Johan Vonlanthen

Johan Vonlanthen Benavídez (born 1 February 1986) is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a winger. His stepfather is a Swiss national, giving him the right to play for that country.

Not to be confused with Jo Vonlanthen.
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Vonlanthen and the second or maternal family name is Benavídez.

Johan Vonlanthen
Vonlanthen playing for Switzerland in 2006
Personal information
Full name Johan Jarlín Vonlanthen Benavídez
Date of birth (1986-02-01) 1 February 1986
Place of birth Santa Marta, Colombia
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Right winger
Youth career
1998–1999 FC Flamatt
1999–2001 Young Boys
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2003 Young Boys 18 (2)
2003–2006 PSV 29 (5)
2005 → Brescia (loan) 9 (0)
2005–2006 → NAC Breda (loan) 32 (6)
2006–2011 Red Bull Salzburg 85 (11)
2009–2010 → Zürich (loan) 27 (10)
2011–2012 Itagüí 5 (0)
2012 Wohlen 0 (0)
2013–2014 Grasshoppers 5 (0)
2014 → Schaffhausen (loan) 17 (2)
2014–2016 Servette 32 (10)
2016–2018 Wil 66 (11)
Total 325 (57)
National team
2001 Switzerland U-15 4 (1)
2004 Switzerland U-21 3 (1)
2004–2010 Switzerland 40 (7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He initially announced the end of his active career after playing for Itagüí of the Colombian Primera División.[1] However, he came back out of retirement on May 2013 and signed for Grasshoppers in June. He retired in August 2018 after two years with FC Wil.[2]

Club career

Early career

Vonlanthen played as a junior for BSC Young Boys in Switzerland. In the 2001–02 season, he made his debut as a 16-year-old in the Swiss Super League starting eight games and appearing once as a substitute. In the summer of 2003, he was transferred to the Dutch Eredivisie club PSV Eindhoven. On 21 June 2004, Vonlanthen became the youngest goalscorer when he scored for Switzerland vs France in Coimbra, Portugal at the age of 18 years and 141 days old.[3] He made a good initial impression and helped PSV qualify for the UEFA Champions League. After a good first season, he began to lose form and as a consequence was loaned out to Italian side Brescia Calcio for the last six months of the 2004–05 season. He was again loaned out to NAC Breda for the 2005–06 season.

Red Bull Salzburg
Vonlanthen at Salzburg

At the start of the 2006–07 season, Vonlanthen transferred to Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga.

On 13 July 2009, FC Zürich signed the Swiss forward on a season long loan deal. The move was not made permanent, and Vonlanthen returned to Salzburg for the start of the 2010–11 season.

Initial retirement and return

On 30 May 2012, Vonlanthen announced his retirement at age 26. According to him, he 'could not face the prospect of undergoing a knee operation'.[4]

However, on 13 June 2013, Vonlanthen came out of retirement to join Grasshoppers, signing a one-year deal with an option for a further two years.[5]

On 27 December 2013, Vonlanthen was loaned out to Swiss second division side Schaffhausen, due to a lack of playtime at Grasshoppers.[6]

International career

On 6 June 2004, Vonlanthen made his senior debut for the Swiss National Team against Liechtenstein. He came on as a substitute in the 81st minute to replace Alexander Frei. Switzerland went on to beat Liechtenstein 1–0.

At Euro 2004, Vonlanthen became the second youngest player to play in the tournament when he came on as a substitute against England. On 21 June 2004, Vonlanthen became the youngest scorer ever in the European Championships when he equalised against France, beating Wayne Rooney's record – which had only been set four days before – by three months.[7]

Since the European Championships in Portugal, Vonlanthen has managed to hold a regular position in the national team and as well as playing frequently in the under 21s side. He was part of the squad that very narrowly lost out to Spain on a place in the 2009 European Championships. He had scored the equaliser in the first leg in a 2–1 win but the Spanish came back to win 3–1 in the second leg and 4–3 on aggregate.

Vonlanthen was called up to the Swiss squad to play in 2006 World Cup, but was unable to participate due to a hamstring injury. He was also called up for Euro 2008.

Career statistics

Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total Ref.
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Young Boys 2001–02 Nationalliga A /
Swiss Super League		 00008[lower-alpha 1]181 [8]
2002–03 1610011[lower-alpha 1]3274 [8]
2003–04 21000021 [8]
Total 1820000194376 –
PSV Eindhoven 2003–04 Eredivisie 1932030–223 [9]
2004–05 1020020–122 [9]
Total 295205000365 –
Brescia (loan) 2004–05 Serie A 900000–90 [9]
NAC Breda (loan) 2005–06 Eredivisie32675004[lower-alpha 2]14312 [9][8]
Red Bull Salzburg 2006–07 Austrian Bundesliga 3553041–416 [8]
2007–08 2030050–253 [8]
2008–09 2931040–343 [8]
2010–11 100000–10 [8]
Total 8511401310010212 –
Zürich (loan) 2009–10 Swiss Super League 271024103–3917 [9]
Itagüí 2011 Liga Postobón 5000001[lower-alpha 3]060 [8]
Grasshoppers 2013–14 Swiss Super League 500030–80 [9]
Schaffhausen (loan) 2013–14 Swiss Challenge League 17200––172 [9]
Servette 2014–15 Swiss Challenge League 321011––3311 [9]
FC Wil 2015–16 Swiss Challenge League 10000––100 [8]
2016–17 32610––336 [9]
2017–18 24522––267 [9]
Total 66113200006913 –
Career total 32557191231424539978 –
  1. Appearances in Swiss Super League playoffs
  2. Appearances in Eredivisie playoffs
  3. Appearances in Categoría Primera A playoffs

International
Source:[10]
Switzerland
YearAppsGoals
200475
200590
200620
200780
2008102
200940
Total407

References
  1. "Johan Vonlanthen ya entrena con Itagüí" (in Spanish). Golgolgol.net. 16 August 2011. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012.
  2. "Darum tritt Johan Vonlanthen jetzt zurück". Blick.ch. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  3. Glenday, Craig. Guinness World Records 2014. 2013 Guinness World Records Limited. p. 257. ISBN 978-1-908843-15-9.
  4. "Youngest Euros scorer Vonlanthen retires at 26". FourFourTwo. 30 May 2012. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  5. "Vonlanthen to resume career with Grasshoppers". UEFA.com. 13 June 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  6. "Vonlanthen wechselt zu Schaffhausen" [Vonlanthen moves to Schaffhausen] (in German). Blick. 27 December 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  7. Doyle, Paul (27 May 2008). "Euro 2008 team preview No1: Switzerland". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  8. "Johan Vonlanthen » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  9. Johan Vonlanthen at FootballDatabase.eu
  10. Johan Vonlanthen at National-Football-Teams.com
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