Mauricio Pinilla

Mauricio Ricardo Pinilla Ferrera (born 4 February 1984) is a Chilean professional footballer who plays for Coquimbo Unido as a striker.

Mauricio Pinilla

Pinilla with Universidad de Chile in 2018
Personal information
Full name	Mauricio Ricardo Pinilla Ferrera
Date of birth	4 February 1984[1]
Place of birth	Santiago, Chile[1]
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Position(s)	Striker
Club information
Current team	Coquimbo Unido
Number	15
Youth career
	Universidad de Chile
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002–2003	Universidad de Chile	39	(20)
2003–2004	Inter Milan	0	(0)
2003–2004	→ Chievo (loan)	6	(0)
2004	→ Celta (loan)	6	(0)
2004–2007	Sporting CP	20	(5)
2006	→ Racing Santander (loan)	13	(1)
2006–2007	→ Hearts (loan)	3	(2)
2007	→ Universidad de Chile (loan)	4	(2)
2007–2008	Hearts	2	(0)
2008	Vasco da Gama	3	(0)
2009	Apollon Limassol	5	(2)
2009–2010	Grosseto	23	(24)
2010–2012	Palermo	35	(10)
2012	→ Cagliari (loan)	14	(8)
2012–2014	Cagliari	49	(14)
2014–2015	Genoa	12	(3)
2015	→ Atalanta (loan)	14	(6)
2015–2016	Atalanta	24	(6)
2017	Genoa	12	(0)
2017–2018	Universidad de Chile	21	(14)
2019–	Coquimbo Unido	20	(8)
National team^‡
2001	Chile U17	3	(5)
2003	Chile U20	3	(1)
2003–	Chile	45	(8)
Honours Representing  Chile Winner Copa América 2015 Winner Copa América Centenario 2016
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 November 2020 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 7 September 2016

After beginning his career at Universidad de Chile, he signed for Inter Milan at the age of 19, but never appeared for the club in four years. He went on to play in five countries, mainly Italy.

A Chilean international since 2003, Pinilla represented the country at the 2014 World Cup and two Copa América, winning the 2015 and 2016 editions of the latter tournament.

Club career

Early career

Born in Santiago, Pinilla started his career with Club Universidad de Chile, leaving for European football and Italian giants Inter Milan in 2003 after signing a five-year contract.[3]

However, he was immediately sold to fellow Serie A club A.C. ChievoVerona (which acquired 50% of the player's rights),[4] and finished the 2003–04 season on loan again, to La Liga side RC Celta de Vigo,[5] not managing to score in a total of 12 league appearances.

Journeyman

In July 2004, Sporting CP bought 50% of his playing rights[6] and Pinilla, having spent much of the season on a low note, finished it with five goals, notably a hat-trick in a 3–0 win at S.C. Braga on 1 May 2005.[7]

However, he was also unable to settle at Sporting and, in January 2006, would move on loan, finishing the 2005–06 campaign at Racing de Santander. On 26 February 2006 he netted his only goal for the Cantabria team, a penalty kick in a 2–2 away draw against Deportivo Alavés.[8]

In 2006–07, Pinilla was once again loaned, now to Heart of Midlothian.[9] His time with the Edinburgh club was beset by injuries, resulting in him only playing a handful of times for the first team; in February 2007, he returned to Universidad de Chile.[10]

Pinilla returned to Hearts for pre-season training ahead of the 2007–08 season, with Hearts buying out Sporting's half of his rights.[11] However, his return to playing football with Hearts had a major setback when it was revealed the player had a fractured scaphoid wrist bone, a hidden injury sustained while still in Chile;[12] this put him out of action for a six further weeks.

On 9 January 2008, it was reported that Pinilla had sustained another injury in training that sidelined him for the rest of the campaign.[13] On 6 May, his agent stated that he had signed a deal which would keep him at Tynecastle Park until 2011,[14] after his contract with Inter expired the following month. However, on 1 July, Hearts announced that they had released the forward.[15][16]

Pinilla joined Brazil's CR Vasco da Gama in early September 2008, signing a contract until the end of the season.[17] He played his first match with new club in a 0–1 home loss against Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, in a derby.[18]

After Vasco was relegated to the second division, Pinilla left the club and moved to Cyprus' Apollon Limassol as a free agent.

