Cristhian Stuani

Cristhian Ricardo Stuani Curbelo (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkɾistjan esˈtwani]; born 12 October 1986) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Spanish club Girona and the Uruguay national team.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Stuani and the second or maternal family name is Curbelo.
Cristhian Stuani
Stuani playing for Uruguay at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Cristhian Ricardo Stuani Curbelo[1]
Date of birth (1986-10-12) 12 October 1986
Place of birth Tala, Uruguay
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Club information
Current team
 Girona
Number 7
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2007 Danubio 36 (23)
2006–2007 → Bella Vista (loan) 14 (12)
2008–2012 Reggina 18 (1)
2009–2010 → Albacete (loan) 39 (22)
2010–2011 → Levante (loan) 30 (8)
2011–2012 → Racing Santander (loan) 32 (9)
2012–2015 Espanyol 103 (25)
2015–2017 Middlesbrough 59 (11)
2017– Girona 107 (71)
National team‡
2003 Uruguay U17 12 (3)
2005 Uruguay U20 15 (6)
2012– Uruguay 50 (8)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16 December 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 November 2019

He started out at Danubio, being bought by Reggina in 2008. He went on to spend the vast majority of his professional career in Spain, in representation of several clubs, most notably with Espanyol; he signed with Middlesbrough from England in 2015 and, two years later, joined Girona.

Stuani made his debut for Uruguay in 2012 and appeared for the nation at two World Cups and three Copa América tournaments. He also holds an Italian passport.[2]

Club career

Danubio

Born in Tala, Canelones, Stuani started his professional career with Danubio. In 2005, he went on loan to Bella Vista in the Uruguayan Segunda División, performing well enough to be recalled.

Reggina

In January 2008, after scoring 19 goals in the 2007 Apertura with Danubio, Stuani was signed by Reggina in Italy, penning a four-year contract with the Serie A club.[3] He made his official debut on the 12th, playing 30 minutes in a 1–1 away draw against Empoli.[4]

When Stuani joined, the club was second from bottom and had the fewest goals scored in the league, following Rolando Bianchi's departure for Manchester City in the previous summer – he went scoreless in 12 games, but the Reggio Calabria team managed to retain their division status. In 2008–09, he scored his only league goal from a penalty kick in the last round, a 1–1 home draw against Siena,[5] having only appeared in four more matches during the entire season, which ended in top-flight relegation.

On 31 July 2009, Stuani joined Albacete in the Segunda División, on loan. He finished the season with 22 goals in 39 games, including hat-tricks in victories over Castellón[6] and Córdoba,[7] putting him in second in the scoring charts behind Elche's Jorge Molina, but his team only finished two points above the relegation zone.[8]

For 2010–11, Stuani remained in the country and on loan, but moved to La Liga with Levante.[9] He was used mostly as a backup to Felipe Caicedo,[10] but still contributed with eight goals – second-best in the squad – as the Valencians easily retained their division status, netting twice in a 3–1 home defeat of Málaga.[11]

In the next season, Stuani was loaned to another side in the Spanish top flight, Racing de Santander.[12] In December 2011, he scored a brace in each leg of the Copa del Rey tie against Rayo Vallecano, including a late penalty in the second game which secured a win on the away goals rule following a 6–6 aggregate draw.[13]

Espanyol

In summer 2012, Stuani was linked with a move to Deportivo de La Coruña and even passed his medical[14] but, on 28 August, he signed a four-year contract with Espanyol[15] even though that club and Reggina had initially agreed on a season-long loan.[2]

Stuani netted 12 times in his third and last year at the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat, only trailing Sergio García's 14 in his team.[16]

Middlesbrough

On 15 July 2015, Middlesbrough reached an agreement for the transfer of Stuani,[17] with the deal being completed after receiving international clearance on 7 August, for a rumoured €3 million fee.[18] His first appearance in the Football League Championship occurred on 9 August, as he replaced Kike in the 77th minute of an eventual 0–0 away draw against Preston North End.[19] Three days later he made his first start, in the opening round of the League Cup, scoring in each half of a 3–1 win over Oldham Athletic at Boundary Park;[20] he scored a brace again in the second round on the 25th, as his team came from behind to win at Burton Albion.[21]

