Pablo Ignacio Calandria (born 15 March 1982) is an Argentine naturalized

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an retired

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 played as a striker. Nicknamed ''Cracklandia'', he spent most of his professional career in Spain and Chile, notably representing O'Higgins.

Club career

Early years / Spain

Born in

Ituzaingó, Buenos Aires Ituzaingó () is the capital of the Ituzaingó Partido in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area, Argentina, west of Buenos Aires. Overview Ituzaingó has been the capital of the Ituzaingó Partido or municipality of Buenos Aires Province ...

, Calandria played his first professional game for

Club Atlético Huracán Club Atlético Huracán () is an Argentine sports club from the Parque Patricios neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is notable for its football team, that currently plays in the Primera División, the top level of the Argentine football ...

at the age of only 16.Pablo Calandria, otra víctima de la maldición José Pekerman (Pablo Calandria, another victim of José Pekerman's curse)
; Minuto Uno, 11 March 2007 (in Spanish) He was almost immediately linked with a transfer to country giants

Club Atlético River Plate Club Atlético River Plate, commonly known as River Plate, is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Núñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Founded in 1901, the club is named after the English name for the city's estuary, Río de la ...

for a

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

850,000 fee, but nothing came of it and was instead acquired by French side Olympique de Marseille. Calandria was very unsuccessful in his first spells abroad, only scoring once in three full seasons combined with Marseille,

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (, commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply Lens) is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, ''les sang et or'' (''the blood and gold''), co ...

and Málaga CF. Released by ''L'OM'' in summer 2002 he continued playing in Spain in the following six years, representing four teams in Segunda División, mainly CD Leganés and

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, ...

Return to Argentina

Calandria scored his first goal in the Argentine Primera División while playing for

Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy Club Atlético Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy , (usually known as Gimnasia de Jujuy or just GEJ) is an Argentine sports club based in San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy Province. The club was founded in 1931 and is best known for its football team, wh ...

, in a 1–2 away defeat against

San Lorenzo de Almagro Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro, commonly known as San Lorenzo de Almagro or simply San Lorenzo (in English: ''Saint Lawrence''), is a sports club of Argentina in the Boedo district of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its football team ...

for the 2008 Apertura tournament. After being relegated he joined

Atlético Tucumán Club Atlético Tucumán (mostly known as Atlético Tucumán) is an Argentinian football club based in the city of San Miguel de Tucumán of Tucumán Province. Although several sports are practised at the club, Atlético is mostly known for its ...

, netting in his debut.

Chile

In 2010, Calandria signed for

Santiago Morning Club de Deportes Santiago Morning (popularly known as Chaguito Morning or Morning) is a Chilean professional football club based in Recoleta, Santiago. They compete in the Primera B. Santiago Morning was one of Primera División de Chile found ...

in the Chilean Primera División, going on to remain in the country in the following years, with Club Deportivo Universidad Católica and

Santiago Wanderers Club de Deportes Santiago Wanderers is a football club based in Valparaíso, a founding member of the Chilean Football Federation. Their home ground, Estadio Elías Figueroa Brander, is in the north-west of the city. Wanderers have played thei ...

. In 2013 he won the Apertura with O'Higgins FC, scoring nine goals in 17 matches including a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...

against C.S.D. Rangers in the final minute that resulted in a 4–3 home win and qualified to the final against Club Deportivo Universidad Católica. Calandria participated with the team in the 2014 edition of the Copa Libertadores. In the tournament, he scored through a penalty against

Cerro Porteño Club Cerro Porteño is a professional Paraguayan football club, based in the neighbourhood of Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1912, Cerro has won 34 Primera División titles and is one of the most popular football clubs in Paraguay. Its presi ...

but also missed one against

Club Atlético Lanús Club Atlético Lanús () is an Argentine sports club from the Lanús district of Greater Buenos Aires. Founded in 1915, the club's main sports are football and basketball. In both sports, Lanús plays in Argentina's top divisions: Primera Divis ...

in the last match, in an eventual group stage exit. On 3 May 2014, whilst

playing Play is a range of Motivation#Incentive theories: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, intrinsically motivated activities done for recreational pleasure and enjoyment. Play is commonly associated with children and juvenile-level activities, but m ...

in the Supercopa de Chile against

Deportes Iquique Club de Deportes Iquique S.A.D.P. is a Chilean football club based in Iquique that is a current member of the Primera B. Founded in 1978, the club's home stadium is the Estadio Tierra de Campeones, which has a 13,171 capacity. Iquique has spent ...

, Calandria suffered an

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and th ...

injury to his knee, being sidelined for six months. He returned to action in January of the following year, against

Unión La Calera Unión La Calera is a Chilean football club based in La Calera and competes the Primera División de Chile. It was founded as Club de Deportes La Calera on 26 January 1954, after the merger of three teams from the city: ''Condor'', ''Calera Com ...

International career

Calandria played for

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

at under–17 and under–20 levels.

Style of play

Calandria stood out for his aerial ability, and was also a competent penalty taker.El ejemplo de Pablo Calandria: el temple de un goleador (The example of Pablo Calandria: a scorer's poise)
O'Higgins FC, 23 March 2015 (in Spanish)

Honours

Club

Universidad Católica *

Copa Chile The Copa Chile (''Chile Cup'') is an annual cup competition for Chilean football teams. Due to time constraints and club pressure, the trophy was cancelled in 2000, but returned in 2008. Its precursor was the Campeonato de Apertura (''Opening Ch ...

: 2011 O'Higgins *

Primera División de Chile 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 Alí Rafael Primera Rosel ...

: 2013–14 Apertura * Supercopa de Chile: 2014

References

External links

Argentine League statistics
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Calandria, Pablo 1982 births Living people Footballers from Buenos Aires Province Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent Italian sportspeople of Argentine descent Argentine men's footballers Men's association football forwards Argentine Primera División players Club Atlético Huracán footballers Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy footballers Atlético Tucumán footballers Ligue 1 players Olympique de Marseille players RC Lens players La Liga players Segunda División players Málaga CF players CD Leganés players Sporting de Gijón players Hércules CF players Albacete Balompié players Chilean Primera División players Santiago Morning footballers Club Deportivo Universidad Católica footballers Santiago Wanderers footballers O'Higgins F.C. footballers Argentina men's under-20 international footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Chile Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Chile Naturalized citizens of Chile