Back to Italy and Serie A

Pinilla returned to Italy in August 2009, joining Serie B's F.C. Grosseto S.S.D. on a free transfer. At the Tuscan club, his once promising career got back on track, as he scored 24 goals in 24 games – including a series of 12 consecutive matches netting, a competition record[19]– and finished the season as the second best scorer despite missing more than a third of the fixtures through different injuries.

In June 2010, U.S. Città di Palermo announced the signing of Pinilla.[20] He scored five league goals in his first 12 games, being an important attacking unit in a side that also comprised forwards Abel Hernández, Massimo Maccarone and Fabrizio Miccoli.[21]

On 11 September 2011, in the season's opener, Pinilla was brought from the bench to score the 4–2 for Palermo against former team Inter, in an eventual 4–3 home win.[22] On 25 January of the following year he was loaned to Cagliari Calcio in the same league, with the Sardinians having the option of making the move permanent in June.[23]

Pinilla joined Cagliari on a permanent basis on 2 July 2012.[24] Two years later, after an average of seven league goals per season, he moved to Genoa C.F.C. on a 2+1 years deal.[25]

Whilst at the service of Atalanta BC, on loan, Pinilla scored arguably one of the best goals of the season in Italy on 4 April 2015, after netting through a bicycle kick in a 1–2 home loss to Torino FC.[26] He added a further five during his five-month tenure, being crucial as his team narrowly avoided relegation as 17th.

On 5 January 2017, Pinilla returned to Genoa on a loan with an obligation to buy, replacing Leonardo Pavoletti who left for S.S.C. Napoli.[27]

Return to Universidad de Chile

On 21 July 2017, aged 33 and ten years after last leaving the club, Pinilla terminated his contract with Genoa and returned to Universidad de Chile.[28]

International career

Pinilla made his debut for Chile in 2003, and led his country's scoring during the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers with three goals. However, on 27 February 2007, whilst on loan to Universidad de Chile, he was caught in a hotel with María José López, the model wife of national team captain Luis Antonio Jiménez.[29]

Subsequently, Pinilla announced his decision to retire from the international scene.[30] In August 2010 he returned to the team, being recalled by manager Marcelo Bielsa for a friendly with Ukraine.[31] He was also picked for a game against Uruguay later in November of the following year, only to be called off due to injury.[32]

Pinilla was selected to the squad of 23 for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.[33] He made his debut in the tournament on 14 June, playing two minutes in a 3–1 group stage win against Australia and being involved in Jean Beausejour's goal.[34] Again from the bench, he appeared in the round-of-16 against the hosts: his 119th minute shot hit the bar with the score at 1–1, and he later missed his penalty shootout attempt in an eventual elimination.[35]

Pinilla was a member of the squad which won the 2015 Copa América on home soil for their first continental honour, making brief appearances in two games.[36][37] On 29 March 2016, he and Arturo Vidal scored twice each in a 4–1 away win over Venezuela in qualification for the 2018 World Cup.[38]

Career statistics

Club

As of 3 December 2017[39][40]

