José Ignacio Castillo

Infobox Football biography
playername = José Ignacio Castillo
fullname = José Ignacio Castillo Álvarez
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1975|4|11
cityofbirth = Buenos Aires
countryofbirth = Argentina
height = height|m=1.87
nickname =
position = Striker
currentclub = Lecce
clubnumber = 11
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = ?
2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2007 2006-2007 2007-2008
2008-
clubs = Independiente de Tandil Brindisi Nardò Vigor Lamezia Gallipoli → Frosinone "(loan)"
Pisa
Lecce
caps(goals) = 0? 0(?)
23 (15) 34 (17) 32 (24) 55 (40) 30 0(5)
38 (21)

nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
pcupdate = 2007-10-02
ntupdate =

José Ignacio Castillo Álvarez [cite web|url=http://www.enel.it/calcio/intervista.asp?iddoc=658248|language=Italian|publisher=ENEL.it|title=CASTILLO, IL RAGIONIERE DEL GOL|accessdate=2007-10-02] (born April 11, 1975 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine football (soccer) player currently on the books of Lecce.

A prolific striker, nicknamed "Nacho",cite web|url=http://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/SerieB/Primo_Piano/2007/10_Ottobre/02/castillo_0210.shtml|language=Italian|publisher=La Gazzetta dello Sport|title=Ora Castillo piace anche al piano di sopra|accessdate=2007-10-02|date=2007-10-02] he moved in Italy in 2001 to join Serie D club Brindisi, offering a massive contribution to their promotion to Serie C2 thanks to 15 goals in 23 matches. Despite this, he was not initially allowed to try his luck into professional football due to his lack of a European Union passport, and consequently opted to join Apulian Serie D side Nardò, where he scored 17 goals. In 2003 he left Nardò for Vigor Lamezia, where he scored an impressive 24 goals in 32 matches. In 2004, Castillo returned to Apulia to join newly-promoted but ambitious Serie D side Gallipoli, helping them to gain two consecutive promotions thanks to a 40 goals in 55 matches, being now able to play into Serie C2 during the 2005-06 season after having finally obtained an Italian passport at the age of 29.

For the 2006-07 season Castillo agreed to join Serie B side Frosinone in a loan deal, but failed to impress, scoring only 5 goals in 30 matches and being mostly featured as a substitute during the campaign. For the following season he signed for newly-promoted Serie B club Pisa and presented himself by scoring two winning goals to Bari in his debut match with the "nerazzurri". At the end of the season he had scored 21 goals, gaining fifth place in the scorers table.

In August 2008 he was signed by newly-promoted Serie A club US Lecce, thus returning to Salento.

References