Javier Astúa Araya (6 November 1968 – 4 January 2022) was a Costa Rican 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 played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Club career

Born in Quepos, Astúa played several years for Municipal Puntarenas and played two matches for Mexican outfit

Morelia Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid) is a city and municipal seat of the municipality of Morelia in the north-central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. The city is in the Guayangareo Valley and is the capital and larg ...

in September 1992. He had a frustrating four-month stint at Chilean side

Palestino Club Deportivo Palestino is a professional football club based in the city of Santiago, Chile. The club was founded in 1920 and plays in the Primera División de Chile. They play their home games at the Estadio Municipal de La Cisterna stadium ...

, before returning to Costa Rica where he joined

Alajuelense Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA, ), commonly known as Alajuelense and nicknamed La Liga (), is a Costa Rican multisport club based in the borough of El Llano, Alajuela, Alajuela province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Ala ...

. He later played for San Carlos, who released him in November 1995 after an injury-hit spell. In March 2006, he was released by

Herediano Club Sport Herediano (), commonly known as Herediano and nicknamed El Team, is a Costa Rican multisport club based in Heredia, Heredia province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Herediano is mostly known for its association ...

. He finished his career at Carmelita before more injury cut short his career. He was twice the Costa Rica Premier Division top goalscorer, in 1992 and 1994.

International career

Astúa made his debut for

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

in an April 1992 friendly against

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

and earned a total of 13 caps, scoring seven goals. He has represented his country in four

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

matches and played at the

1993 UNCAF Nations Cup The 1993 UNCAF Nations Cup was the second edition of the UNCAF Nations Cup, the football championship of Unión Centroamericana de Fútbol (UNCAF). Preliminary round Squads :For a complete list of all participating squads see '' 1993 UNCAF N ...

. He played his final international game in January 1994 against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Later life and death

Astúa was married and had a daughter and a son,“Extraño el fútbol”
Al Día, who was manager of Third Division side Jicaral in 2013. He died on 4 January 2022, at the age of 53.Fallece recordado exjugador del fútbol nacional: Javier Astúa Araya

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Astúa goal.''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Astua, Javier 1968 births 2022 deaths People from Puntarenas Province Association football forwards Costa Rican footballers Costa Rican expatriate footballers Costa Rica international footballers Puntarenas F.C. players Atlético Morelia players Club Deportivo Palestino footballers L.D. Alajuelense footballers A.D. San Carlos footballers C.S. Herediano footballers A.D. Carmelita footballers Liga FPD players Liga MX players Chilean Primera División players Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Chile Costa Rican football managers