Giovanni Moreno

Giovanni Andrés Moreno Cardona (Spanish pronunciation: [ɟʝoˈβani moˈɾeno]; born 1 July 1986) is a Colombian footballer who plays for and captains Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua F.C. where he primarily operates as an attacking midfielder.

Giovanni Moreno

Moreno with Shanghai Shenhua in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Giovanni Andrés Moreno Cardona
Date of birth	(1986-07-01) 1 July 1986
Place of birth	Segovia, Colombia
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position(s)	Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team	Shanghai Shenhua
Number	10
Youth career
	Florida Soccer
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2006–2008	Envigado	66	(40)
2008–2010	Atletico Nacional	67	(34)
2010–2012	Racing Club	47	(11)
2012–	Shanghai Shenhua	195	(66)
National team^‡
2008–	Colombia	21	(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 31 December 2019 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 27 March 2018

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Moreno and the second or maternal family name is Cardona.

Club career

Moreno would start his career with top tier Colombian side Envigado in the 2006 league season, however in his debut season he would be part of the squad that was relegated to the second tier.[1] The manager Jesús Barrios would show significant faith in Moreno who would go on to play a major part in guiding the team to the Categoría Primera B title and promotion back into the top tier at the end of the 2007 league season.[2] In the club's first league game of the 2008 league season on 3 February 2008 Moreno would be included in the first team and also score his first top flight goal for the club in a 2–0 victory against Deportivo Pereira.[3] He would continue his good form despite the step up in quality and after playing half the season for Envigado where he played in 22 games and scored 10 goals he would start to attract the interests of fellow top tier club Atlético Nacional.

Moreno transferred to Atlético Nacional for 1.6 million Euros and he would go on to score his first goal for the club on 27 July 2008 in a league game against Once Caldas in a 2–0 victory.[4] In his first full season for the club he would help guide them to the semi-finals of the 2009 Copa Colombia while personally becoming their top goalscorer of the season with 21 goals.[5] The Colombian footballer joined Argentine Primera División side Racing Club for the 2010-11 season. Atlético Nacional received 4.3 million US dollars for 75% of Moreno's rights, half being paid by Racing and the other half by a third party entrepreneurial group.[6] He would make his debut for the club in a league game on 14 August 2010 against Boca Juniors in a 2–1 victory.[7] This was followed by his first goal for the club, which was in a league game on 18 September 2010 against Club Atlético Lanús in a 4–0 win.[8] His season would come to a premature end when on 13 February 2011 in league game against All Boys when he sustained a posterior cruciate ligament injury in the knee, ruling him out for eight months.[9] Upon his return Moreno would soon regain his position back into the team, however after a series of disappointing results Moreno and teammate Federico Santander would receive death threats that reached its escalation point on Tuesday, 22 May 2012, after training when both men were held at gunpoint by a gang who told them to play better or have their legs blown off.[10]

After the incident in Argentina, Moreno left to join Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua on June 24, 2012, on a two-year contract with the option of a further two years for 9 million dollars.[11] He would go on to make his debut in a league game on July 1, 2012, against Qingdao Jonoon F.C. away in a 1–0 defeat.[12] This was followed by his first goal for the club in a league game against Guangzhou Evergrande on July 28, 2012, in a 2–2 draw.[13] The following season would see the owners of the club have a shareholders dispute, which ultimately saw the club's biggest shareholder Zhu Jun eventually leaving, causing a gap in the club finances resulting in unpaid wages forcing Moreno to refuse to play the March 31, 2013 league game against Liaoning Whowin.[14] He would return to playing for Shenhua and the club would go on to find themselves a new majority shareholder in Greenland Holding Group Company Limited.[15] For his loyalty with remaining with Shenhua the club made Moreno their captain and he extended his stay in China by signing a two-year contract extension with Shenhua in July 2015.[16] This would then see him become the club's top league goalscorer with 43 goals when he scored against Beijing Guoan on July 23, 2017, in a 2–1 defeat.[17] At the end of the season Moreno would win his first piece of silverware with the club when he captained Shenhua to the 2017 Chinese FA Cup.[18]

International career

Moreno was given his international debut by Eduardo Lara in a friendly against Nigeria on 20 November 2008 coming on as a substitute in a 1–0 victory.[19]

