Christian Santos
Personal information
Full name Christian Robert Santos Freire
Date of birth (1988-03-24) 24 March 1988
Place of birth Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Universidad Central
Youth career
SV Lippstadt 08
2003–2007 Arminia Bielefeld
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2011 Arminia Bielefeld II 78 (28)
2011–2013 Eupen 58 (25)
2013–2014 Waasland-Beveren 0 (0)
2014–2016 NEC 71 (43)
2016–2018 Alavés 31 (5)
2018–2020 Deportivo La Coruña 48 (9)
2020–2021 VfL Osnabrück 29 (8)
2021–2022 Colo-Colo 13 (1)
2022–2023 Juve Stabia 14 (2)
2023 Unionistas 14 (4)
2023— Universidad Central 7 (0)
International career‡
2015– Venezuela 13 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 29 January 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 02:44, 14 September 2018 (UTC)

Christian Robert Santos Freire (born 24 March 1988) is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Universidad Central.[1]

Club career

Early career

Born in Ciudad Guayana, Bolívar, Santos moved to Germany at the age of six as his father received a new job in the country.[2] After starting his career at SV Lippstadt 08 he moved to Arminia Bielefeld in 2003, and made his senior debut for the latter's reserve team on 6 May 2007, coming on as a late substitute in a 3–0 Oberliga Westfalen home win against Sportfreunde Lotte.

Santos scored his first senior goal on 1 April 2009, netting his team's second in a 3–1 away win against Delbrücker SC. After failed to make a single appearance with the first team, he left the club in 2011.

Belgium

On 9 August 2011, Santos signed for KAS Eupen in the Belgian Second Division. He scored a 15 goals during his first season, and added a further ten in his second.

In April 2013, Santos moved to Belgian Pro League club Waasland-Beveren,[3] but failed to appear in a single match due to a severe knee injury.

NEC

In July 2014, Santos signed a one-year contract with Dutch Eerste Divisie side NEC Nijmegen, after impressing on a trial basis.[4][5] He made his professional debut on 10 August, starting in a 3–1 home win against FC Eindhoven.

Santos scored his first professional goal on 15 August 2014, netting the last in a 2–0 win at FC Volendam.[6] He finished the campaign with 23 goals in only 34 appearances, as his side achieved promotion to Eredivisie as champions; highlights included braces against FC Den Bosch, MVV Maastricht and FC Oss.

Santos made his debut in the main category of Dutch football on 12 August 2015, starting in a 1–0 home win against SBV Excelsior.[7] He scored his first goals in the division on 18 September, netting all his team's goals in a 2–0 success over SC Heerenveen.[8]

Santos added another doubles against ADO Den Haag (4–1 home win)[9] and De Graafschap (2–0 home win),[10] totalling 16 goals in 30 matches.

Alavés

On 12 July 2016, free agent Santos signed a three-year deal with Deportivo Alavés, newly promoted to La Liga.[11] He made his debut in the league on 21 August, replacing Gaizka Toquero in a 1–1 away draw against Atlético Madrid.[12]

Deportivo La Coruña

On 28 June 2018, Santos signed a two-year deal with Deportivo de La Coruña, after cutting ties with Alavés.[13] He scored his first goal in an away match against Gimnàstic de Tarragona on 1 October 2018, one minute after entering as a substitute in 85th minute. On 27 January 2019, he scored a decisive goal in 2–1 away victory against Sporting de Gijón. On 18 August 2019, he scored a decisive goal in 88th minute after coming from the bench three minutes earlier in a 3–2 victory against Real Oviedo.