Stuani scored his first league goal on 29 August 2015, concluding a 3–1 victory at Sheffield Wednesday.[22] Seventeen days later, he netted twice in a victory of the same margin against Brentford at the Riverside Stadium.[23]

On 28 December 2015, Stuani finished Stewart Downing's cross in the 44th second for the only goal of the home game against Wednesday, putting Middlesbrough on top of the table.[24] He did not find the net again until the final game of the season on the following 7 May, opening a 1–1 home draw to Brighton & Hove Albion which won promotion to the Premier League at the opponents' expense; the goal's worth was valued at £170 million.[25]

On 21 August 2016, Stuani scored his first goals in the top division in his first game in the competition, grabbing a brace against Sunderland in a 2–1 win at the Stadium of Light.[26]

Girona

On 21 July 2017, Stuani joined Girona – newly promoted to the Spanish top flight – for an undisclosed fee.[27] He made his debut for the club on 19 August, starting and scoring a brace in a 2–2 home draw against Atlético Madrid.[28]

Stuani finished his first year in fifth place of the scoring charts at 21 goals, helping the Catalans easily retain their league status.[29] On 10 March 2019, he became the club's all-time scorer in the top tier with 38 successful strikes after a 2–3 loss to Valencia at the Estadi Montilivi, surpassing former holder Jandro;[30] despite totalling 19 during the season to repeat the same position in the scoring department, the team succumbed to relegation on the last matchday.[31][32]

Subsequently, a number of clubs approached Stuani for a summer move, most notably champions FC Barcelona[33][34] However, the player eventually put pen to a contract extension with until 2023.[35] He missed the first two league games due to a groin injury,[36] but scored in his first appearance on 1 September 2019 to help the hosts defeat Málaga 1–0;[37] he added a hat-trick the following weekend, at home to Rayo Vallecano (3–1).[38]

International career
Stuani in action against Austria in 2014

Stuani made his senior debut for Uruguay on 14 November 2012, in a friendly match with Poland (3–1 away win).[39] On 10 September of the following year, he scored his first international goal, helping to a 2–0 home victory against Colombia for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.[40] On 13 November 2013, he netted the Charrúas' second in their 5–0 win in Jordan for the playoffs first leg, finishing Nicolás Lodeiro's cross at close range.[41]

Stuani was selected by manager Óscar Tabárez for the finals in Brazil.[42] He scored in both of Uruguay's warm-up matches for the tournament, the only goal of the game against Northern Ireland after coming on at half-time for Diego Forlán,[43] and the second in a 2–0 win over Slovenia.[44] He made his tournament debut on 14 June, starting in a 1–3 loss to Costa Rica in Fortaleza,[45] and added a further three bench appearances in a round-of-16 exit.

Stuani was named in Uruguay's squad the following year, as they attempted to defend their continental crown at the 2015 Copa América. He made two substitute appearances in Group B, in a quarter-final finish.

Stuani was included in the final 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[46] His first match in the competition took place on 30 June, when he replaced Edinson Cavani (who had scored twice) for the final 16 minutes of the 2–1 round-of-16 victory over Portugal.[47] He started in the next match due to injury to the same teammate, and played 59 minutes in the 0–2 defeat against France.[48]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 14 December 2020[49][50]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup League Cup Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Danubio 2004 Uruguayan Primera División 20——20
2005 Uruguayan Primera División 50——50
2005–06 Uruguayan Primera División 154——154
2006–07 Uruguayan Primera División 00——00
2007–08 Uruguayan Primera División 1419——1419
Total 362300003623
Bella Vista (loan) 2006–07 Uruguayan Primera División 1412——1412
Reggina 2007–08 Serie A 12000—120
2008–09 Serie A 6100—61
Total 1810000181
Albacete (loan) 2009–10 Segunda División 392200—3922
Levante (loan) 2010–11 La Liga 30832—3310
Racing Santander (loan) 2011–12 La Liga 32944—3613
Espanyol 2012–13 La Liga 32720—347
2013–14 La Liga 34641—387
2014–15 La Liga 371283—4515
Total 103251440011729
Middlesbrough 2015–16 Championship 36710344011
2016–17 Premier League 2344110285
Total 591151446816
Girona 2017–18 La Liga 332100–3321
2018–19 La Liga 321921–3420
2019–20 Segunda División 362900–3629
2020–21 Segunda División 6200–62
Total 1077121–10972
Career total 438182281244470198