In May 2018 he was named in Colombia's preliminary 35 man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[20] However, he did not make the final cut to 23.[21]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 31 December 2019.[22]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Envigado  Colombia	2006	Categoría Primera A	2	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	0
	2007	Categoría Primera B	42	30	-	-	-	-	-	-	42	30
	2008	Categoría Primera A	22	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	22	10
	Total		66	40	-	-	-	-	-	-	66	40
Atlético Nacional  Colombia	2008	Categoría Primera A	16	7	-	-	-	-	-	-	16	7
	2009		34	16	8	5	-	-	-	-	42	21
	2010		17	11	6	5	-	-	-	-	23	16
	Total		67	34	14	10	-	-	-	-	81	44
Racing Club  Argentina	2010–11	Primera División de Argentina	16	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	16	5
	2011–12		31	6	3	1	-	-	-	-	34	7
	Total		47	11	3	1	-	-	-	-	50	12
Shanghai Shenhua  China	2012	Chinese Super League	14	2	2	0	-	-	-	-	16	2
	2013		21	10	0	0	-	-	-	-	21	10
	2014		27	8	5	3	-	-	-	-	32	11
	2015		26	6	4	1	-	-	-	-	30	7
	2016		26	9	4	1	-	-	-	-	30	10
	2017		26	15	7	0	1	0	-	-	34	15
	2018		27	5	0	0	6	3	1[lower-alpha 1]	0	34	8
	2019		28	11	5	2	-	-	-	-	33	13
	Total		195	66	27	7	7	3	1	0	230	76
Total			375	151	44	18	7	3	1	0	427	172

1. Appearance in Chinese FA Super Cup

International

As of match played 27 March 2018.[23]

Colombia
Year	Apps	Goals
2008	1	0
2009	4	1
2010	7	2
2011	1	0
2012	1	0
2017	6	0
2018	1	0
Total	21	3

International goals

Scores and results list Colombia's goal tally first.[23]

No	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	30 September 2009	Cotton Bowl, Dallas, United States	Mexico	1–0	2–1	Friendly
2.	10 October 2009	Estadio Atanasio Girardot, Medellin, Colombia	Chile	2–2	2–4	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.	27 May 2010	Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa	South Africa	1–1	1–2	Friendly

Honours

Club

Envigado

• Categoría Primera B: 2007

Shanghai Shenhua

• Chinese FA Cup: 2017,[18] 2019[24]

References

1. "Colombia 2006". rsssf.com. 2007-02-07. Retrieved 2019-04-09.
2. "Colombia 2007". rsssf.com. 2008-07-11. Retrieved 2019-04-09.
3. "DEPORTIVO PEREIRA VS. ENVIGADO 0 - 2". soccerway.com. 2008-02-03. Retrieved 2019-04-09.
4. "ATLÉTICO NACIONAL VS. ONCE CALDAS 2 - 0". soccerway.com. 2008-07-27. Retrieved 2019-04-09.
5. "Colombia (Cup) 2009". rsssf.com. 2009-12-11. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
6. "Les gustó al toque". Olé (in Spanish). 18 July 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
7. "BOCA JUNIORS VS. RACING CLUB 1 - 2". soccerway.com. 2010-08-14. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
8. "RACING CLUB VS. LANÚS 4 - 0". soccerway.com. 2010-09-18. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
9. "ALL BOYS VS. RACING CLUB 0 - 1". soccerway.com. 2011-02-13. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
10. "Gang threatens to blow off Giovanni Moreno's leg". news.com.au. 2012-05-24. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
11. "Shenhua sign Columbian international midfielder Giovanni Moreno for $9 million fee". wildeastfootball.net. 2012-06-24. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
12. "QINGDAO JONOON VS. SHANGHAI SHENHUA 1 - 0". soccerway.com. 2012-07-01. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
13. "GUANGZHOU EVERGRANDE VS. SHANGHAI SHENHUA 2 - 2". soccerway.com. 2012-07-01. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
14. "Shenhua overcome pre-game absurdity to fight back against Liaoning". wildeastfootball.net. 2013-04-01. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
15. 绿地宣布接手申花 朱骏时代宣告终结 (in Chinese). sports.163.com. 2014-01-31. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
16. 上海绿地申花俱乐部与球队队长吉奥瓦尼·莫雷诺续约两年发布时间. shenhuafc.com.cn (in Chinese). Shanghai Greenland Shenhua F.C. 28 July 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
17. "SHANGHAI SHENHUA VS. BEIJING GUOAN 1 - 2". soccerway.com. 2017-07-23. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
18. "足协杯-马丁斯轰世界波 申花总分3-3上港夺冠". sports.sina.com.cn. 2017-11-26. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
19. "POR FIN LLEGÓ EL GOL DE COLOMBIA ANTE NIGERIA". elcolombiano.com. 2018-01-30.
20. "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - 23-man & preliminary lists & when will they be announced? | Goal.com". Retrieved 2018-06-03.
21. http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/falcao-and-james-join-injured-duo-in-colombias-world-cup/wnbuppcvblfj1humzah4jkfbq
22. Giovanni Andrés Moreno Cardona at sodasoccer.com Retrieved 2017-4-13 (in Chinese)
23. "Giovanni Moreno". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
24. "申花打破足协杯先主后客夺冠魔咒 并终结尴尬纪录". sports.sina.com.cn. 2019-12-06. Retrieved 2019-12-06.

External links

• Giovanni Moreno at Soccerway
• Giovanni Moreno at National-Football-Teams.com
• Argentine Primera statistics at Fútbol XXI (in Spanish)
• Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/GiovanniMorenoofficial