Christian Bolaños

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Bolaños and the second or maternal family name is Navarro.

Christian Bolaños
Bolaños with Saprissa in 2018
Personal information
Full name Christian Bolaños Navarro[1]
Date of birth (1984-05-17) 17 May 1984 (age 40)[2]
Place of birth Hatillo de San José, Costa Rica
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[3]
Position(s) Right winger
Youth career
Saprissa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2007 Saprissa 154 (12)
2007–2008 OB 24 (3)
2008–2010 Start 45 (13)
2010–2014 Copenhagen 101 (14)
2014 Cartaginés 12 (0)
2015 Al Gharafa 11 (4)
2015 Saprissa 13 (5)
2016–2017 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 48 (5)
2018–2020 Saprissa 98 (34)
2020–2021 Start 12 (2)
2021–2023 Saprissa 69 (15)
International career
2001 Costa Rica U17 4 (0)
2005–2021 Costa Rica 87 (6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Christian Bolaños Navarro (born 17 May 1984) is a Costa Rican former professional footballer who plays as a right winger. After his international debut with the Costa Rica national team in 2005, Bolaños earned over 80 international caps and played at three FIFA World Cups.

His brother Jonathan is also a footballer.[4]

Club career

Deportivo Saprissa

With Saprissa Bolaños won various national championships as well as a UNCAF Cup title and a CONCACAF Champions Cup title. Bolaños participated in the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship Toyota Cup with his team, and was awarded by FIFA as the third best player of the tournament. Following this success he was invited to attend a ten-day trial with Liverpool, although he was not signed on a permanent basis.

On 9 August 2006, he signed a one-year loan deal with Premier League side Charlton Athletic. However, he failed to obtain a work permit having not played enough games for his country, and the deal fell through.[5]

OB

On 2 June 2007, Bolaños signed a three-year contract with the Danish side OB in the top-flight Danish Superliga championship. Struggling to make an impact on the strong Danish midfield, Bolaños was a target for other clubs.

Start

Bolaños playing for IK Start in 2010

On 6 November 2008, Bolaños signed a contract with newly promoted Norwegian side Start starting 1 January 2009.

In IK Start's first test against a Tippeligaen side, Bolaños received rave reviews from the media after outplaying Norwegian international Trond Erik Bertelsen of Viking, who a few days earlier had controlled Bastian Schweinsteiger during Norway's] win against Germany. Start coach Knut Tørum said after the game that he will be playing on the right wing during the 2009 season.[6] In his first official match for Start, Bolaños scored two goals against Strømsgodset.

FC Copenhagen

On 30 August 2010, Bolaños signed a three-year contract with the defending champions of Denmark, FC Copenhagen at a cost of €1 million or 7.5 mio. DK kroner.

On 22 August 2012, Bolaños was linked with a £3 million move to English side Wolverhampton Wanderers, which could re-unite him with former Copenhagen manager Ståle Solbakken.[7][8]

Cartaginés

On 8 September 2014, Bolaños signed with Cartaginés,[9] only to leave them for Qatari side Al Gharafa after the winter championship.[10]

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

On 20 January 2016, Bolaños signed a multi-year contract with Vancouver Whitecaps FC of Major League Soccer for an undisclosed amount.[11]

Saprissa

Following two years with Vancouver, Bolaños returned to Saprissa again after his option was declined following the 2017 season.[12]

International career

Bolaños played in the 2001 FIFA U-17 World Championship held in Trinidad and Tobago.[13]

He made his debut for the Costa Rica senior national team in a May 2005 friendly match against Norway and by November 2016 had collected a total of 71 caps, scoring 6 goals.[14] He has represented his country in 25 FIFA World Cup qualification matches[13] and played at both the 2006 FIFA World Cup[13] and the 2014 FIFA World Cup[13] as well as at the 2005,[15] 2007[16] and 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cups.[17]