International
As of 15 November 2019[51]
Uruguay
YearAppsGoals
201210
201362
2014112
201581
201660
201760
201880
201943
Total508

International goals
As of 25 March 2019 (Uruguay score listed first, score column indicates score after each Stuani goal)[51]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.10 September 2013Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay Colombia2–02–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.13 November 2013Amman International Stadium, Amman, Jordan Jordan2–05–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.31 May 2014Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay Northern Ireland1–01–0Friendly
4.5 June 2014 Slovenia2–02–0
5.5 September 2015Rommel Fernández, Panama City, Panama Panama1–01–0
6.22 March 2019Guangxi Sports Center, Nanning, China Uzbekistan2–03–02019 China Cup
7.3–0
8.25 March 2019 Thailand3–04–0

Honours

Danubio

Uruguay

Individual

References
  1. "2018 FIFA World Cup: List of players" (PDF). FIFA. 18 June 2018. p. 32. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  2. Juárez, Mari Carmen (28 August 2012). "El Espanyol ficha al delantero uruguayo Christian [sic] Stuani" [Espanyol sign Uruguayan forward Christian Stuani]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  3. "Una máquina de ganar" [A winning machine] (in Spanish). ESPN. 28 December 2007. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  4. "Saudati dal dischetto grazia la Reggina – l'Empoli deve accontentarsi del pari" [Saudati grace Reggina from the spot – Empoli must be happy with draw]. La Repubblica (in Italian). 12 January 2008. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  5. "Big Mac risponde a Stuani, 1–1 a Reggio" [Big Mac answers Stuani, 1–1 in Reggio]. La Repubblica (in Italian). 31 May 2009. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  6. "El Albacete golea con un Stuani estelar y rompe la armonía del Castellón" [Albacete rout with stellar Stuani and shatter Castellón's harmony]. Marca (in Spanish). 12 September 2009. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  7. "Trío de goles de Stuani para dar vida al Albacete" [Trio of Stuani goals to give life to Albacete]. Diario de Cádiz (in Spanish). 23 May 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  8. "El Albacete se salva a lo grande" [Albacete save themselves in style]. Marca (in Spanish). 19 June 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  9. "El Levante ficha a Stuani" [Levante sign Stuani] (in Spanish). Fichajes. 29 July 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  10. Mínguez, Jesús (6 June 2012). "El Levante negocia con la Reggina por Stuani" [Levante negotiate with Reggina for Stuani]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  11. "Levante on the up". ESPN Soccernet. 3 April 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  12. "El Racing ficha a Stuani" [Racing sign Stuani]. Marca (in Spanish). 12 August 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  13. Esteva, Javier (21 December 2011). "Todo por un penalti tonto" [All because of a foolish penalty]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  14. "El fichaje de Stuani por el Deportivo de La Coruña, truncado" [Stuani's signing for Deportivo de La Coruña, thwarted]. La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 27 August 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  15. "Stuani ya es jugador del Espanyol" [Stuani is already an Espanyol player]. Sport (in Spanish). 29 August 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  16. Roma, Raimon (22 July 2017). "Christian Stuani és el primer davanter" [Christian Stuani is the first forward]. Diari de Girona (in Catalan). Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  17. "Principi d'acord per la sortida d'Stuani" [Agreement in principle for the departure of Stuani] (in Catalan). RCD Espanyol. 15 July 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  18. "Cristhian Stuani: Espanyol striker set to join Middlesbrough". BBC Sport. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  19. Aloia, Andrew (9 August 2015). "Preston North End 0–0 Middlesbrough". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  20. "Oldham Athletic 1–3 Middlesbrough". BBC Sport. 12 August 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  21. "Burton Albion 1–2 Middlesbrough". BBC Sport. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  22. "Sheffield Wednesday 1–3 Middlesbrough". BBC Sport. 29 August 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  23. "Middlesbrough 3–1 Brentford". BBC Sport. 