Jonathan Cristaldo
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Cristaldo nicknamed "Churry", is an Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 football striker who plays for FC Metalist Kharkiv
FC Metalist Kharkiv
FC Metalist Kharkiv is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kharkiv. It competes in the Ukrainian Premier League, the highest football level in the country. Founded in 1925, the team worked its way up the rungs of the Soviet football system, eventually being promoted to the Soviet Top...

 in the Ukrainian Premier League
Ukrainian Premier League
The Ukrainian Premier League is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Supreme League it was founded in 1991 after the fold of the Soviet Union's Vysshaya Liga. In 2008 it was reformed into a more autonomous entity of the Football Federation of Ukraine and changed...

.

Club career

Cristaldo made his debut for Vélez Sársfield
Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield
Club Atlético Vélez Sársfield is a sports club based in the Liniers neighborhood of western Buenos Aires, Argentina. Vélez is best known for its football team, that plays in the Argentine Primera División, the top level of the Argentine league system...

 in a 0–2 home defeat to Rosario Central
Rosario Central
Club Atlético Rosario Central is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina. Its football team currently plays in the Primera B Nacional, the second tier of the Argentine football league system, after being relegated in the 2009-10 season....

 on 22 April 2007, for the 2007 Clausura. He scored his first goal also in a home game against Rosario Central (2–1 victory), for the 2008 Clausura.

Cristaldo won his first Argentine league championship with Vélez on the 2009 Clausura. During the championship, he was at first a substitute for the striking partners Hernán Rodrigo López
Hernán Rodrigo López
Hernán Rodrigo López Mora is an Uruguayan football player who plays as a forward for Club Atlético Banfield of the Primera División Argentina.-Club:...

 and Joaquín Larrivey
Joaquín Larrivey
Joaquín Oscar Larrivey is an Argentine footballer who plays for Italian club Cagliari Calcio.He is nicknamed el Bati, for his physical resemblance to former footballer Gabriel Batistuta...

; however as of the 11th fixture, he became a regular starter along López in the attack. Nonetheless, a meniscus
Meniscus (anatomy)
In anatomy, a meniscus is a crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that, in contrast to articular disks, only partly divides a joint cavity. In humans it is present in the knee, acromioclavicular, sternoclavicular, and temporomandibular joints; in other organisms they may be present in other...

 injury suffered in the penultimate fixture against Lanús
Club Atlético Lanús
Club Atlético Lanús is a sports club from Lanús, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Founded on 3 January 1915, the club's main sports are football and basketball. In both sports, Lanús plays in Argentina's top divisions: Primera División and Liga Nacional de Básquet...

 left him out of the final game against runners-up Huracán
Club Atlético Huracán
Club Atlético Huracán is a sports club from the Parque Patricios neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The football team currently plays in the Primera B Nacional, the second level of the Argentine football league system. Huracán home stadium is the Estadio Tomás Adolfo Ducó.Huracán was...

, in which the tournament was decided. In total, the striker played 14 games and scored 4 goals during the competition.

In the following semester, Cristaldo started by scoring in Vélez' 1–0 home victory over Boca Juniors
Boca Juniors
Club Atlético Boca Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Boca neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primera División....

 in the first round of the 2009 Copa Sudamericana
2009 Copa Sudamericana
The 2009 Copa Sudamericana de Clubes is the 8th edition of the CONMEBOL's secondary international club tournament. Internacional were the defending champions, having won the trophy the previous season...

, securing his team's qualification. He was also, along Maximiliano Moralez
Maximiliano Moralez
Maximiliano Nicolás Moralez is an Argentine football attacking midfielder who plays for Atalanta B.C. in the Serie A.At , Moralez is the shortest player in the Italian league...

, his team's top scorer on that semester's league championship (2009 Apertura) with 5 goals in 13 games. One of his goals was scored with a bicycle kick
Bicycle kick
A Bicycle kick or Scissor kick is a physical move made by throwing the body up into the air, making a shearing movement with the legs to get one leg in front of the other without holding on to the ground. The move can either be done backwards or sideways...

 from outside the penalty area (6th fixture 2–0 win over Huracán).