In May 2018 he was named in Costa Rica's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[18] By entering as a substitute in the first matchday defeat against Serbia, Bolaños became the only Costa Rican to play at three different FIFA World Cups,[19] and overtook Michael Umaña as the Costa Rican with most matches played at the competition.[20]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Saprissa 2001–02 Liga FPD 17 1 – 2 0 19 1
2002–03 21 1 – – 21 1
2003–04 16 2 – – 16 2
2004–05 33 1 – 10 1 43 2
2005–06 34 2 – 14 1 48 3
2006–07 33 5 – 1 0 34 5
Total 154 12 0 0 27 2 181 14
OB 2007–08 Danish Superliga 22 3 1 0 4 0 27 3
2008–09 2 0 3 0 5 0
Total 24 3 1 0 7 0 32 3
Start 2009 Tippeligaen 25 7 2 1 – 27 8
2010 20 6 5 0 25 6
Total 45 13 7 1 0 0 52 14
Copenhagen 2010–11 Danish Superliga 24 6 3 0 8 0 35 6
2011–12 32 3 4 0 10 2 46 5
2012–13 23 2 1 1 8 1 32 4
2013–14 22 3 3 0 6 0 31 3
Total 101 14 11 1 32 3 144 18
Cartaginés 2014–15 Liga FPD 12 0 – – 12 0
Al-Gharafa 2014–15 Qatar Stars League 11 4 – – 11 4
Saprissa 2015–16 Liga FPD 13 5 – 1 0 14 5
Vancouver Whitecaps 2016 MLS 27 5 2 0 – 29 5
2017 24 0 – 2 0 26 0
Total 51 5 2 0 2 0 55 5
Saprissa 2017–18 Liga FPD 10 0 – 2 0 12 0
2018–19 49 10 – 2 0 51 10
2019–20 39 23 – 12 1 51 24
Total 98 33 0 0 16 1 114 34
Start 2020 Eliteserien 12 2 – – 12 2
Saprissa 2020–21 Liga FPD 18 8 – 4 2 22 10
2021–22 36 10 1 1 6 4 43 15
2022–23 19 1 5 1 2 2 26 4
Career total 594 110 27 4 97 14 718 128
  1. ^ Includes Danish Cup, Norwegian Cup.

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[21]
National team Year Apps Goals
Costa Rica 2005 12 1
2006 6 0
2007 4 0
2008 1 0
2009 8 0
2010 2 0
2011 8 0
2012 4 1
2013 8 0
2014 7 0
2015 2 0
2016 10 4
2017 8 0
2018 4 0
2019 2 0
2021 1 0
Total 87 6
Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bolaños goal.
List of international goals scored by Christian Bolaños
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 16 July 2005 Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, United States  Honduras 1–3 2–3 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup
2 16 October 2012 Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica  Guyana 5–0 7–0 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
3 6 September 2016 Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica  Panama 1–0 3–1 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
4 2–0
5 11 November 2016 Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago  Trinidad and Tobago 1–0 2–0 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
6 15 November 2016 Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica  United States 2–0 4–0 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Saprissa

Copenhagen

Individual

References

  1. ^ "FIFA World Cup Russia 2018: List of Players: Costa Rica" (PDF). FIFA. 15 July 2018. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2019.
  2. ^ "FIFA Club World Championship Japan 2005 – Official Rosters". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 December 2005. Archived from the original on 19 December 2005.
  3. ^ "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  4. ^ Devji, Farhan (20 January 2016). "10 things: Get to know Christian Bolaños". Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
  5. ^ "Charlton fail with Bolanos permit". BBC. 30 August 2006. Retrieved 5 November 2007.
  6. ^ Per Opsahl. "Her er spilleren Myggen vil holde "hemmelig"". VG. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  7. ^ "Bolanos would consider move". Sky Sports. 22 August 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  8. ^ "Wing men are on Solbakken radar". Express & Star. 23 August 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  9. ^ Christian Bolaños jugará con Cartaginés – Nación (in Spanish)
  10. ^ Christian Bolaños jugará dos años con el Al-Gharafa de Qatar desde 2015 Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine – Al Día (in Spanish)
  11. ^ "Whitecaps FC acquire experienced Costa Rican midfielder Christian Bolaños". Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  12. ^ "Deportivo Saprissa". www.deportivosaprissa.com. Archived from the original on 21 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  13. ^ a b c d Christian Bolaños – FIFA competition record (archived)
  14. ^ Passo Alpuin, Luis Fernando (25 April 2013). "Costa Rica – Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  15. ^ CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 2005 – Full Details – RSSSF
  16. ^ CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 2007 – Full Details – RSSSF
  17. ^ CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 2011 – Full Details Archived 1 February 2013 at archive.today – RSSSF
  18. ^ "Costa Rica national team World Cup squad: Oscar Ramirez names 23-man roster featuring Keylor Navas, six MLS players | Goal.com". Archived from the original on 16 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  19. ^ Solano, Hermes (17 June 2018). "Cristian Bolaños se mete en la historia tica en mundiales | Crhoy.com". CRHoy.com | Periodico Digital | Costa Rica Noticias 24/7 (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  20. ^ Ceccato, Eduardo (17 June 2018). "Bolaños es el tico con más partidos en mundiales". Fútbol Centroamérica (in European Spanish). Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  21. ^ "Christian Bolaños". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  22. ^ "Bryan Ruiz and Alex Morgan Named 2016 CONCACAF Players of the Year". CONCACAF. 18 January 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
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