Lucas Matías Galán (born 22 June 1988) is an Argentine former

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 ...

. A left-footed forward, Galán was known for his physical presence and

heading Heading can refer to: * Heading (metalworking), a process which incorporates the extruding and upsetting processes * Headline, text at the top of a newspaper article * Heading (navigation), the direction a person or vehicle is facing, usually si ...

. Starting his career in Argentina, Galán moved to Guatemala in 2013, at

Deportivo Coatepeque El Deportivo Coatepeque, is a Guatemalan football club based in Coatepeque, Quetzaltenango Department. They compete in the Liga Nacional, the top tier of Guatemalan football. They play their home games at ''Estadio Israel Barrios''. History ...

, helping them gain promotion to the Liga Nacional de Fútbol. Three months later he joined Greek side

Kallithea Kallithea (Greek: Καλλιθέα, meaning "beautiful view") is a district of Athens and a municipality in south Athens regional unit. It is the eighth largest municipality in Greece (96,118 inhabitants, 2021 census) and the fourth biggest i ...

, before moving to Lebanon in 2014, first at

Salam Zgharta Salam Zgharta Football Club ( ar, نادي السلام الرياضي زغرتا, lit=Zgharta Peace Sporting Club), known as Salam Zgharta or simply Salam, is a football club based in Zgharta, Lebanon, that competes in the . Founded in 1933 ...

then at Ansar. Galán won the Golden Boot in both seasons in the Lebanese Premier League. In 2016 he joined Saudi side Al-Tai, before returning to his native Argentina at Club Atlético Platense. In 2018 Galán ended his career in Lebanon at Shabab Arabi.

Early life

Galán was born on 22 June 1988 in Guaymallén, Mendoza, Argentina. He started his youth career at

Leonardo Murialdo Leonardo Murialdo (26 October 1828 – 30 March 1900) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and the co-founder of the Congregation of Saint Joseph - also known as the Murialdines (which he founded alongside Eugenio Reffo). Murialdo's call to the ...

, before joining local club Godoy Cruz. Galán then joined the youth club

Racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...

, playing alongside players such as

Gabriel Mercado Gabriel Iván Mercado (born 18 March 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for Internacional. Mainly a right back, he could also play as a central defender. He began his career with Racing Club and Estudiantes before joining ...

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 ...

, and

Sergio Romero Sergio Germán Romero (; born 22 February 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Boca Juniors. He has also played for the Argentina national team. Romero made his debut with Racing Club in the Argentine Pr ...

. He also had an experience at Universidad de Chile.

Club career

Galán began his senior career aged 17 at Deportivo Guaymallén in the , winning the league title in 2005. In 2007 he joined

Gimnasia y Esgrima de Mendoza Club Atlético Gimnasia y Esgrima (usually known as Gimnasia y Esgrima de Mendoza) is an Argentine football club located in the city of Mendoza. They currently plays in the Primera B Nacional, the second division of the Argentine football league ...

in the

Torneo Argentino A The Torneo Argentino A (in English "Argentine A Tournament") was one of the two leagues that formed the regionalised third level of the Argentine football league system. Clubs in the Torneo Argentino have indirect membership in AFA, while clubs ...

, before playing in the

Torneo Argentino B Torneo Argentino B was one of two leagues that form the fourth level of the Argentine football league system, made up of 100+ teams playing within eight regional zones across Argentina. The other league at level four wasand still isthe Primera C ...

with in 2008. He then played for

Juventud Alianza Club Atlético de la Juventud Alianza (usually called Juventud Alianza) is a sports club based in the city of Santa Lucía, San Juan, Argentina. Although other sports are practised at the club, Juventud Alianza is mostly known for its football t ...

in 2009, and

Atenas Atenas () is a district of the Atenas canton, in the Alajuela province of Costa Rica. Its urban area is referred as Atenas city. Toponymy Its name means Athens ''(Αθήνα)'', the capital of Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', offici ...

in 2010, before returning to Del Bono in 2011. Galán joined

Atlético Policial Club Atlético Policial is an Argentina, Argentine association football, football club, located in San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca. The team currently plays in the Torneo Argentino B, the regionalised 4th division of Argentine football league ...

in 2011, then in 2012. Galán's first experience abroad was in 2013, at

in Guatemala. He helped his side gain promotion to the Liga Nacional de Fútbol, scoring six goals in 14 games. After six months in Guatemala, Galán signed for Football League Greece (second-tier) club

, where he made 22 appearances, scoring eight goals and assisting three. On 10 September 2014, Galán signed for Lebanese Premier League side

. With 17 league goals in 20 appearances, he won the 2014–15 Golden Boot. On 4 July 2015, Galán moved to Ansar on a two-year contract. For the second time in a row, Galán won the Lebanese Golden Boot, for the 2015–16 season, with 19 goals in 21 games. He was also included in the Lebanese Premier League Team of the Season. In 2016 he moved to Al-Tai in Saudi Arabia, scoring six goals in 14 games, before moving back to Argentina in 2017, at Club Atlético Platense. In January 2018, Galán returned to Lebanon, signing for Shabab Arabi; he retired following an

ACL injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

Honours

Deportivo Guaymallén * : 2005 Deportivo Coatepeque *

Primera División de Ascenso The Primera División de Ascenso is the second highest level of football in Guatemala. Formerly, it was known as ''Liga Mayor "B"''. It is sanctioned by the National Football Federation of Guatemala The National Football Federation of Guatemala ( ...

: 2013 Individual * Lebanese Premier League Team of the Season: 2015–16 * Lebanese Premier League top scorer: 2014–15, 2015–16

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Galán, Lucas 1988 births Living people Footballers from Mendoza, Argentina Argentine men's footballers Juventud Alianza players Athens Kallithea F.C. players Salam Zgharta FC players Al Ansar FC players Al-Tai FC players Ansar Al Mawadda SC players Club Atlético Platense footballers Torneo Argentino A players Torneo Argentino B players Football League (Greece) players Lebanese Premier League players Saudi First Division League players Primera B Metropolitana players Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Guatemala Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Greece Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Lebanon Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Guatemala Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Lebanon Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Lebanese Premier League top scorers Men's association football forwards