Cristian Leonel Ramírez Zambrano (; born 12 August 1994) is an Ecuadorian 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 lea ...

who plays as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for

Ferencváros Ferencváros (, ) is the 9th district of Budapest (), Hungary. Name The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary. History The developmen ...

of the

Nemzeti Bajnokság I The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, ), also known as NB I or Fizz Liga after its title sponsor, OTP Bank's webshop subsidiary, is a professional association football league in Hungary and the highest level of the Hungarian football league system. Twelve ...

. Fast, intelligent, ambidextrous and a great dribbler are the qualities of Ramirez which has led to the foreign press comparing him to

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), often known as Roberto Carlos and sometimes ''RC3'', is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer. He has been described as the "most offensive-minded left-back in the ...

Club career

Independiente Jose Teran

Having started out early with CSCyD Brasilia, he was signed in 2009 by Independiente Jose Teran. A promising young left-back, even as to being compared to the legendary Roberto Carlos, his professional debut came on 28 August 2011, against El Nacional, fully completing everyone's expectations of his abilities on-field, and started most of his 2011

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

games. Throughout the season, he was an incredible defender and attacker against the league's top teams, like

LDU Quito Liga Deportiva Universitaria () is an Ecuadorian professional football club based in Quito. They play in the Serie A, the highest level of the Ecuadorian professional football league. They play their home games at the Estadio Rodrigo Paz Delgad ...

Deportivo Quito Sociedad Deportivo Quito is an Ecuadorian club football club based in Quito. For most of its existence, it competed in Serie A, the highest level of the Ecuadorian professional football league. And currently competes in the Second Category of Pi ...

, and

Barcelona SC Barcelona Sporting Club (), internationally known as Barcelona de Guayaquil, is an Ecuadorian sports club based in Guayaquil, known best for its professional football team. They currently play in the Ecuadorian Serie A, the highest level of fo ...

. He also gained a fearsome reputation, having stopped on their tracks promising young Ecuadorian talents such as Fidel Martinez and

Renato Ibarra Alex Renato Ibarra Mina (born 20 January 1991) is an Ecuadorian professional footballer who plays for Ecuadorian club Independiente del Valle. Club career El Nacional He had been playing throughout his youth at the Ecuadorian team El Naciona ...

; the latter being during Ramirez' debut. Ramírez continued to play with the starting eleven for the 2012 season. After garnering so much international attention, he had trials with

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

, though he could not be signed by the club then due to UEFA rules restricting signage of foreign players under 18, and a 10-day trial with Harry Redknapp's

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

, which began on 3 April 2012.

Fortuna Düsseldorf

On 25 January 2013, he signed for German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fo ...

1. FC Nürnberg

On 17 June 2014, it was confirmed that Cristian would be loaned to

Nürnberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the largest city in Franconia, the second-largest city in the German state of Bavaria, and its 544,414 (2023) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest city in Germany. ...

for the 2014–2015 season.

Ferencváros

On 2 April 2016, Ramírez became Hungarian League champion with

Ferencvárosi TC Ferencvárosi Torna Club, commonly known as Ferencváros (), Fradi, FTC is a Hungary, Hungarian professional Association football, football club based in Ferencváros, Budapest, that competes in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I, the top flight of Hunga ...

after losing to

Debreceni VSC Debreceni Vasutas Sport Club is a Hungarian professional football club based in Debrecen that competes in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I, the first tier of Hungarian football. They are best known internationally for reaching the group stages of the U ...

2–1 at the

Nagyerdei Stadion Nagyerdei Stadion is an all-seater asymmetric football stadium in Debrecen, Hungary and home to Debreceni Vasutas Sport Club (the seats behind the goals are 'Vario' or 'Rail' seats to facilitate safe standing at domestic matches). With space ...

in the

2015–16 Nemzeti Bajnokság I The 2015–16 Nemzeti Bajnokság I, also known as NB I, is the 117th season of top-tier football in Hungary. The league is officially named ''OTP Bank Liga'' for sponsorship reasons. The season began 17 July 2015 and will conclude on 8 May 2016. ...

season.

Krasnodar

On 9 January 2017, he signed a 4.5-year contract with the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

club

Krasnodar Krasnodar, formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern Russia, with a population of 1,154,885 residents, and up to 1.263 millio ...

. On 20 February 2021, Krasnodar removed him from the official squad registered with the RPL for the rest of the 2020–21 season due to injury. On 15 May 2021, he extended the contract with Krasnodar to 30 June 2025. On 3 March 2022, following the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, Krasnodar announced that his contract is suspended and he will not train with the team, but the contract is not terminated and remains valid.