Club	Season	League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Universidad de Chile	2002[lower-alpha 1]	25	10	—		—		—		25	10
	2003[lower-alpha 2]	14	10	—		—		—		14	10
	Total	39	20	—		—		—		39	20
Inter Milan	2003–04	0	0	—		—		—		0	0
Chievo (loan)	2003–04	6	0	2	0	—		—		8	0
Celta (loan)	2003–04	6	0	2	2	—		2	0	10	2
Sporting	2004–05	16	5	1	0	—		4	1	21	6
	2005–06	4	0	0	0	—		3	1	7	1
	Total	20	5	1	0	—		7	2	28	7
Racing Santander (loan)	2005–06	13	1	—		—		—		13	1
Hearts (loan)	2006–07	3	2	0	0	0	0	3	0	6	2
Universidad de Chile (loan)	2007 Apertura	4	2	—		—		—		4	2
Hearts	2007–08	2	0	—		0	0	—		2	0
Vasco da Gama	2008	3	0	—		—		—		3	0
Apollon Limassol	2008–09	5	2	—		—		—		5	2
Grosseto	2009–10	23	24	1	0	—		—		24	24
Palermo	2010–11	22	8	3	0	—		6	1	31	9
	2011–12	13	2	0	0	—		1	0	14	2
	Total	35	10	3	0	—		7	1	45	11
Cagliari (loan)	2011–12	14	8	—		—		—		14	8
Cagliari	2012–13	23	7	3	2	—		—		26	9
	2013–14	26	7	1	1	—		—		27	8
	Total	49	14	4	3	—		—		54	17
Genoa	2014–15	12	3	2	1	—		—		14	4
Atalanta (loan)	2014–15	14	6	—		—		—		14	6
Atalanta	2015–16	20	5	1	1	—		—		21	6
	2016–17	4	1	0	0	—		—		4	1
	Total	24	6	1	1	—		—		25	6
Genoa	2016–17	12	0	1	1	—		—		13	1
Universidad de Chile	2017	11	7	4	2	—		—		15	9
Career Total		295	110	22	10	0	0	19	3	336	123

1. Includes the Apertura and Clausura
2. Includes the Apertura and Clausura

International

Chile
Year	Apps	Goals
2003	7	2
2004	6	1
2005	5	2
2006	3	0
2011	1	0
2012	1	0
2013	1	0
2014	9	1
2015	4	0
2016	8	2
Total	45	8

International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	30 March 2003	Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chile	Peru	2–0	2–0	Friendly
2	9 September 2003	Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chile	Peru	1–0	2–1	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	1 June 2004	Polideportivo Pueblo Nuevo, San Cristóbal, Venezuela	Venezuela	1–0	1–0	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
4	9 February 2005	Sausalito, Viña del Mar, Chile	Ecuador	3–0	3–0	Friendly
5	30 March 2005	Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay	Paraguay	1–2	1–2	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
6	4 June 2014	Elías Figueroa Brander, Valparaíso, Chile	Northern Ireland	2–0	2–0	Friendly
7.	29 March 2016	Agustín Tovar, Barinas, Venezuela	Venezuela	1–1	1–4	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
8.				1–2

Honours

International

• Copa América: 2015,[41] 2016[42]