Cristaldo started 2010 suffering an injury that left him out of most of Vélez' Clausura tournament and Copa Libertadores
2010 Copa Libertadores
The 2010 Copa Libertadores de América was the 51st edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's premier international club tournament. The tournament began on January 26 and ended on August 18...

 games. He only played 4 league games in the semester, all of them coming on from the bench. In the second semester, he was mostly a substitute for the striker partnership of Juan Manuel Martínez
Juan Manuel Martínez
Juan Manuel Martínez , nicknamed el Burrito , is an Argentine football forward. He currently plays for Vélez Sársfield in the Argentine Primera División.-Club career:...

 and Santiago Silva
Santiago Silva
Santiago Martín Silva Olivera is a Uruguayan football forward currently playing for Fiorentina in the Italian Serie A.-Career:...

 (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). He ended the semester with 5 league goals, and one more in the Copa Sudamericana
2010 Copa Sudamericana
The 2010 Copa Sudamericana de Clubes was the 9th edition of CONMEBOL's secondary international club tournament. The winner qualified for the 2011 Copa Libertadores, the 2011 Recopa Sudamericana, and the 2011 Suruga Bank Championship...

.

On January 2011, Cristaldo joined Ukrainian FC Metalist Kharkiv
FC Metalist Kharkiv
FC Metalist Kharkiv is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kharkiv. It competes in the Ukrainian Premier League, the highest football level in the country. Founded in 1925, the team worked its way up the rungs of the Soviet football system, eventually being promoted to the Soviet Top...

, that bought 80% of the player's transfer rights from Vélez Sársfield for a US$ 5 million fee.

International career

In January 2009, Cristaldo was selected to represent the Argentina national under-20 football team
Argentina national under-20 football team
The Argentina national under-20 football team is the representative of Argentina in FIFA sponsored tournaments that pertain to that age level....

 at the South American Youth Championship
2009 South American Youth Championship
The 2009 South American Youth Championship was a football competition for national teams U-20 who are associated with the football federation CONMEBOL. It was the 24th time the tournament was held and took place in Venezuela from January 19 to February 8...

. During the first round, he was a starter in the attack along Andrés Ríos
Andrés Ríos
Andrés Lorenzo Ríos is an Argentine football striker. He currently plays for River Plate.-Club career:Coming through the well regarded youth system of River Plate, he made his debut on 4 March 2007 in the away loss against Estudiantes .-International career:In January 2009 Ríos was selected to...

, 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
Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona is a retired Argentine football player and widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time. Over the course of his professional club career Maradona played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and Newell's Old Boys, setting...

, coach of the Argentine national team
Argentina national football team
The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in association football and is controlled by the Argentine Football Association , the governing body for football in Argentina. Argentina's home stadium is Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti and their head coach is Alejandro...

, to play a friendly match against Costa Rica
Costa Rica national football team
The Costa Rica national football team, nicknamed La Sele, is the national team of Costa Rica and is controlled by the Federación Costarricense de Fútbol. Costa Rica is the third most successful team in CONCACAF after Mexico and the United States...

, in a squad formed by Argentine league players. Cristaldo was an unused substitute in the game.

New manager Sergio Batista
Sergio Batista
Sergio Daniel "Checho" Batista is an Argentine football manager and former footballer. He played as a midfielder, and represented his national team 39 times between 1985 and 1990. He was head coach of Argentina national football team from July 2010 to July 2011.-Club:Batista played youth football...

 handed Cristaldo his full international debut in the 2-1 defeat against Poland
Poland national football team
The Poland national football team represents Poland in association football and is controlled by the Polish Football Association, the governing body for football in Poland...

 in June 2011.

International appearances and goals


Honours

Vélez Sársfield
  • Argentine Primera División (1): 2009 Clausura

External links

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