Cristian Neptalí Cálix Alvarado (born 9 September 1999) is a Honduran 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 lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for Liga Nacional club Olancho FC.

Club career

Marathón

Born in Juticalpa, Olancho, Cálix is the youngest of five brothers. At the age of 13, he decided to try his luck and pursue a footballing career in

San Pedro Sula San Pedro Sula () is the capital of Cortés Department, Honduras. It is located in the northwest corner of the country in the Sula Valley, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Puerto Cortés on the Caribbean Sea. With a population of 701, ...

, where he joined the youth setup of C.D. Marathón. On 29 April 2017, Cálix made his senior debut for Marathón in the

Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional de Honduras Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional de Honduras, known as Liga Hondubet for sponsorship reasons (''Honduran National Professional Football League'') is the highest division of domestic Association football, football in Honduras. The league seas ...

at the age of 17, coming off the bench in a 2–1 home victory over C.D.S. Vida in the Clausura tournament. The following season, Cálix appeared regularly for Marathón, and his first senior goal eventually came on 17 September 2017 in a 3–2 home win against C.D. Olimpia. He would add a further two goals that campaign in matches against Motagua and Honduras Progreso, as his side won the 2018 Clausura tournament.

Atlas

On 27 December 2018, Atlas F.C. announced the transfer of Cálix from Marathón. He signed a four-year contract with ''Los Rojinegros'', but was assigned to the under-20 team after a delay in his registration. Once he was finally registered, Cálix was included the squad list for the

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

match against

Club Puebla Club Puebla is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Puebla (city), Puebla. It competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football league system, Mexican football. Founded in 1944 as Puebla Fútbol Club, and ...

. He was a unused substitute in a 2–1 home loss. He spent the rest of the

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with the U–20 side, playing nine matches and scoring one goal.

Loan to Real Monarchs

On 9 July 2019,

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

side Real Monarchs announced the

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

signing of Cálix for the remainder of the

. He made his debut – off the bench – in a 4–1 win against Tulsa Roughnecks FC, replacing Luis Arriaga in the 82nd minute. He scored his first goal the following 17 September in another 4–1 win, this time against Tacoma Defiance away from home. Cálix returned to Atlas after Real Monarchs opted not to trigger the buy-option in his contract.

Return to Marathón

On 6 January 2020, Cálix returned to C.D. Marathón, signing with the ''Esmeraldas'' on a year-long loan. He played the first match of his second spell the following 23 February, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 5–0 away defeat to Olimpia. The following

, Cálix scored the opening goal in a 3–0 home victory against Real España on 14 October 2020.

International career

In July 2018, Cálix was called up to represent his nation at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. He played in every match at the

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 concen ...

and he opened the scoring in the third place match against

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

, where he helped his side win 3–0 and take home

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

. The following year, Cálix represented

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. He would only play in two matches, as Honduras were eliminated in the group stage. In June 2021, he was included in the preliminary 60-man

squad for the

2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 16th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's association football, soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean regions organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was ...

, but was dropped from the final squad.

Honors

Marathón * Liga Nacional: 2018 Clausura *

Honduran Cup The Honduran Cup was the top knock-out Association football, football tournament in Honduras. The first tournament was played in 1968 Honduran Cup, 1968, four years later the second tournament took the name ''Copa Presidente'' () in honor of Dr. R ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Real Monarchs *

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cálix, Cristian 1999 births Living people People from Olancho Department Honduran men's footballers 21st-century Honduran sportsmen Men's association football midfielders C.D. Marathón players Atlas F.C. footballers Real Monarchs players Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional de Honduras players USL Championship players Competitors at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalists for Honduras Honduran expatriate men's footballers Honduran expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Honduran expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Honduras men's youth international footballers Honduras men's under-20 international footballers