Cristian Leonel Ramírez Zambrano (; born 12 August 1994) is an Ecuadorian 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 ...

who plays as a

left-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 ...

for

Krasnodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southe ...

of the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

. Fast, intelligent, ambidextrous and a great dribbler are the qualities of Ramirez which has led to the foreign press comparing him to

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), commonly known as Roberto Carlos, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who now works as a football ambassador. He started his career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his car ...

Club career

Independiente Jose Teran

Having started out early with CSCyD Brasilia, he was signed in 2009 by Independiente Jose Teran. A promising young left-back, even as to being compared to the legendary Roberto Carlos, his professional debut came on 28 August 2011, against El Nacional, fully completing everyone's expectations of his abilities on-field, and started most of his 2011

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 Cop ...

games. Throughout the season, he was an incredible defender and attacker against the league's top teams, like

LDU Quito Liga Deportiva Universitaria (), often referred to as Liga de Quito, LDU, is an Ecuadorian professional football club based in Quito. They play in the Serie A, the highest level of the Ecuadorian professional football league. They play their ho ...

Deportivo Quito Sociedad Deportivo Quito is an Ecuadorian non-professional club football club based in Quito. For most of its existence, it competed in Serie A, the highest level of the Ecuadorian professional football league. And currently competes in the Seg ...

, and Barcelona SC. He also gained a fearsome reputation, having stopped on their tracks promising young Ecuadorian talents such as

Fidel Martinez Fidel most commonly refers to: * Fidel Castro (1926–2016), Cuban communist revolutionary and politician * Fidel Ramos (1928–2022), Filipino politician and former president Fidel may also refer to: Other persons * Fidel (given name) Film * ...

and

Renato Ibarra Alex Renato Ibarra Mina (born 20 January 1991) is an Ecuadorian professional footballer who plays for Ecuadorian club LDU Quito, on loan from América, and the Ecuador national team. Club career El Nacional He had been playing throughout hi ...

; the latter being during Ramirez' debut. Ramírez continued to play with the starting eleven for the 2012 season. After garnering so much international attention, he had trials with

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...

, though he could not be signed by the club then due to UEFA rules restricting signage of foreign players under 18, and a 10-day trial with Harry Redknapp's

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

, which began on 3 April 2012.

Fortuna Düsseldorf

On 25 January 2013, he signed for German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

club

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, which competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league ...

1. FC Nürnberg

On 17 June 2014, it was confirmed that Cristian would be loaned to Nürnberg for the 2014–2015 season.

Ferencváros

On 2 April 2016, Ramírez became Hungarian League champion with

Ferencvárosi TC Ferencvárosi Torna Club, known as Ferencváros (), Fradi, or simply FTC, is a professional football club based in Ferencváros, Budapest, Hungary, that competes in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I, the top flight of Hungarian football. Ferencváros ...

after losing to Debreceni VSC 2–1 at the

Nagyerdei Stadion Nagyerdei Stadion is an all-seater asymmetric football stadium in Debrecen, Hungary and home to Debreceni Vasutas Sport Club (the seats behind the goals are 'Vario' or 'Rail' seats to facilitate safe standing at domestic matches). With space fo ...

in the

2015–16 Nemzeti Bajnokság I The 2015–16 Nemzeti Bajnokság I, also known as NB I, is the 117th season of top-tier football in Hungary. The league is officially named '' OTP Bank Liga'' for sponsorship reasons. The season began 17 July 2015 and will conclude on 8 May 2016 ...

season.

Krasnodar

On 9 January 2017, he signed a 4.5-year contract with the

club

. On 20 February 2021, Krasnodar removed him from the official squad registered with the RPL for the rest of the 2020–21 season due to injury. On 15 May 2021, he extended the contract with Krasnodar to 30 June 2025. On 3 March 2022, following the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, Krasnodar announced that his contract is suspended and he will not train with the team, but the contract is not terminated and remains valid.

Career statistics

Club

International career

Ramírez first played for Ecuador in the 2011 under-17 squad, who participated in the 2011 South American U-17 Football Championship, and just barely qualified for the

2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the fourteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, and the eleventh played since the change in age limits from under 16s to Under 17s in 1991 FIFA U-17 World Championship, 1991. It was held in Mexico with games ...

. Ramírez showcased his footballing skills and mental capacity in the 2011 U-17 World Cup to successfully defend against the likes of Germany, Panama and Burkina Faso. It was in this tournament where he has instantly intrigued the international club scene. As of April 2012, he has been called up for the U-20 squad, to be able to participate in the 2013 U-20 tournaments. Ramírez was called up for the

friendly matches 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

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and Honduras on 15 and 20 November 2013. He made his debut as a second-half substitute against Honduras.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Ecuador's goal tally first.''

Honours

;Ferencváros *

Hungarian League Hungarian may refer to: * Hungary, a country in Central Europe * Kingdom of Hungary, state of Hungary, existing between 1000 and 1946 * Hungarians, ethnic groups in Hungary * Hungarian algorithm, a polynomial time algorithm for solving the assignm ...

: 2015–16 *

Hungarian Cup The Hungarian Cup ( hu, Magyar Kupa) is the Hungarian cup competition for football clubs. It was started by the Hungarian Football Association, the ''Magyar Labdarúgó Szövetség,'' in 1909, eight years after the commencement of the Hungarian ...

(2): 2014–15, 2015–16 *

Hungarian League Cup The Hungarian League Cup ( hu, Magyar Ligakupa) was an annual football tournament contested by clubs in the Hungarian League. It was created in 2007 and the competition only lasted for 8 seasons, being cancelled in 2015/2016. Ligakupa Finals The ...

: 2014–15

Personal life

On 3 June 2021, he acquired citizenship of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

after playing in the country for 4.5 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramirez, Cristian 1994 births People from Santo Domingo de los Colorados Naturalised citizens of Russia Ecuadorian emigrants to Russia Living people Ecuadorian footballers Ecuador youth international footballers Ecuador under-20 international footballers Ecuador international footballers Association football fullbacks C.S.D. Independiente del Valle footballers Fortuna Düsseldorf players 1. FC Nürnberg players Ferencvárosi TC footballers FC Krasnodar players Ecuadorian Serie A players 2. Bundesliga players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Russian Premier League players Copa América Centenario players 2019 Copa América players Ecuadorian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Germany Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Hungary Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Expatriate footballers in Russia Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Russia