Jonathan Santana Gehre (born 19 October 1981) is an Argentina-born Paraguayan former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and current

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the Plan_(drawing), plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a mea ...

. He played for the

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

national team from 2007 to 2016. Santana was a key part of Paraguay's national team whilst under management of

Tata Martino Gerardo Daniel "Tata" Martino (born 20 November 1962) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player. Martino played mostly for Newell's Old Boys in his native Rosario. He holds the record of appearances with the team playing ...

, featuring in three major competitions, the

2007 Copa América The 2007 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, known simply as the 2007 Copa América or 2007 Copa América Venezuela, was the 42nd edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The c ...

, the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

and the

2011 Copa América The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, better known as the 2011 Copa América or the Copa América 2011 Argentina, was the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South Americ ...

. Santana missed the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the latter due to a red card in the semi-final against Venezuela. Santana's career ran from 1998 to 2020, playing in

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 ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and

. In 2021, Santana retired as a footballer and became a model.

Career

Santana's debut was in the 1998–99 season in Argentina's lower leagues, appearing in the squad with

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese defender Shinji Muraki. He went on to play for a number of

Argentine Primera Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

clubs, including

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...

and River Plate.

San Lorenzo

For the 2001–02 season, Santana joined San Lorenzo de Almagro for the

2002 Copa Libertadores The 2002 Copa Libertadores de América was the 43rd edition of CONMEBOL's premier club football tournament. It was won by the Paraguayan club Olimpia; their third title. First round The first round of the Copa Libertadores drew 32 teams into eig ...

and

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 ...

tournaments, winning the latter and forming the squad with

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

midfielder William Tabi. In the 2004–05 season, Santana appeared for San Lorenzo in the

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 ...

in the squad with

Ezequiel Lavezzi Ezequiel Iván Lavezzi (; born 3 May 1985) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a forward. During his career, his most important attributes were his pace, hardworking style of play, technique, creativity, and dribbling abi ...

River Plate

For the 2005–06 season, Santana joined Argentine River Plate, reaching the quarter-final stages of the

. Santana formed part of a high-profile team that included

Juan Pablo Carrizo Juan Pablo Carrizo (born 6 May 1984) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He started his professional career with River Plate, where he played until 2008, winning the 2008 Clausura. His performances earne ...

, German Lux,

Diego Buonanotte Diego Mario Buonanotte Rende (; born 19 April 1988) is an Argentine naturalized Chilean Association football, footballer who plays for Peruvian club Sporting Cristal as an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder and Midfielder#Wing ...

Marcelo Gallardo Marcelo Daniel Gallardo (; born 18 January 1976) is an Argentine football coach and former professional player who last managed River Plate. Gallardo began his career in the club's youth divisions, and made his debut in the Argentine Primera D ...

Daniel Montenegro Daniel Gastón Montenegro Casella (born 28 March 1979) is an Argentine former footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder. He spent most of his professional career with Huracán and Independiente, having several spells with both c ...

Oscar Ahumada Oscar Adrián Ahumada (born 31 August 1982) is a former Argentine football midfielder. Club career Born in Zárate, Buenos Aires, Ahumada made his professional debut with Club Atlético River Plate on 24 November 2002, in a 2–1 victory again ...

, Matias Abelairas,

Luciano Figueroa Luciano Gabriel "Lucho" Figueroa Herrera (; born 19 May 1981) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a forward. Club career Figueroa was born in Santa Fe. He began his professional career with Primera División club Ro ...

, Gaston Fernandez,

Gonzalo Higuaín Gonzalo Gerardo Higuaín (; born 10 December 1987) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. Nicknamed ''El Pipita'' or ''Pipa'', Higuaín was a prolific striker, known for his eye for goal, strong physique, and o ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

n striker

Radamel Falcao Radamel Falcao García Zárate (born 10 February 1986) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Rayo Vallecano and often captains the Colombia national team. Nicknamed "''El Tigre''" (Spanish for ''The Tige ...

and future Paraguay national team colleague Julio Cesar Caceres.

Wolfsburg

In August 2006, he signed a five-year contract with German

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...

. Whilst Santana was at Wolfsburg during the 2006–07 season, he formed part of the team with Paraguayan Julio dos Santos. For his second season at the club, Santana was teammates with Edin Dzeko.

