Ysrael Zúñiga

Herlyn Ysrael Zúñiga Yáñez (born 27 August 1976) is a Peruvian dentist and former footballer who played as a striker for the Peru national team and for clubs including Coventry City, Estudiantes and Melgar. Since retirement, Zúñiga has reverted to dentistry in his homeland, for which he obtained qualifications for concurrently during his tenure at Sporting Cristal.

Ysrael Zúñiga

Personal information
Full name	Herlyn Ysrael Zuñiga Yáñez
Date of birth	(1976-08-27) 27 August 1976 (age 48)
Place of birth	Lima,[1] Peru
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1991–1994	Sporting Cristal
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1995	Guardia Republicana	19	(28)
1996 –1997	Coronel Bolognesi	22	(23)
1997	Sport Agustino	24	(26)
1998	Coronel Bolognesi	18	(25)
1999	Melgar	39	(32)
2000–2002	Coventry City	30	(3)
2002–2003	Estudiantes (LP)	6	(0)
2003	Cruz Azul Hidalgo	4	(0)
2003–2004	Universitario	45	(15)
2005	Atlético Universidad	21	(3)
2005–2006	Sporting Cristal	36	(7)
2007	Melgar	38	(19)
2008–2009	Bursaspor	19	(6)
2009	Melgar	34	(14)
2010–2012	Juan Aurich	80	(21)
2013–2018	Melgar	155	(41)
Total		556	(259)
International career
1999–2007	Peru	21	(3)
Managerial career
2018–	FBC Melgar Youth Team (assistant coach)
Medal record Guardia Republicana Winner Peruvian Segunda División 1995 Coronel Bolognesi Runner-up Copa Perú 1998 Sporting Cristal Winner Peruvian League 2005 Juan Aurich Winner Peruvian League 2011 Melgar Winner Peruvian League 2015 Runner-up Peruvian League 2016
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Zúñiga and the second or maternal family name is Yañez.

Club career

Zúñiga initially trained as a dental technician before deciding to become a professional footballer at the relatively late age of 22. He gained some international fame after scoring a league-record equalling 32 goals for Melgar in his first season in the Primera División Peruana in 1999. His goalscoring success prompted English Premier League club Coventry City to purchase him for £750,000 in February 2000. However, he was unable to find any form in England; scoring three goals in 30 appearances spread over two and a half years with Coventry before he was released in the summer of 2002.

After leaving Coventry he joined Argentine club Estudiantes, but again struggled to recapture his scoring form. Zúñiga returned to his homeland following the conclusion of his spell in Argentina to join Sporting Cristal, a club he spent time at as a teenager before leaving the game to study to be a dental worker.

International career

He won 21 caps and scored 3 goals for the Peru.^[3]

He was recalled against Ecuador in June 2007.

International

As of 9 July 2007

Peru
Year	Apps	Goals
1999	7	1
2000	10	1
2001	0	0
2002	0	0
2003	1	0
2004	1	1
2005	0	0
2006	0	0
2007	2	0
Total	21	3

Honours

Club

Guardia Republicana

• Peruvian Segunda División:1995

Sporting Cristal

• Peruvian Primera División: 2005

Juan Aurich

• Peruvian First Division: 2011

FBC Melgar

• Peruvian First Division: 2015

References

1. "Plantilla 2011 - Ysrael Zúñiga" (in Spanish). JuanAurich.net. January 2011. Archived from the original on 19 December 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
2. "Information of Ysrael Zuñiga" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
3. Appearances for Peru National Team - RSSSF

External links

• Ysrael Zúñiga at Soccerbase
• Ysrael Zúñiga at National-Football-Teams.com
• Ysrael Zúñiga at bdfa.com
• Ysrael Zúñiga at Perú.com