Leandro Cufré

Leandro Cufré

Personal information
Full name	Leandro Damián Cufré
Date of birth	9 May 1978 (1978-05-09) (age 33)
Place of birth	La Plata, Argentina
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Dinamo Zagreb
Number	25
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1996–2002	Gimnasia La Plata	133	(4)
2002–2006	Roma	68	(1)
2003–2004	→ Siena (loan)	31	(0)
2006–2009	Monaco	60	(4)
2008–2009	→ Hertha BSC (loan)	5	(0)
2009–	Dinamo Zagreb	46	(0)
National team‡
2000	Argentina U20
2000–2006	Argentina	4	(0)
Honours Competitor for  Argentina Gold FIFA U-20 World Cup 1997
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12 August 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 June 2006

Leandro Damián Cufré (born 9 May 1978 in La Plata, Argentina) is an Argentinian footballer, currently plays as a defender for GNK Dinamo Zagreb.

Career

Cufré began his professional career at Gimnasia La Plata U-19 before being promoted to the first-team squad in January 1996. He went on to play 129 games, scoring 4 goals in the progress.

AS Roma

Cufré moved to Roma in January 2002. During his time at the Italian giants, he played 80 games, scored two goals and received the award for Best Defender in Italy. He was also loaned out to fellow Italian side Siena, where he played 35 times.

AS Monaco FC

Cufré moved to France in Summer 2006, joining Ligue 1 side AS Monaco^[1] During his time at the club, he made 61 appearances and managed to score three goals. Cufré was a regular starter and, eventually, vice-captain of the team.

Hertha BSC

On 29 January 2009, Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin announced that they had loaned Cufré from AS Monaco until the end of the 2008–09 season.^[2] He returned to Monaco in June 2008.

Gimnasia La Plata

On 18 July 2009, Cufré returned to Gimnasia La Plata after eight years in Europe.^[3] On 16 August 2009, after a mini "soap opera," the Argentine wingback asked for – and was granted – his release due to a conflictive relation with Leonardo Madelón, the head coach at the time (though, personal reasons were officially cited).^[4]

Dinamo Zagreb

On 19 August 2009, he officially signed a contract with Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb who had reportedly been persuading him to join the club since the summer transfer window opened. Cufré became a favourite with the Dinamo fans because of his commitment on the pitch. He played in many important matches for Dinamo. In 2011 he was linked with a transfer to Crvena Zvezda (Red Star Belgrade) but the deal fell through. Cufre played in 44 matches for Dinamo.

International career

Leandro Cufré has earned 17 caps for Argentina, his first appearance coming in 2000. He was part of the Argentina Under-20 team that won the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship in Malaysia. Cufré was also a member of the Argentina squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. On 30 June 2006, Cufré was red carded for violent conduct in an altercation following the World Cup quarter-final match against Germany, which Argentina lost 4–2 on penalties. Germany's Per Mertesacker said Cufré, an unused substitute in the match, "attacked me even though I did not do anything. I have three or four red marks on my thigh and then he kicked me again in the groin." FIFA president Sepp Blatter said "I am furious about that and our disciplinary committee will monitor this incident. We will take some steps towards those who are identified as being the 'provocateurs' of this incident."^[5] FIFA fined Cufré CHF 10,000 and suspended him for four matches.^[6] For this attack, Cufré received a red card, which made him the first player ever to be sent off in a World Cup match after the final whistle.

Honours

Dinamo Zagreb

• Croatian First League (2): 2009–10, 2010–11
• Croatian Cup (1): 2010–11

References

1. ^ "Cufré completes Monaco move". UEFA.com. 30 August 2006. http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/news/newsid=450968.html. Retrieved 30 January 2009. 
2. ^ http://www.hertha.de/index.php?id=15630&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=18232&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=4554&cHash=ee49b733b5^{[dead link]}
3. ^ "Cufre zurück zu El Lobo" (in German). transfermarkt.de. 18 July 2009. http://www.transfermarkt.de/de/news/29796/cufre-zurueck-zu-el-lobo.html. Retrieved 10 April 2011. 
4. ^ "Leandro Cufré regresó al Gimnasia y Esgrima un día después de haberse marchado" (in Spanish). futbolred.com. 11 August 2009. http://www.futbolred.com/argentina/noticias/pretemporadaapertura09/leandro-cufre-rescindio-su-contrato-con-gimnasia-y-esgrima-de-la-plata/5817828. Retrieved 10 April 2011. 
5. ^ "Fifa fury at Berlin match fracas". BBC. 1 July 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2006/teams/argentina/5135996.stm. Retrieved 1 July 2006. 
6. ^ "Rooney, Cufré and Rodriguez handed bans by FIFA". Reuters. 8 July 2006. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/08072006/325/fifa-hands-rooney-match-ban.html. Retrieved 16 July 2006. ^{[dead link]}

External links

• Career statistics at Irish Times
• Leandro Cufré at National-Football-Teams.com
• Leandro Cufré – FIFA competition record
• Leandro Cufré French league stats at LFP.fr (French)
• Leandro Damián Cufré at Transfermarkt.co.uk
• Leandro Cufré at nogometni-magazin (Croatian)
• Leandro Cufré at BDFA (Spanish)

Persondata
Name	Cufré, Leandro
Alternative names	Cufré, Leandro Damián
Short description	Footballer
Date of birth	9 May 1978
Place of birth	La Plata, Argentina
Date of death
Place of death