Cristian Daniel Ledesma (born 24 September 1982) is an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

-born Italian retired

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 played as a

central 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 ...

. He is currently working as a youth coach for

Frosinone Frosinone (, local dialect: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, the administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is located about south-east of Rome close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of the Va ...

. A dual citizen of Argentina and Italy, he appeared with the latter's

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

in November 2010. Ledesma is perhaps best known for his nine years at Italian club

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, where he was involved in two

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

wins. He is a deep lying central midfield

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativit ...

with good vision, passing, and technique; he also possesses a powerful shot with either foot, despite being naturally right-footed, and occasionally scores goals from long range.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Morón, Buenos Aires Morón () is a city in the Argentine province of Buenos Aires, capital of the Morón ''partido'', located in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area, at . Located 20 km (13 mi) west of Downtown Buenos Aires, Morón is easily reac ...

, Ledesma grew up in

Puerto Madryn Puerto Madryn (; cy, Porth Madryn), also known as ''Madryn'', is a city in the province of Chubut in Argentine Patagonia. It is the capital of the Viedma Department, and has about 93,995 inhabitants according to the last census in 2010. Puer ...

, in the province of Chubut. He later returned to the capital, joining the youth system of

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

in 1997 at the age of 14. In 2001 Ledesma moved to Italy and joined

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province ...

, whose sporting director

Pantaleo Corvino Pantaleo Corvino (born 12 December 1949) is an Italian director of football, currently working for Lecce. After his father's death, he was forced to interrupt his career as a player and became non-commissioned officer. His early career in mana ...

decided to bring him to Salento. Initially assigned to the ''Primavera'' squad, he made his first team – and

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 ...

– debut on 10 March 2002, starting in a 1–2 away loss against

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily known ...

. After suffering relegation, Ledesma was definitely promoted to the main squad. He scored his first goal for the club on 1 December 2002, netting the last in a 1–1

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

draw at

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as Hellas Verona or simply Verona, is a professional Italian football club based in Verona, Italy, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won the Serie A Championship in 1984–85. His ...

. Ledesma appeared in 29 matches during the campaign, as Lecce returned to the top tier at first attempt. He scored his first goal in the main category on 9 November 2003, netting his team's second in a 2–2 away draw against

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...

. Ledesma was an ever-present figure for the ''Giallorossi'' during the following campaigns, being also

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Lazio

In July 2006, after suffering another relegation, Ledesma signed a four-year deal with

, for a

€ 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 ...

5.3 million fee. He made his debut for the club on 19 August 2006, starting in a 4–0

home routing of

Rende Rende is a town, city and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza, Calabria, southern Italy, home to the headquarters of the University of Calabria. It has a population of about 35,000, or more than 60,000 if the university students living there ar ...

. During his first season in the capital, Ledesma established himself as a key player despite a difficult start. His first moment of magic came in the December 2006

Derby della Capitale The Derby della Capitale ( en, Derby of the capital city), also known as Derby Capitolino and Derby del Cupolone, as well as The Rome Derby in English and Derby di Roma in Italian, is the football local derby in Rome, Italy, between Lazio and Ro ...

against historical rivals

AS Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its ...

, when he scored a strike from 25 metres out. He continued this good form until the end of the season, by which time Lazio had qualified for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

. He successively served as vice-captain, and was a protagonist in Lazio's winning

Coppa Italia 2008–09 The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) is a United States federal law, located at (). The act, effective April 21, 2000, applies to the online collection of personal information by persons or entities under U.S. juri ...

campaign. In July 2009, with his contract set to expire in the following year, Ledesma was excluded from the first team due to disagreements with club chairman Claudio Lotito and did not play any competitive games during the whole first half of the 2009–10 season. This led the player to formally ask the

Lega Calcio The Lega Nazionale Professionisti (Italian for National Professionals League), commonly known as Lega Calcio (Football League), was the governing body that ran the two highest football divisions in Italy, namely Serie A and Serie B, from 1946 to ...

arbitration committee for a contract termination due to violation of its terms, only a few weeks after teammate

Goran Pandev Goran Pandev ( mk, Горан Пандев, ; born 27 July 1983) is a Macedonian former professional footballer who played as a forward. After establishing himself at Lazio, Pandev moved to Inter Milan in early 2010. While playing for the ''Ne ...

had taken the same exact action. This was however turned down on 26 January 2010 on the grounds that Ledesma was occasionally involved in first-team activities. After being linked with a move to

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is t ...

, he ultimately stayed at Lazio and, immediately after the replacement of head coach

Davide Ballardini Davide Ballardini (born 6 January 1964) is an Italian football manager. He formerly played professionally for Cesena as a midfielder. He is currently the head coach of club Cremonese. Playing career A former midfielder, Ballardini spent seve ...

with veteran manager

Edoardo Reja Edoardo Reja (born 10 October 1945) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who last manages the Albania national football team. After a career as a midfielder spent mostly with SPAL and Palermo, he began working as a mana ...

