Giancarlo González

Giancarlo "Pipo" González Castro (Spanish pronunciation: [ʝaŋˈkaɾlo ɣonˈsales]; born 8 February 1988; also known as Juan Carlos González in Spanish) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for American club LA Galaxy and the Costa Rica national team.

Giancarlo González
González playing for Costa Rica at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Giancarlo González Castro
Date of birth (1988-02-08) 8 February 1988
Place of birth Desamparados, San José, Costa Rica
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Playing position(s) Centre-back
Club information
Current team
 LA Galaxy
Number 21
Youth career
2004–2006 Alajuelense
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2012 Alajuelense 91 (6)
2012–2013 Vålerenga 37 (2)
2014 Columbus Crew 17 (1)
2014–2017 Palermo 84 (4)
2017–2019 Bologna 34 (0)
2019– LA Galaxy 20 (1)
National team‡
2007–2008 Costa Rica U-20 2 (0)
2010– Costa Rica 71 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13 October 2019
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 27 June 2018
This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is González and the second or maternal family name is Castro.

Club career

Early career

González spent his youth career with Alajuelense except for a stint with Saprissa when he was between 12 and 14 years of age.[2] He began his professional career with Alajuelense in 2007 and was a key player in helping his club win three league titles.

González joined Norwegian club Vålerenga after his contract expired on 31 July 2012.[3] During his time at Vålerenga, González appeared in 37 league matches and scored two goals.

Columbus Crew

On 21 February 2014, González signed with Columbus Crew.[4] On 15 April 2014, the MLS Disciplinary Committee fined González an undisclosed amount for "embellishment" of an incident in the 92nd minute of the game against the San Jose Earthquakes on 13 April.[5][6] González was also nominated for the satirical "Fallon d'Floor" award for this effort.[7][8]

Palermo

After his performances at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, González received interest from a number of European clubs, and on 26 August 2014 Palermo of Italy's Serie A confirmed to have signed him on a three-year deal.[9] The transfer fee was reported to be $5m with 5% of the fee being distributed among his youth clubs Alajuelense and Saprissa as per the FIFA solidarity contribution rules.[2] He made his debut on 19 October 2014 in a home game against Cesena, playing the full 90 minutes and scoring the winning goal in the first minute of injury time.[10]

Palermo's 2016–17 season ended with relegation from Serie A with González making 21 appearances.[11]

Bologna

On 22 June 2017, Bologna announced the signing of González.[11][12]

LA Galaxy

On 11 April 2019, González signed with the LA Galaxy.[13]

International career

González played at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Canada.[14]

Nicknamed Pipo,[15] he made his senior international debut for Costa Rica in a friendly against Slovakia on 5 June 2010. In January 2013, he scored the lone goal in a 1–0 victory over Honduras in the 2013 Copa Centroamericana final.[14]

2014 World Cup

In June 2014, González was named in Costa Rica's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[16] In the team's team's first two group matches, he and his central defensive colleagues Michael Umaña and Óscar Duarte allowed only one goal as Los Ticos beat Uruguay (3–1) and Italy (1–0) to qualify for the knockout stage.[17][18] Costa Rica completed the group stage unbeaten, recording a second consecutive shutout in a 0–0 draw with England in Belo Horizonte.[19] González's play at the back was listed by several as key to the team's progression from the group stage. His countless interceptions and tackles led to him being named to the ESPN Best XI of the group stage.[20] During the round of 16, González was the third of five Costa Rican players to successfully convert his kick in a 5–3 penalty shootout defeat of Greece.[21] He was included in the BBC's team of the tournament.[22]

2018 World Cup

In May 2018 he was named in Costa Rica's 23 man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[23]

