Cristhian Ricardo Stuani Curbelo (; born 12 October 1986) is a Uruguayan 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 Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

for

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

club

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

. He started out at

Danubio Danubio Fútbol Club is a Uruguayan football club based in Jardines del Hipódromo, Montevideo that currently plays in the Uruguayan Primera División. Founded in 1932, the club's home stadium is Jardines del Hipódromo, which has a capacity o ...

, being bought by

Reggina Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo. They are nic ...

in 2008. He went on to spend the vast majority of his professional career in Spain, in representation of several clubs, most notably with

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

; he signed with

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

from England in 2015 and, two years later, joined Girona. Stuani made his debut for Uruguay in 2012 and appeared for the nation at two

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

and three

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

tournaments. He also holds an Italian passport.

Club career

Danubio

Born in

Tala Tala may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Tala (comics), a fictional character in DC comics *''Tala'', a 1938 volume of poetry by Gabriela Mistral *Tala (music), a rhythmic pattern in Indian classical music * "Tala" (song), by Sarah Geronimo ...

, Canelones, Stuani started his professional career with

. In 2005, he went on loan to Bella Vista in the Uruguayan Segunda División, performing well enough to be recalled.

Reggina

In January 2008, after scoring 19 goals in the 2007 Apertura with Danubio, Stuani was signed by

in Italy, penning a four-year contract with the

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

club. He made his official debut on the 12th, playing 30 minutes in a 1–1 away draw against

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

. When Stuani joined, the club was second from bottom and had the fewest goals scored in the league, following

Rolando Bianchi Rolando Bianchi (; born 15 February 1983) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker. With 77 total goals, he is Torino's 11th-highest all-time goal scorer. Bianchi was primarily known for his ability in the air. Clu ...

's departure for

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

in the previous summer – he went scoreless in 12 games, but the

Reggio Calabria Reggio di Calabria ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label= Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated popul ...

team managed to retain their division status. In 2008–09, he scored his only league goal from a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

in the last round, a 1–1 home draw against

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

, having only appeared in four more matches during the entire season, which ended in top-flight relegation. On 31 July 2009, Stuani joined

Albacete Albacete (, also , ; ar, ﭐَلبَسِيط, Al-Basīṭ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-ea ...

in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

, on loan. He finished the season with 22 goals in 39 games, including hat-tricks in victories over Castellón and Córdoba, putting him in second in the scoring charts behind

Elche Elche ( ca-valencia, Elx) is a city and municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2014 data, Elche has a population of 228,647 inhabitants,Jorge Molina, but his team only finished two points above the relegation zone. For

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 ...

, Stuani remained in the country and on loan, but moved to

with Levante. He was used mostly as a

backup In information technology, a backup, or data backup is a copy of computer data taken and stored elsewhere so that it may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. The verb form, referring to the process of doing so, is "back up", w ...

Felipe Caicedo Felipe Salvador Caicedo Corozo (born 5 September 1988) is an Ecuadorian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Saudi Arabian club Abha. A full international from 2005 to 2017, Caicedo represented Ecuador at the Copa América in 20 ...

, but still contributed with eight goals – second-best in the squad – as the

Valencians Valencians ( va, valencians) are the native people of the Valencian Community, in eastern Spain. Legally, Valencians are the inhabitants of the community. Since 2006, the Valencian people are officially recognised in the Valencian Statute of Aut ...

easily retained their division status, netting twice in a 3–1 home defeat of

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

. In the next season, Stuani was loaned to another side in the Spanish top flight,

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 ...

. In December 2011, he scored a brace in each leg of the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

tie against Rayo Vallecano, including a late

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

in the second game which secured a win on the

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaker, tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the ...

following a 6–6 aggregate draw.

Espanyol

In summer 2012, Stuani was linked with a move to Deportivo de La Coruña and even passed his medical but, on 28 August, he signed a four-year contract with

even though that club and Reggina had initially agreed on a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

-long loan. Stuani netted 12 times in his third and last year at the ''

Estadi Cornellà-El Prat RCDE Stadium, also known as Estadi Cornellà-El Prat (; es, Estadio Cornellà-El Prat ), is an all-seater football stadium on the outskirts of Cornellà de Llobregat and El Prat de Llobregat, in the wider Barcelona urban area (Catalonia, Spain ...

'', only trailing

Sergio García Sergio García Fernández (; born 9 January 1980) is a Spanish professional golfer. He has played on the European Tour, PGA Tour and LIV Golf Invitational Series. García has won 36 international tournaments as a professional, most notably th ...

's 14 in his team.

Middlesbrough

On 15 July 2015,

reached an agreement for the transfer of Stuani, with the deal being completed after receiving international clearance on 7 August, for a rumoured

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

3 million fee. His first appearance in the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

occurred on 9 August, as he replaced

Kike The word ''kike'' () is an ethnic slur for a Jew. Etymology The earliest recorded use of the word dates to the 1880s.

in the 77th minute of an eventual 0–0 away draw against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

. Three days later he made his first start, in

the opening round ''The Opening Round'', subtitled ''The Groove Masters Series Vol. 1'' is an album by saxophonist Houston Person which was recorded in 1997 and released on the Savant label. Reception In his review on Allmusic, Stewart Mason states "A fun and p ...

of the League Cup, scoring in each half of a 3–1 win over Oldham Athletic at Boundary Park; he scored a brace again in the second round on the 25th, as his team came from behind to win at Burton Albion. Stuani scored his first league goal on 29 August 2015, concluding a 3–1 victory at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

