Cristian Riveros

Cristian Miguel Riveros Núñez (born 16 October 1982) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays for Club Nacional and the Paraguay national football team as a defensive midfielder.

Cristian Riveros

Personal information
Full name	Cristian Miguel Riveros Núñez
Date of birth	16 October 1982
Place of birth	Juan Augusto Saldívar, Paraguay
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current team	Nacional
Number	16
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1999	Cristóbal Colón
2000–2005	Tacuary	108	(16)
2002	→ Sportivo San Lorenzo (loan)	24	(0)
2005–2007	Libertad	50	(8)
2007–2010	Cruz Azul	111	(17)
2010–2012	Sunderland	12	(1)
2011–2012	→ Kayserispor (loan)	33	(2)
2012–2013	Kayserispor	30	(0)
2013–2015	Grêmio	43	(5)
2015–2018	Olimpia Asunción	107	(11)
2018–2019	Libertad	53	(1)
2020–	Nacional	7	(0)
National team
2005–2018	Paraguay	101[1]	(16)
Honours Representing  Paraguay Copa América Runner-up 2011 Argentina Team
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:30, 23 July 2020 (UTC)

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 two Copa América tournaments (2007 and 2011).

Riveros ranked number 2 in a list of the most expensive players in Paraguayan football for 2015 published by Diario Extra.[2]

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.[3]

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."[4]

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.[5] 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.[6]

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.

Riveros with Keyserispor.

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.[7]

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.[8]

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,[9] and also made the 23-man penultimate selection alongside club team-mate da Silva.[10]

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

As of 27 December 2014.[11]

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Cruz Azul	2008-09	Liga MX	37	5	0	0	0	0	8	2	0	0	45	7
	2009-10		36	6	0	0	0	0	12	3	0	0	48	9
	Total		73	11	0	0	0	0	20	5	0	0	93	16
Sunderland	2010-11	Premier League	12	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	14	1
	Total		12	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	14	1
Kayserispor (loan)	2011-12	Süper Lig	33	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	4	1	40	3
	Total		33	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	4	1	40	3
Kayserispor	2012-13	Süper Lig	30	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	31	0
	Total		30	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	31	0
Grêmio	2013	Série A	20	3	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	26	3
	2014		23	2	0	0	0	0	8	1	12	0	43	3
	Total		43	5	6	0	0	0	8	1	12	0	69	6
Career total			191	19	11	0	1	0	28	6	16	1	247	26

International

As of 27 March 2018[1]

Colombia
Year	Apps	Goals
2005	5	0
2006	8	1
2007	14	4
2008	7	2
2009	11	1
2010	13	3
2011	17	3
2012	7	1
2013	5	0
2014	3	0
2016	5	1
2017	5	0
2018	1	0
Total	101	16

International goals

Scores and results list Paraguay's goal tally first.[12]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	15 November 2006	Estadio Sausalito, Viña del Mar, Chile	Chile	?	3–2	Friendly
2.	9 September 2007	Estadio José Pachencho Romero, Maracaibo, Venezuela	Venezuela	1–0	2–3	Friendly
3.				2–0
4.	17 November 2007	Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay	Ecuador	2–0	5–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
5.				5–1
6.	20 August 2008	Centre sportif de Colovray Nyon, Nyon, Switzerland	Saudi Arabia	1–0[13]	1–1	Friendly
7.	9 September 2008	Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay	Venezuela	1–0	2–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
8.	11 February 2009	Estadio Alejandro Villanueva, Lima, Peru	Peru	1–0	1–0	Friendly
9.	20 June 2010	Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein, South Africa	Slovakia	2–0	2–0	2010 FIFA World Cup
10.	11 August 2010	Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay	Costa Rica	2–0	2–0	Friendly
11.	17 November 2010	Hong Kong Stadium, So Kon Po, Hong Kong	Hong Kong	7–0	7–0	Friendly
12.	26 March 2011	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, United States	Mexico	1–3	1–3	Friendly
13.	13 July 2011	Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena, Salta, Argentina	Venezuela	3–1	3–3	2011 Copa América
14.	11 November 2011	Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay	Ecuador	1–0	2–1	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
15.	9 June 2012	Estadio Hernando Siles La Paz, Bolivia	Bolivia	1–3	1–3	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
16.	10 November 2016	Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay	Peru	1–0	1–4	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Club

Libertad

• Paraguayan Primera División: 2006, 2007

References

1. Mamrud, Roberto (12 April 2018). "Cristian Miguel Riveros - Goals in International Matches". RSSSF.
2. "Los jugadores más caros del fútbol paraguayo". 19 July 2015.
3. Transfer to Cruz Azul (in Spanish)
4. "Sunderland sign Cruz Azul midfielder Cristian Riveros". BBC Sport. BBC. 11 May 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
5. Whyatt, Chris (14 August 2010). "Sunderland 2 - 2 Birmingham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
6. Darling, Kevin (22 May 2011). "West Ham 0-3 Sunderland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
7. "Luz verde para la llegada de Cristian Riveros al Decano - Mercado de pases, Olimpia". d10.
8. "Cristian Riveros es virtual jugador repollero para 2018".
9. "Paraguay name their 30-man preliminary World Cup squad". BBC Sport. BBC. 4 May 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
10. "Da Silva and Riveros make the cut". safc.com. Sunderland A.F.C. 1 June 2010. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
11. "Cristian Riveros". Soccerway.
12. "Cristian Miguel Riveros - Goals in International Matches". www.rsssf.com.
13. "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.

External links

• Cristian Riveros at National-Football-Teams.com
• Cristian Riveros – FIFA competition record