Cristian Riveros
FullnameCristian Miguel Riveros Núñez[1]
Birth date16 October 1982 (age 44)
Birth placeJulián Augusto Saldívar, Paraguay
Height1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
PositionDefensive midfielder
Years 11999
Clubs 1Cristóbal Colón
Years 22000–2005
Clubs 2Tacuary
Caps 2108
Goals 216
Years 32002
Clubs 3→ Sportivo San Lorenzo (loan)
Caps 324
Goals 30
Years 42005–2007
Clubs 4Libertad
Caps 450
Goals 48
Years 52007–2010
Clubs 5Cruz Azul
Caps 5111
Goals 517
Years 62010–2012
Clubs 6Sunderland
Caps 612
Goals 61
Years 72011–2012
Clubs 7→ Kayserispor (loan)
Caps 733
Goals 72
Years 82012–2013
Clubs 8Kayserispor
Caps 830
Goals 80
Years 92013–2015
Clubs 9Grêmio
Caps 943
Goals 95
Years 102015–2018
Clubs 10Olimpia Asunción
Caps 10107
Goals 1011
Years 112018–2019
Clubs 11Libertad
Caps 1153
Goals 111
Years 122020–2022
Clubs 12Nacional Asunción
Caps 1259
Goals 124
Years 132022–2024
Clubs 13Libertad
Caps 1334
Goals 134
Totalcaps664
Totalgoals69
Nationalyears 12005–2018
Nationalteam 1Paraguay
Nationalcaps 1101[2]
Nationalgoals 116

Cristian Miguel Riveros Núñez (born 16 October 1982) is a Paraguayan former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

A full international for Paraguay since 2005, he has earned 99 caps for his country, playing at two FIFA World Cup competitions (2006 and 2010) and three Copa América tournaments (2007, 2011 and 2015).

On 19 July 2015, Paraguayan newspaper ExtraPRESS named Riveros the most expensive player in Paraguay.[3]

Club career

Early career

Riveros started his career with local side Cristobal Colón in his hometown of Juan Augusto Saldivar and then moved to other Paraguayan teams such as San Lorenzo and Tacuary before playing for Libertad.

Cruz Azul

On 12 July 2007 he signed for the Mexican club Cruz Azul.[4]

Sunderland

On 11 May 2010, Riveros signed for Sunderland of the English Premier League on a three-year deal, saying "The league is very competitive and I look forward to being very successful with Sunderland. The Premier League is the best league in the world and Sunderland are a very big club with many passionate supporters. I look forward to meeting them."[5]

He made his Premier League debut on 14 August 2010 as a 63rd-minute substitute for Steed Malbranque in a 2–2 draw against Birmingham City in the opening game of the season.[6] However, Riveros quickly fell out of favour and played just 14 league games for, the club, scoring his only goal on the final day of the season in a 3–0 win over West Ham United.[7]

Kayserispor

Riveros joined Turkish Süper Lig side Kayserispor on 6 July 2011 on a season-long loan from Sunderland, and signed a permanent contract on 1 May 2012.

Grêmio

On 7 June 2013, Riveros joined Grêmio, signing a two-year contract.

Olimpia Asunción

In January 2015 after long and exhausting negotiations, it was announced that Grêmio and Club Olimpia Asunción had reached an agreement to sign Riveros for the 2015 Paraguayan Primera División season. Riveros was Instrumental for Olimpia to win their 40th Local Championship, for his experience and skills and also for his leadership on and off the pitch.[8]

Libertad

On 7 December 2017, sports news outlet D10 Paraguay announced that Riveros would sign a two-year contract with Libertad, returning to the club after 11 years.[9]

Nacional Asunción

He joined Nacional Asunción for the 2020 season.[10]

Libertad

On 18 January 2022 of Paraguay's summer transfer window, Riveros officially completed a transfer to Libertad.[11] Anterior to this, Riveros already performed the 2022 pre-season training with Nacional Asunción,[12] however, he joined Libertad for the third time in his career,[13] being at the request of Argentine coach Daniel Garnero.[14][15] By this way, he was one of three FIFA World Cup players in Libertad's team, being with Oscar Cardozo and Roque Santa Cruz.[16]

International career

Riveros played in Paraguay's first two matches at the 2006 World Cup and played efficiently on the left wing. He picked up his first international goal for Paraguay in a 3–2 defeat to Chile. He also played for Paraguay in the Copa América 2007.

2010 FIFA World Cup

On 4 May 2010, he was named in Paraguay's preliminary 30-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup,[17] and also made the 23-man penultimate selection alongside club team-mate da Silva.[18]

On 20 June 2010 at the World Cup, Riveros scored a second goal in a 2–0 win over Slovakia, which was set up by former Sunderland defender Paulo Da Silva. Riveros scored a penalty in Paraguay's shoot-out win against Japan in the Round of 16 stage, after the match finished goalless after extra time.