. Seventeen days later, he netted twice in a victory of the same margin against

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

at the Riverside Stadium. On 28 December 2015, Stuani finished Stewart Downing's cross in the 44th second for the only goal of the home game against Wednesday, putting Middlesbrough on top of the table. He did not find the net again until the final game of the season on the following 7 May, opening a 1–1 home draw to Brighton & Hove Albion which won promotion to the

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 ...

at the opponents' expense; the goal's worth was valued at £170 million. On 21 August 2016, Stuani scored his first goals in the top division in his first game in the competition, grabbing a brace against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

in a 2–1 win at the

Stadium of Light The Stadium of Light is an all-seater football stadium in Sunderland, England, and the eighth and current home to Sunderland A.F.C. With space for 49,000 spectators, the Stadium of Light is the ninth largest football stadium in England. ...

Girona

On 21 July 2017, Stuani joined

– newly promoted to the Spanish top flight – for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut for the club on 19 August, starting and scoring a brace in a 2–2 home draw against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

. Stuani finished his first year in fifth place of the scoring charts at 21 goals, helping the Catalans easily retain their league status. On 10 March 2019, he became the club's all-time scorer in the top tier with 38 successful strikes after a 2–3 loss to

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

at the Estadi Montilivi, surpassing former holder Jandro; despite totalling 19 during the season to repeat the same position in the scoring department, the team succumbed to relegation on the last matchday. Subsequently, a number of clubs approached Stuani for a summer move, most notably champions

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

However, the player eventually put pen to a contract extension with until 2023. He missed the first two league games due to a groin injury, but scored in his first appearance on 1 September 2019 to help the hosts defeat Málaga 1–0; he added a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

the following weekend, at home to Rayo Vallecano (3–1).

International career

Stuani made his senior debut for

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

on 14 November 2012, in a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

with

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

(3–1 away win). On 10 September of the following year, he scored his first international goal, helping to a 2–0 home victory against

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

for 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 ...

qualifiers. On 13 November 2013, he netted the ''Charrúas'' second in their 5–0 win in

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

for the playoffs first leg, finishing

Nicolás Lodeiro Marcelo Nicolás Lodeiro Benítez (; born 21 March 1989), commonly known as Nicolás Lodeiro, is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for MLS club Seattle Sounders FC and the Uruguay national team. Lodeiro ...

's cross at close range. Stuani was selected by manager

Óscar Tabárez Óscar Washington Tabárez Silva (; born 3 March 1947), known as ''El Maestro'' (The Teacher), is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former player. He most recently coached the Uruguay national team. After an unassuming career as a ...

for the finals in Brazil. He scored in both of Uruguay's warm-up matches for the tournament, the only goal of the game against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

after coming on at half-time for

Diego Forlán Diego Martín Forlán Corazo (born 19 May 1979) is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former player who played as a forward. Regarded as one of the best forwards of his generation, Forlán is a two-time winner of both the Pichichi T ...

, and the second in a 2–0 win over

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. He made his

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

debut on 14 June, starting in a 3–1 loss to

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

Fortaleza Fortaleza (, locally , Portuguese for ''Fortress'') is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeastern Brazil. It belongs to the Metropolitan mesoregion of Fortaleza and microregion of Fortaleza. It is Brazil's 5th largest city and the t ...

, and added a further three bench appearances in a round-of-16 exit. Stuani was named in Uruguay's squad the following year, as they attempted to defend their continental crown at the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

. He made two substitute appearances in Group B, in a quarter-final finish. Stuani was included in the final 23-man squad for the

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

in Russia. His first match in the competition took place on 30 June, when he replaced Edinson Cavani (who had scored twice) for the final 16 minutes of the 2–1 round-of-16 victory over

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. He started in the next match due to injury to the same teammate, and played 59 minutes in the 2–0 defeat against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Uruguay's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Stuani goal.''

Honours

Danubio *

Uruguayan Primera División The Liga Profesional de Primera División (American Spanish , en, First Division Professional League, local: , ''First Division''), named "Torneo Uruguayo Copa Coca-Cola" for sponsorship reasons, is the highest professional Association football, ...

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 ...

Uruguay *

China Cup The China Cup International Football Championship () is an annual association football tournament organized in China by Wanda Sports Holdings. The Championship was inaugurated in 2017 as a single-elimination tournament with four national teams, ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Individual *

Pichichi Trophy In Spanish football, the Trofeo Pichichi is awarded by the sports newspaper '' Marca'' to the top goalscorer of each La Liga season. Named after the Athletic Bilbao striker Rafael "Pichichi" Moreno, the trophy has been awarded annually since the ...

(

): 2019–20 (29 goals), 2021–22 (22 goals) *

Segunda División Player of the Month The Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second profes ...

December 2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stuani, Cristhian 1986 births Living people People from Canelones Department Uruguayan people of Italian descent Uruguayan footballers Men's association football forwards Uruguayan Primera División players Danubio F.C. players C.A. Bella Vista players Serie A players Reggina 1914 players La Liga players Segunda División players Albacete Balompié players Levante UD footballers Racing de Santander players RCD Espanyol footballers Girona FC players Premier League players English Football League players Middlesbrough F.C. players Uruguay men's international footballers 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 Copa América players 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 Copa América players Copa América Centenario players Uruguayan expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in England Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Italy Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in England