Christian Bolaños Navarro (born 17 May 1984) is a Costa Rican 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 winger for

Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. The team's signature colours are purple ...

. Since his international debut in 2005, Bolaños has earned over 80 international caps and played at three

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

s. His brother Jonathan is also a footballer.

Club career

Deportivo Saprissa

With Saprissa Bolaños won various national championships as well as a UNCAF Cup title and a

CONCACAF Champions Cup The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Americ ...

title. Bolaños participated in the 2005

FIFA Club World Championship Toyota Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

with his team, and was awarded by

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

as the third best player of the tournament. Following this success he was invited to attend a ten-day trial with

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, although he was not signed on a permanent basis. On 9 August 2006, he signed a one-year loan deal with

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

. However, he failed to obtain a work permit having not played enough games for his country, and the deal fell through.

OB

On 2 June 2007, he signed a three-year contract with the Danish side OB in the top-flight

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each yea ...

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 Start can refer to multiple topics: *Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports *Standing start, and rolling start, in an auto race Acronyms *St ...

starting 1 January 2009. In IK Start's first test against a

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

side, Bolaños received rave reviews from the media after outplaying Norwegian international

Trond Erik Bertelsen Trond Erik Bertelsen (born 5 June 1984) is a retired Norwegian football player who currently works for Sandnes Ulf. He is originally from Sandnes where he played for Lura IL. The fast paced left back has 32 U21-international caps and 30 caps a ...

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

, who a few days earlier had controlled

Bastian Schweinsteiger Bastian Schweinsteiger (; born 1 August 1984) is a German former professional footballer who usually played as a central midfielder. Earlier in his career, he primarily played as a wide midfielder. Schweinsteiger is regarded as one of the great ...

during Norway's win against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Start coach

Knut Tørum Knut Kjartan Tørum (born 16 August 1971 in Bergen) is a Norwegian football coach. He's a former manager for Moss FK, leading the team to the Tippeliga play-off's in 2005. He's also a former assistant coach for Stabæk Fotball. In August 2006, ...

said after the game that he will be playing on the right wing during the 2009 season. 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 Football Club Copenhagen ( da, Football Club København, ), commonly known as FC København, FC Copenhagen, Copenhagen or simply FCK, is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on ...

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 Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

, which could re-unite him with former Copenhagen manager

Ståle Solbakken Ståle Solbakken (born 27 February 1968) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Norway national team. During his playing career, Solbakken was named 1995 Norwegian midfielder of the year, and h ...

Cartaginés

On 8 September 2014, he signed with Cartaginés, only to leave them for Qatari side

Al Gharafa Al-Gharafa Sports Club ( ar, نادي الغرافة الرياضي) is a Qatari multisports club based in the Al Gharrafa district of Al Rayyan. It is best known for its football team, although it also has teams for other sports. It was estab ...

after the winter championship.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

On 20 January 2016, he signed a multi-year contract with

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Marc ...

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for an undisclosed amount.

Saprissa

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

International career

He played in the

2001 FIFA U-17 World Championship The FIFA U-17 World Championship 2001, the ninth edition of the tournament, was held in the cities of Port of Spain, Malabar in Arima, Marabella in San Fernando, Couva, and Bacolet in Scarborough at Trinidad and Tobago between 13 and 30 September ...

held in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. He made his debut for the senior

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exam ...

in a May 2005

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and has, as of November 2016, collected a total of 71 caps, scoring 6 goals. He has represented his country in 25

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

matches and played at both the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

and the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

as well as at the

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and

2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 11th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the 21st CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's 50 years of existence. The United States was the host nation. The competition started on June ...

s. In May 2018 he was named in Costa Rica's 23 man squad for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

in Russia. By entering as a substitute in the first matchday defeat against

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

, Bolaños became the only Costa Rican to play at three different FIFA World Cups, and overtook

Michael Umaña Míchael Umaña Corrales (born 16 July 1982) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who last played as a defender for Comunicaciones in the Liga Nacional. He represented the Costa Rica national team. Club career Early career Born in Sant ...

as the Costa Rican with most matches played at the competition.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

: ''Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first.''

Honours

Saprissa * Primera División winner: 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07 * Costa Rican short championship winner: 2003–04 Apertura, 2005–06 Apertura, 2005–06 Clausura, 2006–07 Apertura, 2006–07 Clausura, 2015–16 Apertura, 2017–18 Clausura, 2019–20 Clausura, 2020–21 Clausura *

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

third place:

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

winner:

** runner-up:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

* Copa Interclubes UNCAF winner:

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

** runner-up:

Copenhagen *

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Danish Cup The Danish Cup ( da, Landspokalturneringen; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will quali ...

: 2011–12 Individual *

Bronze Ball:

* CONCACAF Best XI:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolanos, Christian 1984 births Living people Footballers from San José, Costa Rica Association football midfielders Costa Rican footballers Costa Rica international footballers 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players Copa América Centenario players 2018 FIFA World Cup players Deportivo Saprissa players Odense Boldklub players IK Start players F.C. Copenhagen players C.S. Cartaginés players Al-Gharafa SC players Vancouver Whitecaps FC players Liga FPD players Danish Superliga players Eliteserien players Qatar Stars League players Major League Soccer players Costa Rican expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Denmark Expatriate footballers in Norway Expatriate footballers in Qatar Expatriate soccer players in Canada Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Norway Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Canada 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players