Ignacio Antonio Saavedra Pino (born 12 January 1999) is a Chilean 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 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 Chilean club Universidad Católica.

Club career

Beginnings

Ignacio was born into a family linked to sports. At six years old, he started participating in the

Colo-Colo Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo () is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano they play in the Chilean Primera División, from which they have never been relegated. The team has played ...

Academy, and at 13 he moved to the youth ranks of rivals Universidad Católica. His talents quickly caught the attention of both club and nation, getting called up to the

Chile U20 Chile national under-20 football team, also known as Chile Sub-20 or La Rojita, is part of the Federación de Fútbol de Chile. The U-20 team is considered to be the breeding ground for future Chile national football team pla ...

squad.

Universidad Católica

After the arrival of the Spanish

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

Beñat San José Beñat San José Gil (born 24 September 1979), is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a left winger, and is the manager of Bolívar. He is the youngest manager in Gulf and Saudi history to have won a title, the 2013 Saudi Kings Cup at t ...

, Saavedra made his professional debut on August 4, 2018 in a match against Everton. He played 88 minutes in a 2-1 win. From there on, he has mantained a steady flux of starts in the defensive midfield position, amassing 131 official career appearances with the club.

International career

He represented Chile U17 at the

2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the sixteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, held in Chile from 17 October to 8 November 2015. Host selection The following four countries bid to host the tournament: * * * * Venues Along with proposing ...

, reaching the second stage and proving his reliability by playing all the matches. At under-20 level, Saavedra represented Chile in the

2018 South American Games The 2018 South American Games was a multi-sport event that took place in Cochabamba, Bolivia. It was the 11th edition of the ODESUR South American Games. A total of 373 sporting events are scheduled to be contested across a variety of sports. B ...

, winning the gold medal. At senior level, after being called up to some '' training microcycles'' by both

Reinaldo Rueda Reinaldo Rueda Rivera (born 16 April 1957) is a Colombian Association football, football coach. When he was the coach of the Colombia national under-20 football team, Colombia U-20 team, they finished 3rd at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championsh ...

and Martín Lasarte, making his international debut in the

friendly match 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

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

on March 26, 2021, at the 87th minute.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

;Universidad Católica *

Primera División Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Supercopa de Chile The Supercopa de Chile (''Supercup of Chile'') is an annual one-match football (soccer), football official competition in Chile organised by the Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (ANFP). This competition serves as the season opener and ...

;Chile U20 * South American Games Gold medal:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saavedra, Ignacio 1999 births Living people Footballers from Santiago Chilean men's footballers Chile men's youth international footballers Chile men's under-20 international footballers Chile men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Chilean Primera División players Club Deportivo Universidad Católica footballers South American Games gold medalists for Chile South American Games medalists in football Competitors at the 2018 South American Games 21st-century Chilean people