Career statistics

Club

[19]

ClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupContinentalOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
San Lorenzo2002Primera Division140140
Tacuary2003Primera Division291291
2004303303
200518320203
Total77720797
Libertad2005Primera Division174174
2006244152396
20077171
Total4182236311
Cruz Azul2007-08Liga MX38600000000386
2008-0937500008200457
2009-10366000012300489
Total1111700002050013122
Sunderland2010-11Premier League12110100000141
Total12110100000141
Kayserispor (loan)2011-12Süper Lig33230000041403
Total33230000041403
Kayserispor2012-13Süper Lig30010000000310
Total30010000000310
Grêmio2013Série A20360000000263
2014232000081120433
Total435600081120696
Olimpia2015Primera Division40560465
201642352475
201725360313
Total1071117212413
Libertad2018Primera Division27070340
201926190351
202217341214
20231711030211
Total875102311116
Nacional2020Primera Division25220272
202134210352
Total59430624
Career total6146012010951216173873

International

[2]

Paraguay
YearAppsGoals
200550
200681
2007144
200872
2009111
2010133
2011173
201271
201350
201430
201500
201651
201750
201810
Total10116

International goals

Scores and results list Paraguay's goal tally first.[20]
DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.15 November 2006Estadio Sausalito, Viña del Mar, ChileChile?3–2Friendly
2.9 September 2007Estadio José Pachencho Romero, Maracaibo, VenezuelaVenezuela1–02–3Friendly
3.2–0
4.17 November 2007Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, ParaguayEcuador2–05–12010 FIFA World Cup qualification
5.5–1
6.20 August 2008Centre sportif de Colovray Nyon, Nyon, SwitzerlandSaudi_Arabia1–0[21]1–1Friendly
7.9 September 2008Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, ParaguayVenezuela1–02–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification
8.11 February 2009Estadio Alejandro Villanueva, Lima, PeruPeru1–01–0Friendly
9.20 June 2010Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein, South AfricaSlovakia2–02–02010 FIFA World Cup
10.11 August 2010Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, ParaguayCosta Rica2–02–0Friendly
11.17 November 2010Hong Kong Stadium, So Kon Po, Hong KongHong Kong7–07–0Friendly
12.26 March 2011Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, United StatesMexico1–31–3Friendly
13.13 July 2011Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena, Salta, ArgentinaVenezuela3–13–32011 Copa América
14.11 November 2011Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, ParaguayEcuador1–02–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification
15.9 June 2012Estadio Hernando Siles La Paz, BoliviaBolivia1–31–32014 FIFA World Cup qualification
16.10 November 2016Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, ParaguayPeru1–01–42018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Club

Libertad

See also

References

  1. ^ "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany: List of Players". FIFA. 21 March 2014. p. 20. Archived 10 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ^ Mamrud, Roberto (12 April 2018). "Cristian Miguel Riveros - Goals in International Matches". RSSSF
  3. ^ "Los jugadores más caros del fútbol paraguayo"
  4. ^ Transfer to Cruz Azul (in Spanish)
  5. ^ "Sunderland sign Cruz Azul midfielder Cristian Riveros". BBC Sport. BBC. 11 May 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
  6. ^ Whyatt, Chris (14 August 2010). "Sunderland 2 - 2 Birmingham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  7. ^ Darling, Kevin (22 May 2011). "West Ham 0-3 Sunderland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  8. ^ "Luz verde para la llegada de Cristian Riveros al Decano - Mercado de pases, Olimpia". d10
  9. ^ "Cristian Riveros es virtual jugador repollero para 2018"
  10. ^ "Paraguay - C. Riveros - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway"
  11. ^ "Paraguay - C. Riveros - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway"
  12. ^ "¿Qué ocurre con Cristian Riveros? ¿Se va a Libertad o sigue en Nacional?". 10 January 2022.
  13. ^ "Cristian Riveros deja Nacional y enfila rumbo a Libertad". 18 January 2022.
  14. ^ "Cristian Riveros fue presentado en Libertad". 19 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Ya está Riveros, pedido de Garnero, y ahora van por un arquero". 19 January 2022.
  16. ^ "Ya está Riveros, pedido de Garnero, y ahora van por un arquero". 19 January 2022.
  17. ^ "Paraguay name their 30-man preliminary World Cup squad". BBC Sport. BBC. 4 May 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
  18. ^ "Da Silva and Riveros make the cut". safc.com. Sunderland A.F.C.. 1 June 2010. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
  19. ^ "Cristian Riveros". Soccerway.
  20. ^ "Cristian Miguel Riveros - Goals in International Matches". RSSSF
  21. ^ "Friendlies - Saudi Arabia vs Paraguay - Soccer - Scoresway - Results, fixtures, tables and statistics". www.scoresway.com. Archived from the original on 30 October 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.