Return to Ferencváros

On 14 July 2023,

announced Ramírez's return. On 6 August 2023, he scored his first goal in the

2023–24 Nemzeti Bajnokság I The 2023–24 Nemzeti Bajnokság I (also known as 2023–24 OTP Bank Liga), also known as NB I, was the 125th season of top-tier football in Hungary. The league was officially named ''OTP Bank Liga'' for sponsorship reasons. The fixtures were anno ...

season against

Fehérvár FC Fehérvár Football Club (commonly known as ''Fehérvár'', ''Vidi'', or ''MOL Fehérvár Football Club'' for sponsorship reasons), is a Hungarian professional football club based in Székesfehérvár, which plays in the Nemzeti Bajnokság II ...

at the

Sóstói Stadion Sóstói Stadion, formerly known as MOL Aréna Sóstó, (''MOL Aréna Salt Lake'') is a multi-purpose stadium in Székesfehérvár, Hungary, primarily used for football (soccer), football matches. History Planning On 12 November 2014, the desi ...

. On 20 April 2024, the

–

Kisvárda Kisvárda (; , ) is a town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary near the border of Slovakia and Ukraine. It is the 3rd largest town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg after Nyíregyháza and Mátészalka ...

tie ended with a goalless draw at the

Groupama Aréna Groupama, an abbreviation for Groupe des Assurances Mutuelles Agricoles (), is a French insurance group headquartered in Paris with operations in 10 countries. It is listed in the 2007 ICA Global 300 list of mutuals and cooperatives, ranke ...

on the 29th match day of the

season which meant that Ferencváros won their 35th championship. On 15 May 2024, Ferencváros were defeated by Paks 2–0 in the

2024 Magyar Kupa Final The 2024 Magyar Kupa final decided the winners of the 2023–24 Magyar Kupa, the 84th season of Hungarian premier football cup, the Magyar Kupa. The match was played on 15 May 2024 at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest between Paks and Ferencváros. ...

at the

Puskás Aréna Puskás Aréna () is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium in the Zugló, 14th district (Zugló) of Budapest, Hungary. The stadium's construction started in 2017 and was finished before the end of 2019. It is an all-seater with a capacity o ...

International career

Ramírez first played for Ecuador in the 2011 under-17 squad, who participated in the 2011 South American U-17 Football Championship, and just barely qualified for the

2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 14th edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth association football, football championship contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was h ...

. Ramírez showcased his footballing skills and mental capacity in the 2011 U-17 World Cup to successfully defend against the likes of Germany, Panama and Burkina Faso. It was in this tournament where he has instantly intrigued the international club scene. As of April 2012, he has been called up for the U-20 squad, to be able to participate in the 2013 U-20 tournaments. Ramírez was called up for the friendly matches against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

on 15 and 20 November 2013. He made his debut as a second-half substitute against Honduras.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Ecuador's goal tally first.''

Honours

;Ferencváros *

Hungarian League Hungarian may refer to: * Hungary, a country in Central Europe * Kingdom of Hungary, state of Hungary, existing between 1000 and 1946 * Hungarians/Magyars, ethnic groups in Hungary * Hungarian algorithm, a polynomial time algorithm for solving the ...

: 2015–16 *

Hungarian Cup The Hungarian Cup (, ), officially known as MOL Magyar Kupa for sponsorship reasons, is the Hungarian cup competition for football clubs. It was started by the Hungarian Football Association'','' in 1909, eight years after the commencement of ...

(3): 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17 * Hungarian League Cup: 2014–15

Personal life

On 3 June 2021, he acquired citizenship of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

after playing in the country for 4.5 years. In an interview with

Nemzeti Sport ''Nemzeti Sport'' (, ) is a Hungarian sports daily. History and profile ''Nemzeti Sport'' was founded in 1903. It is frequently cited by quality English-language media The paper is published in broadsheet format. Between the World War I and Worl ...

, he said that he used to spend

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

at his home in

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

. However, in the last couple of years he usually spends his winter holiday with his family in an Asian country. He also said that he is very satisfied with the results achieved in the

2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League The 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League was the third season of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Europe's tertiary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA. The 2024 UEFA Europa Conference League final, final was ...

with

and it does not matter if they have to face with

Olympiacos F.C. Olympiacos Football Club ( ), known simply as Olympiacos or Olympiacos Piraeus, is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Piraeus. Part of the major Sports club, multi-sport club Olympiacos CFP (''Olympiakós Sýnde ...

in the knock-out stage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramirez, Cristian 1994 births 21st-century Roman Catholics People from Santo Domingo de los Colorados Naturalized citizens of Russia Ecuadorian emigrants to Russia Russian Roman Catholics Ecuadorian Roman Catholics Russian people of South American descent Living people Ecuadorian men's footballers 21st-century Ecuadorian sportsmen Ecuador men's youth international footballers Ecuador men's under-20 international footballers Ecuador men's international footballers Men's association football fullbacks Independiente del Valle footballers Fortuna Düsseldorf players 1. FC Nürnberg players Ferencvárosi TC footballers FC Krasnodar players Ecuadorian Serie A players 2. Bundesliga players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Russian Premier League players Copa América Centenario players 2019 Copa América players Ecuadorian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Russia