César Fabián Delgado Godoy (born 18 August 1981) is an Argentine former 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, rugb ...

who played as a winger. He also played as a central midfielder, making piercing forward runs through the center of the opposition's defence. His nickname ''"Chelito"'' is derived from that of Marcelo Delgado (known as "El Chelo") because of their same last name. Since 2013, he also holds Mexican citizenship.

Club career

Born in

Rosario, Argentina Rosario () is the largest city in the central Argentine province of Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous city in the country, and is also the most po ...

, Delgado started his career at

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central () is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on December 24, 1889, by a group of railway workers, taking its name from the English- ...

. He joined

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...

for the 2003 Apertura, where he finished with 16 appearances and eight goals. Delgado made 21 appearances in the subsequent

Apertura The ' and ' tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is divi ...

, again scoring eight goals. In the 2004 Apertura, Delgado scored another six goals in 15 games. On 8 January 2008, Delgado moved to French club Lyon who paid a transfer fee of €11 million. He made his

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. ...

debut on 20 January 2008 against

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 ...

. Delgado came on as an 85th-minute substitute Lisandro López on 21 October 2009 against

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

and scored the winning goal in a 2–1 victory. It was Lyon's first win in the UEFA Champions League against English opposition. On 10 June 2011, Delgado signed with C.F. Monterrey, and participated in the 2011 Mexican League Apertura, CONCACAF Champions League and Club World Cup tournaments.

International career

Delgado played for Argentina in the

2004 Copa América The 2004 Copa América was the 41st edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body, and was held i ...

, scoring one goal, and was part of their

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have be ...

-winning team at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. He played several matches for the

Argentina national football team The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in men's international football and is administered by the Argentine Football Association, the governing body for football in Argentina. Nicknamed ''La Albiceleste'' ('The White and ...

during

2006 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification competition was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America) ...

, but due to injury he did not make the 23-man squad for the tournament.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Delgado goal''.

Honours

Club

Cruz Azul * Copa Panamericana 2007 Lyon *

: 2007–08 *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

: 2007–08 Monterrey *

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

: 2011–12, 2012–13

International

Argentina *

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

Individual

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

top scorer: 2012, 2013

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Delgado, Cesar Argentine footballers 1981 births Living people Olympic footballers of Argentina Olympic gold medalists for Argentina Argentina international footballers Association football forwards Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics 2004 Copa América players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players Rosario Central footballers Cruz Azul footballers C.F. Monterrey players Footballers from Rosario, Santa Fe Olympique Lyonnais players Ligue 1 players Argentine expatriate footballers Argentine Primera División players Liga MX players Argentine emigrants to Mexico Naturalized citizens of Mexico Mexican footballers Expatriate footballers in France Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics