César Ignacio Pérez Maldonado (born 29 November 2002) is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

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

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Argentine club

Defensa y Justicia Club Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia, commonly known as Defensa y Justicia, is an Argentine football club from Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires, established in 1935.

Club career

Pérez came to

Magallanes Magallanes may refer to: * Ferdinand Magellan (1480–1521), Portuguese explorer who led part of the first expedition around the world * Strait of Magellan, the strait between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, located in Chile Places * Magallane ...

youth system in 2013 and joined the first team in 2019. After spending four seasons in the

Primera B de Chile Campeonato Primera B ( en, Chilean First B Division) is the second tier in the Chilean football league system, and is organized by the Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional. It was established in 1952 as ''Segunda División'', and later renam ...

with Magallanes, for the 2022 season he moved to

Unión La Calera Unión La Calera is a Chilean football club based in La Calera and competes the Primera División de Chile. It was founded as Club de Deportes La Calera on 26 January 1954, after the merger of three teams from the city: ''Condor'', ''Calera Come ...

in the

Chilean Primera División The Chilean Primera División (English: First Division) is the top-tier league of the Chilean football league system. It is organized by the ''Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional, ANFP''. The league is known as the Campeonato AFP PlanVital ...

. In July 2024, Pérez moved to Argentina and signed with

Defensa y Justicia Club Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia, commonly known as Defensa y Justicia, is an Argentine football club from Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires, established in 1935.

International career

At youth level, Pérez represented Chile at under-15 level in the 2017 South American Championship and Chile U17 at both the 2019 South American Championship, where Chile was the runner-up, and the 2019 FIFA World Cup. At under-20 level, he represented Chile in the Granja Comary International Tournament, a friendly championship in Teresópolis, Brazil, playing all the matches against Peru U20, Bolivia U20, and Brazil U20. On 31 August 2022, he represented Chile at under-23 level in a 1–0 win against Peru U23. He was included in the final squad for the

2023 Pan American Games The 2023 Pan American Games ( es, Juegos Panamericanos de 2023, links=no), officially the XIX Pan American Games and commonly known as Santiago 2023, is a forthcoming international multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, s ...

, where Chile won the silver medal. In 2024, he took part in the Pre-Olympic Tournament. At senior level, he was called up to the training microcycle in March 2021 of Chile by the coach

Martín Lasarte Martín Bernardo Lasarte Arróspide (born 20 March 1961) is a Uruguayan former footballer who played as a defender, most recently the manager of the Chile national team. He represented five teams in his country, and also had a three-and-a-hal ...

along with his teammate Julián Alfaro. He received his first call-up for the friendly matches in June 2023 and made his debut in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

on 21 November 2023 by replacing

Erick Pulgar Erick Antonio Pulgar Farfán (born 15 January 1994) is a Chilean professional footballer who plays for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Flamengo, and the Chile national team. Mainly a defensive midfielder, he can also play as a defender. ...

at the minute 70.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Chile U23 *

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

Silver Medal:

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Cesar 2002 births Footballers from Santiago Living people Chilean men's footballers Chilean expatriate men's footballers Chile men's youth international footballers Chile men's under-20 international footballers Chile men's international footballers Deportes Magallanes footballers Unión La Calera footballers Defensa y Justicia footballers Primera B de Chile players Chilean Primera División players Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Men's association football midfielders Footballers at the 2023 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2023 Pan American Games Pan American Games medalists in football Pan American Games silver medalists for Chile Pan American Games competitors for Chile 2024 Copa América players