15 September 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  24. "Middlesbrough 1–0 Sheffield Wednesday". BBC Sport. 28 December 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  25. "Middlesbrough strike it rich with Premier League promotion". The Express Tribune. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  26. "Sunderland 1 – Middlesbrough 2: Moyes doesn't blame fans for relegation thoughts". Daily Express. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  27. "Cristhian Stuani makes move to La Liga". Middlesbrough F.C. 21 July 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  28. Pérez, José I. (19 August 2017). "El ADN del Atlético no se ficha" [You can't sign Atlético's DNA]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  29. Gracia, Albert (20 May 2018). "El gol en Girona se apellida Stuani" [Goal is named Stuani in Girona]. Sport (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  30. Segura, Alejandro (11 March 2019). "Stuani se convierte en el máximo goleador histórico del Girona" [Stuani becomes Girona's all-time scorer]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  31. Lowe, Sid (13 May 2019). "Twists, turns and tears for Girona on day of drama in La Liga survival fight". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  32. "Girona FC relegated to second division on final day of the season". Catalan News Agency. 19 May 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  33. "Report: Barcelona weigh Stuani move". beIN Sports. 8 June 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  34. Rojo, Luis Fernando; Winterburn, Chris (29 May 2019). "Rodrigo Moreno and Stuani emerge as Barcelona targets". Marca. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  35. "El Girona FC segella la continuïtat de Stuani" [Girona FC seal continuity of Stuani] (in Catalan). Girona FC. 29 August 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  36. Danés, Jordi (22 August 2019). "El Girona viaja a Albacete sin Stuani" [Girona travel to Albacete without Stuani]. El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  37. "1–0 El Málaga merece más en Montilivi" [1–0 Málaga deserve more in Montilivi] (in Spanish). Cadena COPE. 1 September 2019. Archived from the original on 1 September 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  38. Biescas, Álex (8 September 2019). "A Stuani le da igual el rival o la categoría" [Stuani could not care less about opponent or tier]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  39. "Uruguay ganó con goles de Salto" [Uruguay won with goals from Salto]. La Prensa (in Spanish). 15 November 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  40. Mora, Jorge Luis (11 September 2013). "Uruguay 2–0 Colombia: Cavani y Stuani se toman un café" [Uruguay 2–0 Colombia: Cavani and Stuani have a coffee] (in Spanish). Goal. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
  41. "FIFA World Cup Play-Off: Jordan 0 Uruguay 5". FourFourTwo. 13 November 2013. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
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  43. Jackson, Lyle (31 May 2014). "Uruguay 1–0 Northern Ireland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  44. "Edinson Cavani inspires Uruguay to victory over Slovenia". The Guardian. 5 June 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  45. Smith, Ben (14 June 2014). "Uruguay 1–3 Costa Rica". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  46. "Maxi Gómez y Stuani se cuelan en la lista de 23 de Uruguay" [Maxi Gómez and Stuani squeeze into Uruguay's list of 23]. Marca (in Spanish). 2 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  47. Mather, Victor (30 June 2018). "Uruguay makes sure Ronaldo follows Messi out of World Cup". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  48. Mather, Victor; Draper, Kevin (6 July 2018). "France, looking like a World Cup heavyweight, beats Uruguay". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  49. "C. Stuani". Soccerway. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  50. "Cristian Stuani". Footballdatabase. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  51. "C. Stuani – Matches". Soccerway. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  52. "Stuani strikes again as ruthless Uruguay win China Cup". The Nation. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  53. "Stuani, del Girona, 'Pichichi' con 29 goles" [Stuani, from Girona, 'Pichichi' with 29 goals]. Sport (in Spanish). 21 July 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
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