Damián Joel Giménez (born February 26, 1982) is an Argentinian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player, who most recently played for Cerro Largo in the

Uruguayan Primera División The Liga Profesional de Primera División (American Spanish , , local: , ''First Division''), named "Torneo Uruguayo Copa Coca-Cola" for sponsorship reasons, is the highest professional Association football, football league in Uruguay organized b ...

. He also holds an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

passport. Giménez is a left-sided defender, but can also operate in

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

Club career

Most of his early career Giménez spent with Banfield in

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 ...

. In 2005, he played in the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

with Banfield. The club reached the quarterfinals of that tournament, losing 3–4 to River Plate on aggregate. He has also spent two seasons playing in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

with

Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

. After spending the first year in

, Giménez moved back to

due to family problems. He returned for the following season but had lost his starting spot. On February 7, 2007, he moved to Nueva Chicago to play in the Torneo Clausura of the

Primera División Argentina 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 Ely Rafael Primera Ros ...

. The team finished in 15th place and was relegated to

Primera B Nacional Argentina Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, (English "National B Division"), and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 38 teams ...

. Because of the relegation he was available on a free transfer. In July 2007 he underwent a trial at

Heart of Midlothian F.C. Heart of Midlothian Football Club, commonly known as Hearts, is a professional football club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The team competes in the , the top division of Scottish football. Hearts, the oldest football club in the Scottish capital, wa ...

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. He impressed the Hearts staff on their pre-season tour of

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, and was offered a one-year contract, but failed to agree personal terms. Later the same summer he had a trial with

Bristol City F.C. Bristol City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern ...

While on tour in

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with

he broke his nose during a match. On August 1, 2007, he signed with the Ukrainian side Chornomorets. On 18 December 2009, Alki announced the signing of Damian Gimenez until the end of the season.

National team

Giménez has been capped at the U20 level, and has been called up to train with the senior team. He has 15 caps for the U20 team, but, so far, no official matches at the senior level. He just missed making the U20 squad, which went on to win a gold medal at the

2001 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Argentina between 17 June and 8 July 2001. The 2001 championship was the 13th contested. The tournament took part in six cities, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza, Rosario, Salta, and Mar del ...

References

External links

Interview with Giménez on FC Chornomorets official site (in Russian)Statistics on Guardian Unlimited Football
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gimenez, Damian 1982 births Living people Footballers from Lomas de Zamora Argentine men's footballers Club Atlético Banfield footballers Newell's Old Boys footballers Club Atlético Nueva Chicago footballers FC Chornomorets Odesa players Delfino Pescara 1936 players Alki Larnaca FC players Argentine Primera División players Ukrainian Premier League players Serie B players Cypriot Second Division players Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders 21st-century Argentine sportsmen