San Lorenzo (loan)

During a loan move to San Lorenzo in the 2008–09 Argentine Primera División season, he joined Paraguayan

Aureliano Torres Aureliano Torres Román (born 16 June 1982) is a Paraguayan former footballer who last played for 12 de Octubre in the Paraguayan División Intermedia. At club level, Torres achieved the 2002 Emperor's Cup in Japan, the Torneo Clausura of th ...

in the squad. Santana returned to Wolfsburg for the 2009–10 season, where the team participated in the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League.

Kayserispor

Following the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Santana joined Turkish Super Lig team Kayserispor, partnering up with

Marcelo Zalayeta Marcelo Danubio Zalayeta (; born 5 December 1978) is a Uruguayan former footballer who played as a striker. Zalayeta began his club career with Danubio before moving to Peñarol for a season in 1997, where he won the Uruguayan Primera Divisi� ...

, Franco Cangele,

Ali Bilgin Ali Bilgin (born 17 December 1981) is a former German football player of Turkish descent. His versatility and ability to use both feet allows him to fill in at various positions if needed. One of his former clubs is Rot-Weiss Essen which got pr ...

, Önder Turaci, Mehmet Boyraz and

James Troisi James Troisi ( ; born 3 July 1988) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Western United. Early life Troisi was born in Rose Park, a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, to Greek parent ...

in his first season at the club. Santa made 20 league appearances and scored four goals in his first season at the club, which saw Kayserispor finish in sixth position in the Super Lig table. In Santana's second season at the club, he amassed 15 league appearances before being loaned out to Primera División Paraguaya team Libertad for the 2012 season. Prior to his loan move, he was joined at Kayserispor by national team colleague

Cristian Riveros Cristian Miguel Riveros Núñez (born 16 October 1982) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays for Libertad as a defensive midfielder. A full international for Paraguay since 2005, he has earned 99 caps for his country, playing at tw ...

Cerro Porteño

Santana debuted for Cerro Porteño in a 3–1 away victory against

Club 12 de Octubre 12 de Octubre Football Club is a Paraguayan football club from the city of Itauguá that currently plays in the División Intermedia, the second division of Football in Paraguay. Founded in 1914, the club's home venue is Estadio Luis Alberto Sa ...

on 16 February 2014. Santana was substituted onto the field for Fidencio Oviedo in the 83rd minute of the match.

International career

In June 2007, Santana received

an citizenship (his mother is a Paraguayan citizen born in San Ignacio,

Misiones Department Misiones () is a department located in the southern region of Paraguay. Its capital is San Juan Bautista. The eighth of Paraguay's 17 departments, it was created in 1906, then known as the ''San Ignacio Department'', and was not given its p ...

and Argentina did not recognize dual citizenship). He played for Paraguay in the

. He was also named in Paraguay's final 23-men squad for the

. He entered the field during Paraguay's first game, a 1–1 draw with

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, but suffered an injury during the match. However, as Paraguay's coach

Gerardo Martino Gerardo Daniel "Tata" Martino (born 20 November 1962) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player. Martino played mostly for Newell's Old Boys in his native Rosario. He holds the record of appearances with the team playing a ...

had already made the three available substitutions, Santana had to stay on the field and play injured for the remaining time.

Modeling career

Following his retirement from football in 2021, Santana and his wife modelled for a clothes store at Asunción shopping centre Paseo la Galeria.

Career statistics

Honours

San Lorenzo *

Copa Mercosur The Copa Mercosur (, pt, Copa Mercosul , "Mercosur Cup") was a football competition played from 1998 to 2001 by the traditional top clubs from Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile. The competition was created by CONMEBOL to generate TV m ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

VfL Wolfsburg *

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

: 2008–09

References

External links

Jonathan Santana
at playmakerstats.com * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Santana, Jonathan Citizens of Paraguay through descent Paraguayan men's footballers Paraguay men's international footballers Argentine men's footballers Paraguayan expatriate men's footballers Club Almagro players Argentine Primera División players San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers Club Atlético Nueva Chicago footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Club Atlético Independiente footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Bundesliga players VfL Wolfsburg players Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Süper Lig players Kayserispor footballers Paraguayan Primera División players Club Libertad footballers Club Atlético Belgrano footballers Cerro Porteño players Club Atlético Sarmiento footballers Men's association football midfielders Argentine emigrants to Paraguay Argentine sportspeople of Paraguayan descent Footballers from Buenos Aires 1981 births Living people 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2011 Copa América players Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Germany Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Germany