Cristian Harson Bonilla Garzón (born 2 June 1993) is a retired Colombian 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 played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. Bonilla made his debut within the Colombian top tier at only 16 years of age with Boyacá Chicó, before eventually signing with Colombian giants Atletico Nacional, where he went on to win a double in his debut year, winning both the Copa Colombia title and the very first

Superliga Colombiana The Superliga Colombiana (''Colombian Superleague''), officially known as Superliga BetPlay DIMAYOR due to sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is an official competition contested between the winners of the Apertura and Finalización t ...

. He represented Colombia at the 2011 Toulon Tournament, where he was the best player of the final, as he went on to save two penalties in the penalty shoot out 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 ...

. Colombia went on to beat France 3–1, thus obtaining Colombia's 3rd title at the tournament. He featured in all of Colombia's matches at the

2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 18th FIFA U-20 World Cup. Colombia hosted the tournament between 29 July and 20 August 2011, with matches being played in eight cities. The tournament was won by Brazil who claimed their fifth title. At a FIFA ...

, where the hosts reached the quarter-finals. He was also the starting choice for the

2013 South American Youth Championship The 2013 South American Youth Football Championship ( es, ''Campeonato Sudamericano Sub-20 ''Juventud de América'' Argentina 2013'', italic=unset, pt, ''Campeonato Sul-Americano Sub-20 ''Juventude da América'' Argentina 2013'', italic=unset, re ...

, where Colombia won their 3rd title.

Club career

Boyacá Chicó

Bonilla began his career in Boyacá Chicó. He made his debut at sixteen in the Copa Colombia. He appeared in several games with Chicó in the 2010 season. On 1 June 2012, it was announced that Bonilla would be sent on loan to Atlético Nacional with a buying option.

Atlético Nacional

2012

With both Nacional goalkeepers Gastón Pezzuti and

Franco Armani Franco Armani (; born 16 October 1986) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Argentine Primera División club River Plate and the Argentina national team. He was a member of the Argentina team that won the 202 ...

injured, Bonilla would be the first choice goalkeeper for the rest of the 2012 season. He made his official debut with ''Los Verdolagas'' on 22 July 2012 against Junior in the second leg of the

, a match that ended 3–0 favoring Nacional. This was his first clean sheet for the club as well as the first title of his club career. He made his first league appearance on 29 July 2012 against

Deportivo Cali Asociación Deportivo Cali, best known as Deportivo Cali, is a Colombian sports club based in Cali, most notable for its football team, which currently competes in the Categoría Primera A. Deportivo Cali is one of the most successful footba ...

, conceding three goals in a 3–1 defeat. Bonilla's second title would come in the 2012 Copa Colombia final against

Deportivo Pasto Asociación Deportivo Pasto, also known as Deportivo Pasto, is a Colombian professional football team based in the city of Pasto, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Estadio Departamental Libertad. D ...

. Due to his effective performance, Bonilla was able to achieve two clean sheets in the two-leg series. On 24 November 2012, Bonilla was put on the bench for the first time during his time with Nacional in a match against Itagüí. As a result of Pezzuti's recovery, Bonilla would compete for a spot in the starting eleven. However, due to what Bonilla had achieved to the moment with the club, Pezutti would be relegated to the bench. Armani was still recovering him his injury.

Equidad Seguros (loan)

He was loaned at Bogota based club La Equidad in December 2014. He went on to perform an impressive season, resulting in a call up for the Colombia national football team.

Return to Atlético Nacional

In December 2015, Bonilla extended his link to the club, until 2018. He returns to Atlético Nacional in 2016.

Equidad Seguros (loan)

On 27 June 2017, Bonilla rejoined La Equidad on loan, looking for more playing time.

Al-Fayha

Om 26 July 2018, Bonilla joined Saudi Pro League side Al-Fayha.

Later career

On 25 July 2019, Bonilla returned to Colombia and rejoined La Equidad in the

Categoría Primera A The Categoría Primera A (), commonly referred to as Liga BetPlay Dimayor (between 2015 and 2019 ''Liga Águila'') due to sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is a Colombian professional league for association football clubs. It is the ...

. A year later, on 17 July 2020, Bonilla joined

Millonarios Millonarios Fútbol Club is a professional Colombian football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the El Campín stadium. Millonarios was initially created in 1937 by students f ...

on loan with an option to make the move permanent. His loan at Millonarios was cancelled, and he returned to La Equidad for the 2021 season. On 27 January 2022, Bonilla moved to the United States, joining USL Championship club San Antonio FC. After starting in 3 matches, Bonilla announced his retirement from professional football on 31 March 2022.

International career

Bonilla had his first international experience with the Colombian U-17 side disputing the

2009 South American Under-17 Football Championship The 2009 South American Under-17 Football Championship ( es, Sudamericano Sub-17) was a football competition for U-17 national teams affiliated with CONMEBOL. It was the 13th time the tournament was held. The tournament took place in Chile from Apr ...

, securing a fourth-place finish to qualify for the

2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the thirteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup held in Nigeria from 24 October to 15 November 2009. The tournament was won by Switzerland, beating the host team and holders, Nigeria. The Golden Ball to the Be ...

where Colombia had also finished fourth. Bonilla was part of the U-20 team that won the

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Toulon Tournament. He was selected to be the starting goalkeeper for the

hosted in Colombia. His previous talents representing Colombia over these recent years led him to return to the U20 team at the

. He was selected as the number 1 goalkeeper playing in every match with the exception of the final where Colombia won their 3rd South American Youth title. He was praised for his impressive improvement since the last youth tournaments. Bonilla made a return to the Toulon Tournament in the 2013 edition, where he made it to the finals with Colombia. However, Colombia gave away the sole winning goal in the first half in a 1–0 loss against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Despite this, he won the Meilleur gardien award.

Senior

On 11 May 2015, Bonilla was included in Colombia's 30-man preliminary squad for 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, ...

. On 30 May 2015 he was put on the final 23-man list for the Copa América as the third choice keeper behind

Camilo Vargas Camilo Andrés Vargas Gil (born 9 March 1989) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Liga MX club Atlas and the Colombia national team. Career Deportivo Cali After being loaned out to Deportivo Cali from July 201 ...

and David Ospina as the starting goalkeeper in the tournament. Bonilla did not make an appearance in the cup. The following year he made the cut for Colombia's squad for the Copa América Centenario. Just as in his previous participation he did not play any matches.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Club

Atlético Nacional *

(3): 2013-I, 2013-II, 2014-I * Copa Colombia (2):

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

(1): 2012 *

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

(1):

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 ...

International

Colombia U-20 * Toulon Tournament (1):

* South American Youth Championship (1):

Colombia *

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 ...

: Third place

Individual

* Toulon Tournament 2013 voted Meilleur Gardien.

References

External links

Profile at BDFA
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonilla, Cristian 1993 births Living people Sportspeople from Manizales Colombian men's footballers Colombian expatriate men's footballers Colombia men's youth international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Categoría Primera A players Saudi Pro League players Boyacá Chicó F.C. footballers Atlético Nacional footballers La Equidad footballers Al-Fayha FC players Millonarios F.C. players San Antonio FC players Colombia men's under-20 international footballers 2015 Copa América players Copa América Centenario players Copa Libertadores-winning players Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Colombia Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Colombian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States