VfL Osnabrück

In September 2020, Santos returned to Germany joining 2. Bundesliga club VfL Osnabrück on a two-year contract.[14]

Colo-Colo

In September 2021, Santos joined Colo-Colo in the Chilean Primera División. In June 2022, he ended his contract after making thirteen appearances and scoring a goal.[15]

Juve Stabia

On 12 October 2022, Santos signed with Juve Stabia in the Italian third-tier Serie C until the end of the 2022–23 season.[16]

Unionistas

On 1 February 2023, Santos joined Unionistas in the Spanish third-tier Primera Federación.[17]

International career

After being allowed to play for Venezuela in January 2015,[2] Santos made his full international debut on 27 March of that year, starting and being booked in a 2–1 friendly loss against Jamaica.[18] He scored his first international goal on 13 October, but in a 3–1 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers loss against Brazil.[19]

Santos was also included in Rafael Dudamel's 23-man list ahead of the Copa America Centenario.[20] His first and only appearance of the tournament occurred on 13 June 2016, in a 1–1 draw against Mexico.[21]

International goals

Scores and results list Venezuela's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Santos goal.[22]
List of international goals scored by Christian Santos
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
113 October 2015Castelão, Fortaleza, Brazil Brazil1–21–32018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers

Honours

NEC

References

  1. ↑ Christian Santos at WorldFootball.net
  2. 1 2 "Christian Santos: "Yo me siento venezolano"" [Christian Santos: "I feel Venezuelan"] (in Spanish). Primicia. 29 January 2015. Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  3. ↑ "Waasland-Beveren vindt versterking bij Eupen" [Waasland-Beveren find reinforcement at Eupen] (in Dutch). Sporza. 19 April 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  4. ↑ "NEC ook rond met Appiah en Santos" [NEC also around with Appiah and Santos] (in Dutch). De Gelderlander. 26 July 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  5. ↑ "N.E.C. versterkt selectie met drie spelers" [N.E.C. squad reinforced with three players] (in Dutch). NEC Nijmegen. 26 July 2014. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  6. ↑ "NEC overtuigt tegen Volendam" [NEC convince against Volendam] (in Dutch). De Gelderlander. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  7. ↑ "NEC Nijmegen 1–0 Excelsior: Foor stunner seals all three points". Football Oranje. 12 August 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  8. ↑ "NEC Nijmegen 2–0 Heerenveen: Santos double downs Frisians". Football Oranje. 18 September 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  9. ↑ "NEC Nijmegen 4–1 ADO Den Haag: Santos double inspires NEC to victory". Football Oranje. 3 October 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  10. ↑ "NEC Nijmegen 2–0 De Graafschap: Santos double decides Gelderse derby". Football Oranje. 8 November 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  11. ↑ "Christian Santos, el nuevo goleador albiazul" [Christian Santos, the new blue-and-white goalscorer] (in Spanish). Deportivo Alavés. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  12. ↑ "Al Atleti le sobra el final" [To Atleti the ending is too much] (in Spanish). Marca. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  13. ↑ "Christian Santos, nuevo jugador del Deportivo" [Christian Santos, new player of Deportivo] (in Spanish). Deportivo La Coruña. 28 June 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  14. ↑ "Neue Nummer 9: Osnabrück holt Christian Santos". kicker (in German). 3 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  15. ↑ "Oficial: Colo Colo libera un cupo de extranjero" (in Spanish). AS Chile. 20 June 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  16. ↑ "S.S. Juve Stabia, ufficiale l'arrivo di Santos" (in Italian). Juve Stabia. 12 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  17. ↑ "Christian Santos, nuevo fichaje de Unionistas de Salamanca" (in Spanish). Unionistas. 1 February 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  18. ↑ "Venezuela cayó ante Jamaica" [Venezuela fell against Jamaica] (in Spanish). Líder en Deportes. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  19. ↑ "Rei Willian resolve, acalma o Castelão, e Seleção derrota a Venezuela" [King William solves it, calms down the Castelão, and Seleção defeat Venezuela] (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  20. ↑ "Vinotinto: Estos son los 23 convocados por Rafael Dudamel para la Copa América Centenario" [Vinotinto: These are the 23 called up by Rafael Dudamel for the Copa América Centenario] (in Spanish). Diario Panorama. 20 May 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  21. ↑ "Copa América: Mexico through as group winners after draw with Venezuela". The Guardian. 14 June 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  22. ↑ "Christian Santos". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
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