, he made his 2009–10 season debut on 14 February, being featured in the starting lineup in a 2–0 win at

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

. Since his return on the pitch, Ledesma immediately established himself back into being a key player for the ''biancazzurri''. On 23 August 2010, Ledesma signed a new contract with Lazio, extending his link until 2015. In his 2010–11 campaign, he was one of the protagonists of Lazio's surprising start that led the Rome club to even top the Serie A table for a few weeks between October and November. Lazio ended their 2011–12 season campaign qualifying once again for Europa League and only just missing out to Udinese by goal difference in a Champions League spot. On 1 July 2015 Ledesma was released, after not having his contract renewed. He appeared in 318 matches and scored 14 goals for Lazio, being honoured by the club after his departure.

Santos

On 28 August 2015 Ledesma agreed to a contract with Brazilian club Santos. He made his debut for the club on 18 October, coming on as a second-half substitute for

Renato Renatus is a first name of Latin origin which means " born again" (natus = born). In Italian, Portuguese and Spanish it exists in masculine and feminine forms: Renato and Renata. In French they have been translated to René and Renée. Renata is ...

in a 3–1 home win against

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goiânia. ...

. On 6 January 2016, after being rarely used, Ledesma rescinded his contract.

Panathinaikos

On 14 July 2016,

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

have officially announced the transfer of Argentinian midfielder. The 33-year-old centre midfielder, who played for Santos last season, has signed a two-year contract with the Greens, for an undisclosed fee. On 18 August 2016,Lendesma along with

Marcus Berg Bengt Erik Markus Berg (; born 17 August 1986) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Allsvenskan club IFK Göteborg, which he captains. Beginning his footballing career in Sweden with IFK Göteborg in the early 2000s, ...

was the scorer of goal from the penalty spot, helping Panathinaikos win the first leg of the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

playoffs and is set to qualify for the group stage, as the Greens crushed Danish Brøndby IF 3–0 at Leoforos stadium. On 2 October 2016, he scored with two penalty kicks helping his club to achieve a 3–1 home win against

Asteras Tripoli Asteras Tripolis Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Αστέρας Τρίπολης), commonly referred to as Asteras Tripolis (meaning "Star of Tripoli"), is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Tripoli in Arcadia, Peloponnese, G ...

for the 4th day of the 2016–17 season. On 28 December 2016, as expected,

have parted ways with Ledesma. The Greens have officially announced the news, while the 34-year-old midfielder seems to be heading to Italy.

Ternana

Lugano

Pro Piacenza

On 5 September 2018 Ledesma returned to Italy once again for Serie C club Pro Piacenza. Pro Piacenza experienced financial difficulties in late 2018 and all the players were released from contracts.

International career

Ledesma acquired Italian citizenship in 2008 through marriage to an Italian woman he met during his spell at

; this made him eligible at international level for both

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 the

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

(''Azzurri''), as he had never been capped with the ''Selección'' before. On 14 November 2010 Ledesma accepted a call-up by Italy manager Cesare Prandelli for a friendly match against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, thus becoming the third

oriundo The term oriundo (; Italian plural ''oriundi'') is an Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese noun describing an immigrant in a country, whose ancestry is from that same country. It comes from the Latin verb ''oriri'' (''orior''), "be born", and is et ...

to become part of the ''Azzurri'' senior squad in the last ten years, the other two being

Mauro Camoranesi Mauro Germán Camoranesi Serra (, ; born 4 October 1976) is an Italian football manager and former player who played as a right midfielder or right winger. Camoranesi began his career in Argentina in 1995, where he played for Aldosivi and Ba ...

and Amauri.

Coaching career

Ledesma confirmed in the summer 2019 that he had retired from football and would continue as a coach for the Ledesma Academy, where he should be in charge of training children from 5 to 15 years. In September 2019 he took over on his first role as a first team manager, coaching

Promozione The Promozione (, "promotion") is the sixth level in the Italian football league system. Each individual league winner within the Promozione level progresses to their closest regional league in the Eccellenza level. Depending on each league's lo ...

amateurs LUISS, the football branch of the

Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali "Guido Carli" (Italian for ''Free International University of Social Studies "Guido Carli"''), known by the acronym "LUISS" or "LUISS Guido Carli", is a prestigious private university loca ...

. He left the club in October 2021, overseeing a promotion to

Eccellenza The Eccellenza (, "excellence") is the fifth level (since 2014–15) of Italian football. It is a regional league, composed of 28 divisions divided geographically. All 20 regions are represented by at least one division except for Piedmont and Ao ...

. In March 2022 he was named new head coach of Eccellenza amateur side Cimini. In July 2022, Ledesma joined

as a youth coach in charge of the Under-17 team.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

;Lazio *

: 2008–09, 2012–13 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

References

External links

Official Lazio Club Profile

Official FIGC Profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ledesma, Cristian 1982 births Living people People from Morón Partido Sportspeople from Buenos Aires Province Naturalised citizens of Italy Argentine emigrants to Italy Italian footballers Argentine footballers Association football midfielders Serie A players Serie B players U.S. Lecce players S.S. Lazio players A.S. Pro Piacenza 1919 players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Santos FC players Panathinaikos F.C. players Super League Greece players Italy international footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Italian expatriate footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Italian expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Brazil Expatriate footballers in Greece FC Lugano players Expatriate footballers in Switzerland