Federico Javier Santander Mereles (born 4 June 1991) is a Paraguayan 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 forward for Italian club

Reggina Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo. They are n ...

and the Paraguay national team.

Club career

Early career

Santander started in the youth divisions of

Guaraní Guarani, Guaraní or Guarany may refer to Ethnography * Guaraní people, an indigenous people from South America's interior (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia) * Guaraní language, or Paraguayan Guarani, an official language of Paraguay * ...

where he excelled and was part of the under-20 squad that won the international friendly championship held in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. After winning the U20 tournament with Guaraní he attracted the interest of several clubs and had a trial with

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

. In 2008, at the age of 16, he made his debut with the senior squad of Guaraní by scoring a goal in the 5–2 win against

Tacuary Tacuary Football Club is a Paraguayan First Division football team, based in the neighborhood of Jara, Asunción. The club was founded in 1923. Tacuary qualified for the Copa Libertadores tournament twice (in 2005 and 2007) and the Copa Sudam ...

. On 31 August 2010, he signed for French side

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

Argentina: Racing and Tigre

In February 2012, he moved to Racing Club on a three-year contract with a purchase option for 20% of his sports rights. In July 2012, Santander joined Argentine Primera División side Tigre on a one-year loan deal despite that

had intentions to bring him back to Paraguay. He was handed the number #24 shirt for the 2012–13 season and debuted in a 2–1 home defeat against Estudiantes de La Plata on 6 August 2012.

Copenhagen

On 14 June 2015, Santander signed a five-year contract with the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each ye ...

team

F.C. Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen ( da, Football Club København, ), commonly known as FC København, FC Copenhagen, Copenhagen or simply FCK, is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on ...

. He joined the club after completing Copa Libertadores with Guaraní. He made his league debut on 2 August 2015 against

SønderjyskE SønderjyskE is a Danish sport corporation. They have a football team (SønderjyskE Fodbold, based in Haderslev), two handball teams (SønderjyskE Håndbold, one male based in Sønderborg, one female based in Aabenraa) and an ice hockey team (S ...

making two assist, assisting

Thomas Delaney Thomas Joseph Delaney (born 3 September 1991) is a Danish professional footballer, who plays as a defensive midfielder for German club 1899 Hoffenheim, on loan from the La Liga club Sevilla, and the Denmark national team. Delaney began his c ...

and

William Kvist William Vitved Kvist (né Kvist Jørgensen; born 24 February 1985) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Danish club Copenhagen as well as for the Denmark national team. He played 43 matches and scored four g ...

. Three days later, he scored his first goal in a 3–2 defeat against

FK Jablonec FK Jablonec () is a Czech professional football club based in Jablonec nad Nisou. The club has played in the top league of Czech football, Czech First League, since 1994. History Jablonec played its first season of top league football in the 197 ...

as Copenhagen failed to qualify for the

UEFA 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. ...

group stage. On 16 May 2016, he netted twice to give his club a 2–0 win against

FC Nordsjælland Football Club Nordsjælland, commonly known as FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland () or FCN, is a professional Danish football team from the North Zealand town of Farum. Founded as ''Farum Boldklub'' from the merger of the town's two football club ...

which crowned Copenhagen league champions. In his first season in Copenhagen he became the third highest goalscorer with 14 goals and four assists. On 24 August 2016, Santander's goal in Copenhagen's qualification match versus Cypriot club

APOEL APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...

secured his club's position in the 2016–17 Champions League.

Bologna

In June 2018 Santander signed a four-year contract with Italian club

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

in a deal worth €6 million.

Reggina

On 2 August 2022, Santander moved to

on a multi-year contract.

International career

On 28 September 2009, at the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, Santander scored the first goal for the Paraguay U-20 squad against home team Egypt, giving the Paraguayans a 1–0 lead. Wearing the number 9 as a replacement for

Roque Santa Cruz Roque Luis Santa Cruz Cantero (; born 16 August 1981) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Paraguayan club Club Libertad. He is the record goal scorer and has earned over 100 caps for the Paraguay national team, ...

, he debuted for Paraguay on 9 October 2010 in a 1–0 loss against Australia in Sydney.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Paraguay's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Santander goal.''

Honours

Copenhagen *

: 2015–16, 2016–17 *

Danish Cup The Danish Cup ( da, Landspokalturneringen; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will quali ...

: 2015–16, 2016–17

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Santander, Federico 1991 births Living people People from San Lorenzo, Paraguay Paraguayan footballers Association football forwards Paraguay international footballers Paraguay under-20 international footballers 2019 Copa América players Paraguayan Primera División players Ligue 1 players Argentine Primera División players Danish Superliga players Serie A players Club Guaraní players Toulouse FC players Racing Club de Avellaneda footballers Club Atlético Tigre footballers F.C. Copenhagen players Bologna F.C. 1909 players Reggina 1914 players Paraguayan expatriate footballers Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in France Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Expatriate footballers in Argentina Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate footballers in Denmark Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Italy