Zander Mateo Cassierra Cabezas (born 13 April 1997) is a Colombian 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 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 ...

for Russian club

Zenit St. Petersburg Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, acco ...

Career

Deportivo Cali

Cassierra made his debut for

Deportivo Cali Asociación Deportivo Cali, best known as Deportivo Cali, is a Colombian sports club based in Cali, most notable for its football team, which currently competes in the Categoría Primera A. Deportivo Cali is one of the most successful footba ...

in 2015. Despite having played at Deportivo Cali with a jersey displaying "Casierra", his official name is spelled "Cassierra" (with two s's).

Ajax

On 17 June 2016, Cassierra signed a five-year contract with Dutch club

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

, lasting until 2021. The club paid Deportivo Cali €5.5 million to complete the transfer. Cassierra is the third Colombian player to play for Ajax after Daniel Cruz (2000–2003) and

Davinson Sánchez Davinson Sánchez Mina (born 12 June 1996) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Tottenham Hotspur and the Colombia national team. Despite initially coming through América de Cali's youth academy, Sánc ...

. He scored a goal in his

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

debut against Sparta Rotterdam in a 1–3 win. Cassierra spent the majority of the 2017–18 season playing for the reserves' team

Jong Ajax Jong Ajax () (''English: Young Ajax''), also referred to as Ajax II or Ajax 2 is a Dutch association football team, the reserve team of Ajax. It is based in Amsterdam and competes in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. History Jong Ajax (''formerly more ...

, in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...

. He finished as top scorer of the reserves team with 18 goals scored, helping his side to clinch their first championship since joining the professional ranks and competing in the second tier of Dutch football.

Groningen loan

On 2 June 2018,

announced its loan, for one season, to

FC Groningen Football Club Groningen () is a Dutch professional association football club based in Groningen, province of Groningen. Founded on 16 June 1971 as the successor of GVAV, the team compete in the Eredivisie, the highest tier of Dutch football. G ...

. However, he returned after only half a season.

Racing loan

In January 2019, he joined

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 ...

on loan until July 2020.

Sochi

On 26 August 2021, he signed a two-year contract with an additional one-year option with

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

club

PFC Sochi Football Club Sochi (russian: Футбольный клуб Сочи, Futbolny Klub Sochi), is a Russian professional football club based in Sochi. The club is playing its home matches at the 47,000-capacity Fisht Stadium. History FC Sochi was ...

. Cassierra finished 2021–22 Russian Premier League as the second-best goal scorer with 14 goals, behind

Gamid Agalarov Gamid Ruslanovich Agalarov (russian: Гамид Русланович Агаларов; born 16 July 2000) is a Russian football player of Dargin descent who plays as a centre-forward for Akhmat Grozny. Club career He made his debut in the R ...

who scored 19, as Sochi finished in 2nd place, club's historical best position.

Zenit St. Petersburg

On 30 June 2022,

announced the signing of Cassierra to a three-year contract, with the option of an additional year.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Club

Ajax *

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. It ...

: runners-up 2016-17 Jong Ajax *

: Champion 2017-18 Racing Club * Primera División: Champion 2018–19 Zenit Saint Petersburg *

Russian Super Cup The Russian Super Cup () is a one-match football annual competition. Its official sponsored name is ''OLIMPBET Russian Supercup'' (). The two participating clubs are the Russian Premier League champions and the Russian Cup winners. If the Premie ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

References

External links

* 1997 births Living people People from Barbacoas, Nariño Association football forwards Colombian footballers Colombian expatriate footballers Categoría Primera A players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Primeira Liga players Russian Premier League players Deportivo Cali footballers AFC Ajax players Jong Ajax players FC Groningen players Racing Club de Avellaneda footballers Belenenses SAD players PFC Sochi players FC Zenit Saint Petersburg players Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Colombian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate footballers in Argentina Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Russia Sportspeople from Nariño Department {{Colombia-footy-forward-stub