Darío Cvitanich

Darío Cvitanich

Personal information
Full name	Darío Cvitanich
Date of birth	16 May 1984 (1984-05-16) (age 27)
Place of birth	Baradero, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Boca Juniors
Number	20
Youth career
	Banfield
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2003–2008	Banfield	90	(52)
2008–	Ajax	30	(13)
2010-2011	→ Pachuca (loan)	32	(13)
2011-	→ Boca Juniors (loan)	8	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 05 Jul 2011. † Appearances (Goals).

Darío Cvitanich (Croatian: Dario Cvitanić; born 16 May 1984 in Baradero) is an Argentine-Croatian football striker who plays for Boca Juniors.

Career

Banfield

Dario started his career in Club Atlético Banfield's youth and made his debut for the clubs first team at the age of 18 on 20 October 2003 in a 3–1 defeat to Olimpo de Bahía Blanca. He scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 win against Newell's Old Boys on 27 April 2007. He played, and scored, for Banfield in the Copa Libertadores 2007.^[1] He also served as a loyal member of Banfield during his early youth years in Argentina. Just prior to leaving his childhood side, he excelled his final loyalty by scoring 13 times during Banfields run at the Clausura 2008 tournament.

AFC Ajax

Cvitanich signed for AFC Ajax, although he did not leave Banfield until the end of the 2008 season. He was labelled the successor to Klaas-Jan Huntelaar^[2] and scored his first goal against NAC Breda on 12 December 2008.^[3] Following the match against NAC, Cvitanich scored his first brace and his first hat-trick in subsequent weeks against De Graafschap and ADO Den Haag. He scored his first hat-trick of the 2009/10 season against NAC Breda.

Pachuca

Cvitanich joined Mexican side C.F. Pachuca on loan on 1 January 2010.,^[4] until the end of 2010.^[5] On 3 November 2010 it was announced that Cvitanich will return to Ajax.

Boca Juniors

Cvitanich signed for Boca Juniors in July 2011. The Argentine sports club hired him for one year. Cvitanich scored his first goal for Boca on August 28, 2011, against San Lorenzo de Almagro.

Career statistics

As of 24 October 2011^[6]

Club performance			League		Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Argentina			League		Cup		South America		Total
2002-03	Banfield	Primera División	0	0	-	-	-	-	0	0
2003-04			4	0	-	-	-	-	4	0
2004-05			12	3	-	-	-	-	12	3
2005-06			21	5	-	-	-	-	21	5
2006-07			25	10	-	-	-	-	25	10
2007-08			30	19	-	-	-	-	30	19
Netherlands			League		KNVB Cup		Europe		Total
2008–09	AFC Ajax	Eredivisie	18	9	-	-	-	-	18	9
2009–10			6	4	-	-	-	-	6	4
Mexico			League		Cup		North America		Total
2009–10	Pachuca (loan)	Primera División	16	5	-	-	2	0	18	5
2010–11			16	8	-	-	2	2	18	10
Netherlands			League		KNVB Cup		Europe		Total
2010–11	AFC Ajax	Eredivisie	6	0	1	0	1	0	8	0
Argentina			League		Cup		South America		Total
2011–12	Boca Juniors (loan)	Primera División	8	1	-	-	-	-	8	1
Total	Argentina		100	38	-	-	-	-	100	38
	Mexico		32	13	-	-	4	2	36	15
	Netherlands		30	13	1	0	1	0	32	13
Career total			162	64	1	0	5	2	159	66

International career

Cvitanich was born in Argentina with distant Croatian heritage. He established himself as a quality footballer in his home country playing for Banfield in the Argentine Primera División. After much consideration he eventually pledged to play for the Croatia national team, stating that "such an opportunity only comes once and you must take it".^[7] It became known on 14 January 2009 that he couldn't play for Croatia, because the FIFA rules do not allow nationality to be taken from the great grandfather.^[8]

Personal life

Cvitanich obtained a Croatian passport in August 2008.^[9]

Honours

Club

C.F. Pachuca

• CONCACAF Champions League (1): 2009–10

AFC Ajax

• Eredivisie (1): 2010–11

References

1. ^ Flamengo, the first qualified to the round of 16
2. ^ "Ajax and Real Madrid agree on transfer". ajax.nl. 2008-12-03. http://english.ajax.nl/web/show/id=154814/contentid=68208. Retrieved 2008-12-03. 
3. ^ "Ajax too strong for NAC". ajax.nl. 2008-12-13. http://english.ajax.nl/web/show/id=154814/contentid=68292. Retrieved 2008-12-13. 
4. ^ Official: Pachuca Sign Ajax Striker Dario Cvitanich On Loan
5. ^ Darío Cvitanich, delantero croata que llega a Pachuca
6. ^ "Dario Cvitanich". Soccerway.com. http://www.soccerway.com/players/dario-cvitanich/13860. Retrieved 2011-10-24. 
7. ^ Cvitanich Pins His Future to Croatia – Australian FourFourTwo – The Ultimate football Website
8. ^ Imposibilitado de jugar por Croacia El Periódico Austral. 2009-01-14. Retrieved on 2009-01-31.
9. ^ http://www.ajax.nl/web/show/id=154417/contentid=67106

External links

• Career statistics at Irish Times
• (Spanish) Argentine Primera statistics at Futbol XXI
• (Spanish) Medio Tiempo Article
• (Hebrew) Israel article

Persondata
Name	Cvitanich, Darío
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	16 May 1984
Place of birth	Baradero Partido, Argentina
Date of death
Place of death