Ariel Gerardo Nahuelpán Osten (born 15 October 1987), commonly known as Ariel Nahuelpán, is an Argentine professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a striker for

Bolivian Primera División The División de Fútbol Profesional is the top-flight professional football league in Bolivia. Until 2017 it was known as the "Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano" (; en, Bolivian Professional Football League). Since 1950, a total of 16 clubs ...

side

Jorge Wilstermann Jorge Wilstermann (; 23 April 1910 – 17 January 1936) was the first Bolivian commercial pilot. The son of a mechanic who worked for Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano, Wilstermann took an interest in aviation, and became Bolivia's first civilian aviator. J ...

Career

Born in

Ciudad Evita Ciudad Evita is a city in the '' partido'' of La Matanza in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, located 20 kilometers (13 mi) from Downtown Buenos Aires within the Greater Buenos Aires metro area. Ciudad Evita has a population of 68,650 (2001). ...

, Nahuelpán came from a working-class background. Nahuelpán had to leave football momentarily to work with his father as a bricklayer to help his family economically. Nevertheless, he returned to football and started his career in 2006, at Nueva Chicago, playing 42

Primera B Nacional Argentina Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, in English "National B Division", and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 37 team ...

games and scoring nine goals.

Coritiba

Nahuelpán left Nueva Chicago in 2008, joining Brazilian club

Coritiba Coritiba Foot Ball Club, commonly known as Coritiba and colloquially referred to as "Coxa-Branca" or "Coxa", is a Brazilian football club from Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest f ...

for $1.3 million, The Argentine player scored three goals in the 12 Série A games he played for the club in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. He left Coritiba when his contract ended in June 2010.

Racing Santander

Nahuelpán signed for

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system ...

on a free transfer on 13 August 2010, to play at El Sardinero for the 2010–11 La Liga season.

LDU Quito

On 27 January 2012, Nahuelpán signed for

LDU Quito Liga Deportiva Universitaria (), often referred to as Liga de Quito, LDU, is an Ecuadorian professional football club based in Quito. They play in the Serie A, the highest level of the Ecuadorian professional football league. They play their ho ...

as the most expensive signing in Ecuador's Serie A history.

Barcelona SC

On 18 January 2013, Nahuelpán was loaned to

Barcelona SC Barcelona Sporting Club () is an Ecuadorian sports club based in Guayaquil, known best for its professional football team. Internationally known as Barcelona de Ecuador, in Ecuador it is simply referred as Barcelona, El Idolo (BSC) or Barce. T ...

Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...

. On 8 February, he marked his first goal with his new team. In his most notable game, he scored two goals against Emelec in the Clasico del Astillero.

UNAM Pumas

In mid-2013, Nahuelpán was sold UNAM Pumas in an amount close to $5 million.

Internacional

On 24 June 2016, Nahuelpán signed with Brazilian club

Internacional Sport Club Internacional (), commonly known as Internacional or simply Inter, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Porto Alegre. They play in the Série A, the first division of the Brazilian league, as well as in Campeonato ...

Barcelona SC

On 9 March 2017, vice-president of Barcelona Sporting Club confirmed the contract with Nahuelpán.

Personal life

Nahuelpán is of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an descent due to the fact that his father was born in

Villarrica, Chile Villarrica is a city and commune in southern Chile located on the western shore of Villarrica Lake in the Province of Cautín, Araucanía Region south of Santiago and close to the Villarrica Volcano ski center to the south east. Residents of Vi ...

. Also, from his paternal line, he is of

Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who sha ...

descent. In December 2021, he acquired the Chilean nationality by blood relationship.

Honours

Pachuca *

Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...

: Clausura 2016

References

External links