Personal life

González is of Spanish origin.[24] He is a son of Roberto González and Elsa Castro and has a sister and brother. He has a son, Andrey.[25]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 3 February 2019
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Alajuelense 2008–2009[26] Costa Rican Primera División ????????
2009–2010[26] 283????120
2010–2011[26] 340??00120
2011–2012[26] 293??60120
Total 9160060976
Vålerenga 2012[27] Tippeligaen 120——120
2013[27] 25240—292
Total 3724000412
Columbus Crew 2014[26] Major League Soccer 171——171
Palermo 2014–15[26] Serie A 281——281
2015–16[26] 35210—361
2016–17[26] 21100—211
Total 8441000854
Bologna 2017–18[26] Serie A 22010—230
2018–19[26] 9010—100
Total 3102000330
Career Total 26013706027313

International
Statistics accurate as of match played 27 June 2018.[28]
Costa Rica
YearAppsGoals
201030
201110
201291
2013181
201490
2015100
201630
2017110
201870
Total712

International goals
Scores and results list. Costa Rica's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.25 May 2012Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, San José Guatemala3–23–2Friendly
2.27 January 2013 Honduras1–01–02013 Copa Centroamericana
gollark: ↑ that idea
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gollark: So, I can't select on file descriptors or whatever but I CAN do anything else ever?
gollark: Yes, so just impose memory and time limits.
gollark: 5ms execution time limit?

References
  1. "Giancarlo Gonzalez". Bologna FC 1909. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  2. Fuentes Alpízar, Ferlin (7 September 2014). "Giancarlo González repartirá millones a Alajuelense y Saprissa" [Giancarlo González divides millions between Alajuelense and Saprissa]. Al Día (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  3. "Martin Andresen forsterker med costaricansk landslagsspiller" (in Norwegian). TV2 Sporten. 6 March 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  4. "Crew signs Costa Rican International Giancarlo Gonzalez". Columbus Crew. 21 February 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  5. "MLS fines Giancarlo Gonzalez for flop". ESPNFC. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  6. http://gfycat.com/BothBrightHalicore
  7. Hautmann, Thomas (17 December 2014). "Checking out the contestants for the first annual Fallon D'Floor". Fox Soccer Blogs. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  8. Brankovic, Maja (18 December 2014). "Wer erhält die Schwalbentrophäe "Fallon d'Floor"?". 11 Freunde (in German). Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  9. "GONZALEZ E' DEL PALERMO CONTRATTO TRIENNALE PER IL CENTRALE" (in Italian). US Città di Palermo. 26 August 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  10. Carci, Francesco (19 October 2014). "Palermo-Cesena 2-1, Gonzalez regala in extremis il primo successo ai rosanero". la Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  11. "Official: Bologna sign Gonzalez". Football Italia. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  12. "González joins Bologna in permanent deal". BolognaFC. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  13. "LA Galaxy sign defender Giancarlo Gonzalez". lagalaxy.com. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  14. Giancarlo González – FIFA competition record
  15. Giancarlo 'Pipo' González es vital en el centro de la defensa de la Selección de Costa Rica - Nación (in Spanish)
  16. "Costa Rica World Cup 2014 squad". The Telegraph. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  17. "Uruguay 1-3 Costa Rica". BBC. 14 June 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  18. "Italy 0-1 Costa Rica". BBC. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  19. Taylor, Daniel (24 June 2014). "England end disappointing World Cup with barren draw against Costa Rica". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
  20. Molyneux-Carter, Jon (27 June 2014). "Best XI of the group stage". ESPNFC. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  21. "Costa Rica 1-1 Greece". BBC. 29 June 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  22. "World Cup 2014: BBC Sport pundits' team of the tournament". BBC Sport. 13 July 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  23. https://www.goal.com/en/amp/news/costa-rica-names-23-man-world-cup-squad-featuring-keylor/1bw2iz8pkma5614bzushqyyo7g
  24. "ESPAÑOL: No. 10. El Ascenso de Giancarlo González | Mes de la Herencia Hispana". MLSSoccer (in Spanish). 13 October 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  25. Giancarlo González: El soñador que emergió de sus lágrimas - Nación (in Spanish)
  26. "G. González". Soccerway. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  27. "NIFS - Norsk & Internasjonal Fotballstatistikk". Norsk internasjonal Fotballstatistikk (in Norwegian). Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  28. "Giancarlo González". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
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