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Mariano Andújar

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Mariano Andújar
Personal information
Full name Mariano Gonzalo Andújar
Height 1.94 m (6 ft 4+12 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
Catania
Number 21
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2006 Huracán 60 (0)
2005–2006Palermo (loan) 11 (0)
2006–2009 Estudiantes 104 (0)
2009– Catania 26 (0)
International career
2009– Argentina 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18 March 2010
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15:52, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

Mariano Gonzalo Andújar (born 30 July 1983 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine football goalkeeper and currently on the National Team[1]. He was recently transferred to Calcio Catania of the Italian Serie A after wining the Copa Libertadores 2009 with Estudiantes de La Plata.

Club career

Andújar started his career at Club Atlético Huracán in 2001. Two years later, the club was relegated to the Argentine 2nd division but he decided to stay with the club.

In 2005 Andújar was signed on loan by Italian Serie A club Palermo where he was initially supposed to be the third goalkeeper behind Matteo Guardalben and Nicola Santoni. Both of them were sold in the January transfer window and replaced by Federico Agliardi and Cristiano Lupatelli. Andújar played a total of 11 league matches, 7 UEFA Cup matches and had 3 Coppa Italia appearances.

Andújar returned to Argentina in 2006 to play for Diego Simeone's Estudiantes, where he played 16 games in the Apertura 2006 campaign conceding only 9 goals. Estudiantes ended the season with the tightest defence, conceding only 13 goals in their 19 games.

The Apertura 2006 ended with Boca Juniors and Estudiantes tied on 44 points, forcing a championship playoff game. With Andújar as goalkeeper, Estudiantes won the playoff 2-1 to claim their first league title in 23 years.

In 2009 he was the first team goalkeeper in the Copa Libertadores winning team. Andújar did not concede a single goal in any of the 8 games in La Plata and he set a new tournament record of 800 minutes without conceding a goal, beating Hugo Gatti's 767 minutes.[2] His final game with the club was their 2-1 win in the second leg of the final away at Cruzeiro.

On 24 June 2009, Italian Serie A club Catania announced that the club had signed the player to a 4-year deal.[3] He joined the Serie A club after the season, and was instantly the first choice pick, putting Tomas Kosicky and Andrea Campagnolo on the bench.

International career

In June 2009 he was called up by Diego Maradona for the national team for the South American World Cup Qualifiers. He made his debut on the 6 June 2009 home game against Colombia in a slim 1-0 win, gaining his first shutout.

Honours

Estudiantes de La Plata

References

  1. ^ "Argentina returns to River for Peru qualifier" AP, September 23, 2009
  2. ^ Copa Libertadores review at fifa.com
  3. ^ "Andujar al Catania" (in Italian). calciocatania.net. 2009-06-24. Retrieved 2009-06-24.