Jonatan Ezequiel Cristaldo (born 5 March 1989), nicknamed "Churry", is an Argentine 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

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

for Newell's Old Boys in the

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

Club career

Cristaldo made his debut for Vélez Sársfield in a 0–2 home defeat to Rosario Central on 22 April 2007 in the 2007 Clausura. He scored his first goal also in a home game against Rosario Central (2–1 victory) in the 2008 Clausura. Cristaldo won his first Argentine league championship with Vélez in the 2009 Clausura. During the championship, he was at first a substitute for the striking partners

Hernán Rodrigo López Hernán is a Spanish masculine given name, originating from Germanic Hernan in the Visigoth culture in Spain. It is the Latinized version of the compound name ''Fard-nanth'', which seems to mean "gentle traveler" or "spiritual traveler". The House ...

and

Joaquín Larrivey Joaquín Oscar Larrivey (; born 20 August 1984) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a centre forward for Cosenza. He is nicknamed ''el Bati'', for his physical resemblance to former footballer Gabriel Batistuta. Larrivey also ...

; however as of the 11th fixture, he became a regular starter along López in the attack. Nonetheless, a

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) The meniscus (plural: ''menisci'', from the Greek for "crescent") is the curve in the upper surface ...

injury suffered in the penultimate fixture against Lanús left him out of the final game against runners-up

Huracán Huracan (; es, Huracán; myn, Hunraqan, "one legged"), often referred to as ''U Kʼux Kaj'', the "Heart of Sky", is a Kʼicheʼ people, Kʼicheʼ Maya mythology, Maya god of wind, storm, fire and one of the creator deities who participated in ...

, in which the tournament was decided. In total, the striker played 14 games and scored 4 goals during the competition. In the following semester, Cristaldo started by scoring in Vélez' 1–0 home victory over

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 the first round of the

2009 Copa Sudamericana The 2009 Copa Sudamericana de Clubes (officially the 2009 Copa Nissan Sudamericana de Clubes for sponsorship reasons) is the 8th edition of the CONMEBOL's secondary international club tournament. Internacional were the defending champions, having ...

, securing his team's qualification. He was also, along

Maximiliano Moralez Maximiliano Nicolás "Maxi" Moralez (born 27 February 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Argentine Primera División club Racing. He is nicknamed ''frasquito'' (English: little flask). Club c ...

, his team's top scorer on that semester's league championship ( 2009 Apertura) with 5 goals in 13 games. One of his goals was scored with a bicycle kick from outside the penalty area (6th fixture 2–0 win over Huracán). Cristaldo started 2010 suffering an injury that left him out of most of Vélez' Clausura tournament and

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

games. He only played 4 league games in the semester, all of them coming on from the bench. In the second semester, he was mostly a substitute for the striker partnership of

Juan Manuel Martínez Juan Manuel Martínez (born October 25, 1985), nicknamed ''Burrito'' (in English, "Little Donkey"), is an Argentine football forward who plays for Almirante Brown. He also holds a Portuguese passport. Martínez is best known for his agility, pa ...

and Santiago Silva (who together scored 21 goals). However, he saw action regularly, coming on as a substitute in 16 of the 19 games of the tournament (he also played one as a starter). He ended the semester with 5 league goals, and one more in the

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...

. In January 2011, Cristaldo joined Ukrainian

FC Metalist Kharkiv Football Club Metalist Kharkiv ( uk, Футбо́льний Клуб Металі́ст Ха́рків ) is a Ukrainian football club based in Kharkiv that plays in the Ukrainian First League during the 2021–22 season. It was revived 5 years ...

, that bought 80% of the player's transfer rights from Vélez Sársfield for a US$5 million fee. In August 2014, Cristaldo joined Brazilian side

Palmeiras Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...

, signing a four-year deal. In June 2016, Mexican side Cruz Azul confirmed the signing of Cristaldo from Palmeiras for a fee that was reported to be in the region of US$3 million. After a six-month loan spell with

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

, Cristaldo returned to play for Vélez Sarsfield on a free transfer, for the

2017–18 Argentine Primera División The 2017–18 Argentine Primera División - Superliga Argentina (officially the Superliga Quilmes Clásica for sponsorship reasons) was the 128 season of top-flight professional football in Argentina. The season began on 25 August 2017 and ended ...

International career

In January 2009, Cristaldo was selected to represent the

Argentina national under-20 football team The Argentina national under-20 football team is the representative of Argentina in FIFA-sponsored tournaments that pertain to that age level. Argentina is the most successful nation in the FIFA U-20 World Cup, winning the competition a record si ...

at the South American Youth Championship. During the first round, he was a starter in the attack along

Andrés Ríos Andrés Ríos may refer to: * Daniel Andrés Ríos (born 1983), Argentine football striker * Andrés Ríos (racing driver) (born 1983), Argentine racing driver * Andrés Lorenzo Ríos (born 1989), Argentine football striker See also *Andrés Manu ...

, but lost his place in the final round. Argentina did not qualify for the World Cup, and Cristaldo ended the tournament with 8 games and 2 goals. One year later, in January 2010, the striker was selected by

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...

, coach of the Argentina national team, to play a friendly match against

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 a squad formed by Argentine league players. Cristaldo was an unused substitute in the game. New manager

Sergio Batista Sergio Daniel "Checho" Batista (; born 9 November 1962) is an Argentine football manager and former international player. As a footballer he played as a midfield for Argentinos Juniors, River Plate, Nueva Chicago, Tosu Futures and All Boys. H ...

handed Cristaldo his full international debut in the 2–1 defeat against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

in June 2011.

International appearances and goals

Career statistics

Honours

;Vélez Sársfield *

(1): 2009 Clausura ;Palmeiras *

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

* Campeonato Brasileiro A:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

References

External links

Profile
at Vélez Sarsfield's official website
Profile
at Palmeiras' official website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cristaldo, Jonatan 1989 births Living people Sportspeople from Buenos Aires Province Argentine footballers Argentina under-20 international footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Brazil Expatriate footballers in Mexico Association football forwards Argentine Primera División players Ukrainian Premier League players Serie A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Liga MX players Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers FC Metalist Kharkiv players Bologna F.C. 1909 players Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players Cruz Azul footballers C.F. Monterrey players Argentina international footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine