jonatan Cristaldo

Jonatan Ezequiel Cristaldo (born 5 March 1989), nicknamed "Churry", is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for Oriente Petrolero in the Bolivian Primera División.

Jonatan Cristaldo
Cristaldo with Metalist Kharkiv in 2011
Personal information
Full name Jonatan Ezequiel Cristaldo
Date of birth (1989-03-05) 5 March 1989
Place of birth Ingeniero Budge, Argentina
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 Newell's Old Boys
Number 9
Youth career
2004–2006 Vélez Sarsfield
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2011 Vélez Sarsfield 85 (21)
2011–2014 Metalist Kharkiv 62 (27)
2013–2014 → Bologna (loan) 26 (4)
2014–2016 Palmeiras 43 (9)
2016–2017 Cruz Azul 10 (2)
2017 → Monterrey (loan) 4 (1)
2017 Vélez Sarsfield 5 (0)
2018–2021 Racing Club 40 (8)
2022- Oriente Petrolero
International career‡
2009 Argentina U20 9 (2)
2011 Argentina 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 January 2021
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 7 June 2011

Club career

Cristaldo made his debut for Vélez Sársfield in a 0–2 home defeat to Rosario Central on 22 April 2007 in the 2007 Clausura.[1] He scored his first goal also in a home game against Rosario Central (2–1 victory) in the 2008 Clausura.[2]

Cristaldo won his first Argentine league championship with Vélez in the 2009 Clausura. During the championship, he was at first a substitute for the striking partners Hernán Rodrigo López and Joaquín Larrivey; however as of the 11th fixture, he became a regular starter along López in the attack. Nonetheless, a meniscus injury suffered in the penultimate fixture against Lanús left him out of the final game against runners-up Huracán, in which the tournament was decided.[3] In total, the striker played 14 games and scored 4 goals during the competition.[4]

In the following semester, Cristaldo started by scoring in Vélez' 1–0 home victory over Boca Juniors in the first round of the 2009 Copa Sudamericana, securing his team's qualification.[5] He was also, along Maximiliano Moralez, his team's top scorer on that semester's league championship (2009 Apertura) with 5 goals in 13 games.[6] One of his goals was scored with a bicycle kick from outside the penalty area (6th fixture 2–0 win over Huracán).[7]

Cristaldo started 2010 suffering an injury that left him out of most of Vélez' Clausura tournament and Copa Libertadores games. He only played 4 league games in the semester, all of them coming on from the bench.[8] In the second semester, he was mostly a substitute for the striker partnership of Juan Manuel Martínez and Santiago Silva (who together scored 21 goals). However, he saw action regularly, coming on as a substitute in 16 of the 19 games of the tournament (he also played one as a starter).[9] He ended the semester with 5 league goals, and one more in the Copa Sudamericana.

In January 2011, Cristaldo joined Ukrainian FC Metalist Kharkiv, that bought 80% of the player's transfer rights from Vélez Sársfield for a US$5 million fee.[10]

In August 2014, Cristaldo joined Brazilian side Palmeiras, signing a four-year deal.[11]

In June 2016, Mexican side Cruz Azul confirmed the signing of Cristaldo from Palmeiras for a fee that was reported to be in the region of US$3 million.[12]

After a six-month loan spell with Monterrey, Cristaldo returned to play for Vélez Sarsfield on a free transfer, for the 2017–18 Argentine Primera División.[13]

International career

In January 2009, Cristaldo was selected to represent the Argentina national under-20 football team at the South American Youth Championship. During the first round, he was a starter in the attack along Andrés Ríos, but lost his place in the final round. Argentina did not qualify for the World Cup, and Cristaldo ended the tournament with 8 games and 2 goals.

One year later, in January 2010, the striker was selected by Diego Maradona, coach of the Argentina national team, to play a friendly match against Costa Rica, in a squad formed by Argentine league players. Cristaldo was an unused substitute in the game.

New manager Sergio Batista handed Cristaldo his full international debut in the 2–1 defeat against Poland in June 2011.

International appearances and goals

Career statistics
As of match played 20 January 2016
Club Season League National Cup Continental State League Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Palmeiras 2014 17220–0000192
2015 22693–133114513
2016 3100215200104
Total 42911300185007219[14]

Honours
Vélez Sársfield
Palmeiras

References
  1. "Closing '07 statistics". Argentine Soccer. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
  2. "March report". Argentine Soccer. 10 May 2008. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
  3. "Jonathan Cristaldo sufrió rotura de menisco". La Nación (in Spanish). 22 June 2009. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
  4. "Closing '09 statistics". Argentine Soccer. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
  5. "Vélez le ganó a un desconocido Boca y lo eliminó de la Copa". Télam (in Spanish). 17 September 2009. Archived from the original on 31 May 2011. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
  6. "Opening '09 statistics". Argentine Soccer. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
  7. "Vélez volvió a la victoria con una magnífica tarde de Jonathan Cristaldo". Infobae (in Spanish). 28 September 2009. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
  8. "Opening '10 statistics". Argentine Soccer. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
  9. "Opening '10 statistics". Argentine Soccer. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
  10. "Cristaldo se despidió de Vélez" (in Spanish). ESPN Deportes. 6 January 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  11. "Palmeiras oficializa contratação de atacante argentino Cristaldo por 4 anos" (in Portuguese). ESPN Brasil. 12 August 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  12. "Palmeiras aceita oferta por Cristaldo" (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 28 June 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  13. Tagliaferri, Guillermo (15 August 2017). "Vélez cerró el regreso de Jonathan Cristaldo y renovó con Fabián Cubero" [Vélez closed the return of Jonathan Cristaldo and renewed with Fabián Cubero]. Clarin (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  14. "Cristaldo". Archived from the original on 25 January 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2016. Statistics (in Portuguese)
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