Cristián Muñoz (footballer, born 1977) explained

Cristián Muñoz
Fullname:Cristián Fernando Muñoz
Birth Date:1977 7, df=yes
Birth Place:Junín, Argentina
Height:1.77 m
Position:Goalkeeper
Youthclubs1:Sarmiento
Years1:1994–1997
Years2:1997–2004
Years3:2000
Years4:2001–2002
Years5:2005–2007
Years6:2007–2009
Years7:2010–2012
Years8:2013–2019
Clubs1:Sarmiento
Clubs2:Boca Juniors
Clubs3:Los Andes (loan)
Clubs4:Talleres (loan)
Clubs5:Huachipato
Clubs6:Colo-Colo
Clubs7:Huachipato
Clubs8:Universidad de Concepción
Caps2:6
Caps3:10
Caps4:6
Caps5:98
Caps6:95
Caps7:89
Caps8:187
Goals2:0
Goals3:0
Goals4:0
Goals5:0
Goals6:0
Goals7:0
Goals8:0
Totalcaps:491
Totalgoals:0
Nationalyears1:1997
Nationalteam1:Argentina U20
Nationalcaps1:1
Nationalgoals1:0
Pcupdate:29 December 2018

Cristián Fernando Muñoz (born 1 July 1977) is an Argentine-born Chilean former professional footballer who played as goalkeeper. He is best known for his spells at Colo-Colo and Huachipato. Muñoz was nicknamed El Tigre (Spanish: the tiger) for his skills.

He was member of the Argentina U20 squad that won the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship celebrated in Malaysia.[1]

He was the last active footballer to have played professionally alongside Diego Maradona.[2]

Club career

Early career

Born in Junín, Buenos Aires, Muñoz started his career at his local village team Sarmiento in 1994, moving at the age of 20 to the Argentine giant club, Boca Juniors, after the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship. He made his competitive debut for Boca against Newell's Old Boys on 14 September of that year (1997). During his stay in the club, he was loaned to teams as Los Andes in 2000 and Talleres de Córdoba in 2001, remaining him in this club until 2002. In the next season, he returned to Boca as substitute of Roberto Abbondanzieri, winning the Copa Libertadores and then the Copa Sudamericana.

After two seasons in Argentina as substitute, in January 2005, Muñoz was signed by the Chilean side Huachipato for play the 2005 Torneo de Apertura. He made his club's competitive debut in a 2–1 league away win over Deportes Temuco on 6 February. The club also impressed finishing in the semi-finals of the league championship playoffs. He made 100 appearances in all competitions in two years. Muñoz played a key role in Huachipato's qualification to the 2007 Copa Sudamericana playoffs after of finish in the fourth position of the Apertura tournament with 40 points behind Audax Italiano with 44 points.

Colo-Colo

Muñoz was signed by defending Chilean Primera División champions Colo-Colo in July 2007 for an undisclosed fee, with the mission of replace to his countrymen Sebastián Cejas in the goal, who left the club for high costs. In his arrival to the club, he was assigned with the jersey number 1, because the departure of Cejas, who wears this number. He made his unofficial debut for the club in a 1–1 pre-season draw with the club's rival Universidad de Chile for the Copa Gato.

His competitive debut for the club came on 29 July 2007 in the 3–0 away victory against Deportes Concepción. He received more competition when Rainer Wirth broke into the first team during the first games of the 2007 Clausura, and this made a rotation between the keepers, but because to the several errors of Wirth, Muñoz became in the club's first goalkeeper. He played in the Clausura final against Universidad de Concepción in the 3–0 win, being this his first honour for the club, and also the club completed four titles consecutives since 2006 under the coach Claudio Borghi, being an historic record in the Chilean football. In the next season, Muñoz was runner-up of the 2008 Apertura, but champion of the Clausura tournament.

International career

With the Argentina Under-20 team, Muñoz won the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship in Malaysia, being teammate of players like Juan Román Riquelme, Esteban Cambiasso, Luciano Galletti, Diego Placente, among others. He was substitute of Leo Franco during the tournament and played in the second round against England under-20 team, in a game that finished in a 2–1 win of his country.

Club statistics

Club Performance
ClubSeasonLeagueCopa ChileTotal
AppG.AAppG.AAppG.A
HuachipatoApertura 200518align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-18align="center"-
Clausura 200521align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-21align="center"-
Apertura 200622align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-22align="center"-
Clausura 200616align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-16align="center"-
Apertura 200720align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-20align="center"-
Club Total 97 97
Colo-ColoClausura 200719align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-19align="center"-
Apertura 200820align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-20align="center"-
Clausura 200824align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-24align="center"-
Apertura 200913align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-13align="center"-
Clausura 200920align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-20align="center"-
Club Total 96 96
HuachipatoTorneo 201034align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-34align="center"-
Apertura 201115align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-15align="center"-
Clausura 201117align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-17align="center"-
Apertura 201216align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-16align="center"-
Clausura 20126align="center"-3align="center"-9align="center"-
Club Total 88 3 91
Universidad de ConcepciónPrimera B 201316align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-16align="center"-
Apertura 201316align="center"-2align="center"-18align="center"-
Clausura 201418align="center"-align="center"-align="center"-18align="center"-
Apertura 201517align="center"-2align="center"-19align="center"-
Club Total 67 4 71
Career Total 348 7 355

Honours

Boca Juniors

Colo-Colo

Huachipato

Universidad de Concepción

2013 Transición

2014–15

Argentina U-20

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/6cc1f39862b31d26/original/vhrobbhcd9i44a2k1mju-pdf.pdf FIFA.com
  2. Web site: Cristián "Tigre" Múñoz es el último compañero de Diego Maradona en actividad - en Cancha . 1 April 2020 . 29 November 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201129084851/https://www.encancha.cl/todo-es-cancha/2019/5/11/cristian-tigre-munoz-es-el-ultimo-companero-de-diego-maradona-en-actividad-21906.html . dead .