Christian Mangaron Rontini (born 20 July 1999) is a 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

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

or defensive midfielder for Liga 1 club Persita Tangerang. Born in Italy, he represents the Philippines national team.

Personal life

Rontini decided to embrace

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

on 5 September 2023 at the Al-Azhom Mosque,

Tangerang Tangerang (Sundanese: , ) is a city in the province of Banten, Indonesia. Located on the western border of Jakarta, it is the third largest urban centre in the Greater Jakarta metropolitan area after Jakarta and Bekasi; the sixth largest city pro ...

. After embracing Islam, he changed his name to Yasir Ali. Previously, he was a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. Strong support for him embracing Islam came from Javlon Guseynov, a player from

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

when both of them played in Persita Tangerang. On 28 October 2023, Rontini married his girlfriend, Amanda Gonzales who is the daughter of former Indonesia national team player

Cristian Gonzáles Cristian Gérard Alfaro Gonzáles (born 30 August 1976, also known as Mustafa Habibi) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Liga 2 club PSIM Yogyakarta. He has been 4 times Liga Indonesia top scorer and has scored 249 goals ...

. He officially married Amanda in a wedding ceremony held at the Royal Ambarrukmo pavilion,

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...

Club career

Youth

Rontini is a former youth player of Floria 2000.

Sangiovannese

In 2018, Rontini joined

Serie D/E The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettanti ...

club Sangiovannese on a one-year deal. After an impressive season, Rontini renewed his contract with Sangiovannese that kept him with the club until June 2020.

Azkals Development Team

As of October 2021, Rontini was signed with the

Azkals Development Team The Azkals Development Team, commonly referred to as ADT, is a Philippine developmental football club that competes in the Philippines Football League. Founded in 2020, the team is under the control of the Philippine Football Federation (PFF), b ...

(ADT) of the Philippines Football League (PFL).

International career

Rontini was born in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

to an Italian father and a Filipina mother, which made him eligible to represent either

or the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

at international level.

U-23

Rontini was part of the Philippines U-22 squad that competed at the

2019 SEA Games The 2019 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 30th Southeast Asian Games, or the 30th SEA Games, and commonly known as Philippines 2019, was the 30th edition of the Southeast Asian Games, a biennial regional multi-sport event which ...

on home soil. He was included in the 20-man squad for the 2021 SEA Games held in Vietnam. He scored his first goal for the Philippines in a 4–0 win against Timor Leste.

Senior team

In 2019, it was reported that Rontini received an invitation to train with the Philippines national team. He received his first call-up for the Philippines in a

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 China PR. He replaced Curt Dizon in the 86th minute of the match where the team lost 2–0.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list the Philippines' goal tally first.''

References

External links

* * 1999 births Living people People from Bagno a Ripoli Converts to Islam Filipino men's footballers Philippines men's international footballers Italian men's footballers Filipino people of Italian descent Italian people of Filipino descent Men's association football midfielders ASD Sangiovannese 1927 players Azkals Development Team players Penang F.C. players Kelantan F.C. players Persita Tangerang players Philippines Football League players Malaysia Super League players Liga 1 (Indonesia) players Filipino expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Malaysia Filipino expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia Expatriate men's footballers in Indonesia Filipino expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia Competitors at the 2019 SEA Games Competitors at the 2021 SEA Games Footballers from the Metropolitan City of Florence SEA Games competitors for the Philippines {{Philippines-footy-bio-stub