References

1. "Mauricio Pinilla". Eurosport. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
2. "Squadra – Mauricio Pinilla" [Squad – Mauricio Pinilla] (in Italian). Atalanta B.C. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
3. "Decision on Chilean youngster Pinilla expected next week". Inter Milan. 5 July 2003. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
4. Monti, Fabio (6 July 2003). "La Lazio gela tutti su Stam: costa 20 milioni" [Lazio bet all on Stam: 20 million]. Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 4 June 2010.
5. "Pinilla boosts Celta options". UEFA. 16 January 2004. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
6. "Sporting swoop for Pinilla". UEFA. 23 July 2004. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
7. Costa, Onofre (2 May 2005). "Pinilla keeps pressure on Benfica". UEFA. Retrieved 3 June 2010.
8. "El Racing saca un punto de Mendizorroza" [Racing take one point from Mendizorroza]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 26 February 2006. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
9. "Hearts complete Pinilla signing". BBC Sport. 28 July 2006. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
10. "Pinilla not coming back to Hearts". BBC Sport. 27 February 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
11. "Pinilla back at Hearts after loan". BBC Sport. 27 June 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
12. "Palazuelos pays for Hearts move". BBC Sport. 12 July 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
13. "Pinilla injury setback for Hearts". BBC Sport. 9 January 2008. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
14. "Agent announces new Pinilla deal". BBC Sport. 6 May 2008. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
15. "Hearts release frontman Pinilla". BBC Sport. 1 July 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2008.
16. "Pinilla leaves Hearts". Heart of Midlothian. 1 July 2008. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
17. "Vasco acerta com os atacantes Pinilla e Marcelo Brás" [Vasco sign forwards Pinilla and Marcelo Brás] (in Portuguese). Universo Online. 14 September 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2008.
18. "Fla vence, volta a sonhar com o título e afunda o Vasco na lanterna" [Fla win, dream of title again and sink Vasco in bottom place] (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 19 October 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
19. "Grosseto, Pinilla eguaglia il recordo di Batistuta" [Grosseto, Pinilla equals Batistuta record] (in Italian). Tutto Palermo. 24 February 2010. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
20. "Pinilla al Palermo, Giovio al Grosseto" [Pinilla to Palermo, Giovio to Grosseto] (in Italian). U.S. Palermo. 11 June 2010. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
21. Zanon, Federico (27 October 2010). "Agente Maccarone a CM: 'Pensa solo al Palermo, mai parlato con la Samp'" [Maccarone's agent to CM: 'He's only thinking about Palermo, never talked to Samp'] (in Italian). Calcio Mercato. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
22. "Inter lose seven-goal thriller". ESPN Soccernet. 11 September 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
23. "Pinilla in prestito al Cagliari" [Pinilla loaned to Cagliari] (in Italian). U.S. Palermo. 25 January 2012. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
24. "Duo depart Palermo". FIFA. 2 July 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
25. Alaimo, Alessio (7 August 2014). "Esclusiva TMW – Pinilla-Genoa, c'è la firma" [TMW Exclusive – Pinilla-Genoa, here's the signature] (in Italian). Tutto Mercato Web. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
26. Patterson, Mark (4 April 2015). "Mauricio Pinilla scores brilliant bicycle kick for Atalanta". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
27. "Official: Pinilla joins Genoa". Football Italia. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
28. "Después de ocho años en Europa, Mauricio Pinilla regresa a la Universidad de Chile" [After eight years in Europe, Mauricio Pinilla returns to Universidad de Chile] (in Spanish). Deportes RCN. 21 July 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
29. Smith, Steve (17 June 2007). "Heartbreaker; EXCLUSIVE Jambo striker sparks storm over 'fling' with skipper's model wife". The Free Library. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
30. "Sunday's gossip column". BBC Sport. 4 November 2007. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
31. "Bielsa convoca por primera vez a Mauricio Pinilla a la selección chilena" [Bielsa calls Mauricio Pinilla to Chilean national team for the first time]. La Tercera (in Spanish). 19 August 2010. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
32. "Pinilla se perdería el partido contra Uruguay" [Pinilla to miss game against Uruguay]. El Gráfico (in Spanish). 11 November 2010. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
33. "Chile World Cup 2014 squad". The Daily Telegraph. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
34. "Sanchez stars as Chile overcome Australia". FIFA. 14 June 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
35. "Brazil through as Chile pay the penalty". FIFA. 28 June 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
36. "Chile 3–3 Mexico: Vuoso cancels out Vidal's double in thrilling draw". Goal. 16 June 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
37. Johnston, Neil (25 June 2015). "Chile 1–0 Uruguay". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
38. "Venezuela 1 Chile 4: Vidal, Pinilla braces see Pizzi's men to win". FourFourTwo. 30 March 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
39. "Pinilla". ForaDeJogo. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
40. "M. Pinilla". Soccerway. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
41. Dawkes, Phil (4 July 2015). "Argentina 0–0 Chile (1–4 on pens)". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
42. Timms, Aaron (27 June 2016). "Chile win Copa América once again as Argentina title drought continues". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 June 2016.

External links

• Mauricio Pinilla at TuttoCalciatori.net (in Italian)
• Mauricio Pinilla at BDFutbol
• Mauricio Pinilla at ForaDeJogo
• Mauricio Pinilla at Soccerbase
• London Hearts profile
• Mauricio Pinilla at National-Football-Teams.com
• Mauricio Pinilla – FIFA competition record