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Costa Rican footballer (born 1989) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cristian Esteban Gamboa Luna (born 24 October 1989), commonly known as Cristian Gamboa, is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Bundesliga club VfL Bochum.
.jpg) Gamboa with Costa Rica at the 2018 FIFA World Cup | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Cristian Esteban Gamboa Luna | ||
| Date of birth | 24 October 1989 | ||
| Place of birth | Liberia, Costa Rica | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Right-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | VfL Bochum | ||
| Number | 2 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2006–2010 | Municipal Liberia | 68 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | Fredrikstad | 27 | (1) |
| 2011–2012 | Copenhagen | 0 | (0) |
| 2012 | → Rosenborg (loan) | 10 | (0) |
| 2013–2014 | Rosenborg | 30 | (0) |
| 2014–2016 | West Bromwich Albion | 11 | (0) |
| 2016–2019 | Celtic | 20 | (0) |
| 2019– | VfL Bochum | 122 | (3) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2010–2020 | Costa Rica | 78 | (3) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 2 November 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13 November 2020 | |||
Gamboa is an international player for Costa Rica and played in the team at the 2014 FIFA World Cup that reached the quarter-finals.
Gamboa was born in Liberia, Costa Rica. At age 15, he was deemed not good enough to play for Costa Rican clubs Saprissa and Alajuelense.[2] He played from the 2006–2007 season for hometown club Municipal Liberia. He then moved abroad and joined Norwegian side Fredrikstad in summer 2010[3] and played there for two half seasons, before he joined Copenhagen in summer 2011.[4] He made his debut in a 0–1 loss against Standard Liège in the UEFA Europa League.
Gamboa joined Rosenborg on a three-month-loan deal in August 2012 with the Norwegian club having an option to buy.[5] He made his debut on 3 September 2012 in a Tippeligaen match away at Stabæk, winning 2–0.[6] By November he had impressed sufficiently in the ten games he played in for Rosenborg for them to offer him a permanent deal, and he signed five-year contract with the club.[7][8]
In late July 2014, English Premier League club West Bromwich Albion agreed to sign Gamboa for a fee estimated in the media as around £2 million. Because the player had insufficient recent international appearances for a work permit to be granted automatically, completion of the deal was dependent on a successful appeal to the Football Association, which was confirmed on 5 August. The player signed a three-year contract.[9][10][11]
He made his debut on 26 August 2014, coming on as a second-half substitute in a League cup tie against Oxford United.[12] He made his League debut a few days later against Swansea City, after which further substitute appearances followed.[12] Gamboa finally made a starting appearance on 4 October in a 2–1 loss away at Liverpool in the league. Despite the defeat, he was reported as having turned in an impressive performance.[13][14][15][16] It was however to be Gamboa's only league start that season,[12] and he fell further out of favour when manager Alan Irvine was sacked in December[17] and replaced by Tony Pulis.[18] From January 2015 onwards to the end of the season, Gamboa only played one minute of first team football, coming on as an injury-time substitute in a fifth round FA Cup tie against West Ham in February 2015.[12][18]
Gamboa continued to struggle to hold down a first team place in his second season in England, playing only two games early on in the season. He then went five months without a first team appearance, before making a return to the side in February 2016 in an FA Cup fourth round replay tie against Peterborough United.[19]
On 30 August 2016, Gamboa signed for Scottish Premiership club Celtic on a three-year deal.[20]
On 27 August 2019, Gamboa joined VfL Bochum on a two-year deal.[21] In the 2022 season, he scored once in a 4-2 win against FC Bayern Munich.
He participated in the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup for Costa Rica[22] where they finished in fourth place. He has represented Costa Rica in other international games.[23][24][25]
He made his debut for the Costa Rica national football team in January 2010, in a friendly match against Argentina. Gamboa scored his first goal in a 7–0 home win against Guyana in a 2014 World Cup qualifier. He was selected for the Costa Rica national team against part at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and played in all five games, reaching the quarter-final where they were eventually knocked out on penalty kicks by the Netherlands.[26]
In May 2018 he was selected in Costa Rica's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[27]
Gamboa is married to Melissa Salazar and they have 3 children, Felipe, Julián and Bruna.[28]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Municipal Liberia | 2006-07 | Primera División | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 16 | 0 | |||
| 2007-08 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 26 | 0 | |||||
| 2008-09 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 13 | 0 | |||||
| 2009-10 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 13 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 68 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 68 | 0 | ||
| Fredrikstad | 2010 | Adeccoligaen | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 3 | 0 | 14 | 1 | |
| 2011 | Tippeligaen | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 17 | 0 | |||
| Total | 27 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 31 | 1 | ||
| Copenhagen | 2011–12 | Superliga | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Rosenborg | 2012 | Tippeligaen | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 6 | 0 | – | 16 | 0 | ||
| 2013 | 28 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 4 | 0 | – | 34 | 0 | ||||
| 2014 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 40 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 0 | ||
| West Bromwich Albion | 2014–15 | Premier League | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 14 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | ||
| Celtic | 2016–17 | Scottish Premiership | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 21 | 0 | |
| 2017–18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 3 | 0 | |||
| 2018–19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | 7 | 0 | |||
| Total | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 0 | ||
| VfL Bochum | 2019–20 | 2. Bundesliga | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 26 | 1 | |
| 2020–21 | 2. Bundesliga | 29 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | 32 | 0 | ||||
| 2021–22 | Bundesliga | 23 | 1 | 4 | 0 | – | – | – | 27 | 1 | ||||
| 2022–23 | Bundesliga | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | 21 | 0 | ||||
| 2023–24 | Bundesliga | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 | |||
| 2024–25 | Bundesliga | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |||
| Total | 122 | 3 | 10 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | 132 | 3 | ||||
| Career Total | 288 | 4 | 17 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 332 | 4 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Costa Rica | 2010 | 4 | 0 |
| 2011 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2012 | 3 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2014 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 12 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 78 | 3 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 October 2012 | Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, San José |  Guyana |
2–0 | 7–0 | 2014 World Cup qualifier |
| 2 | 13 November 2015 | Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, San José |  Haiti |
1–0 | 1–0 | 2018 World Cup qualifier |
| 3 | 28 May 2016 | Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, San José |  Venezuela |
2–1 | 2–1 | Friendly |
Municipal Liberia
Copenhagen
Celtic
VfL Bochum
Costa Rica
Individual
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