Luciano Gondou

Luciano Gondou
Gondou in 2024
Personal information
Full name Luciano Emilio Gondou Zanelli
Date of birth (2001-06-22) 22 June 2001 (age 23)
Place of birth Rufino, Santa Fe, Argentina
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Zenit Saint Petersburg
Number 32
Youth career
0000–2019 Sarmiento
2019–2021 River Plate
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2021–2023 Sarmiento 82 (17)
2023–2024 Argentinos Juniors 39 (12)
2024– Zenit Saint Petersburg 12 (6)
International career‡
2024– Argentina U23 7 (4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 7 December 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 9 August 2024

Luciano Emilio Gondou Zanelli (born 22 June 2001) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as an attacker for Russian club Zenit Saint Petersburg.[1]

Club career

Born in Rufino, Santa Fe, Gondou was in the youth academy at Sarmiento before joining River Plate in 2019. He started his career as a left-sided midfielder before developing into a left-footed forward player. With River Plate, he reached the final of the 2020 U-20 Copa Libertadores, which they lost to Ecuadorean side Independentedel Valle. In March 2021, he returned to Sarmiento and signed a professional contract with the club. The following month he made his senior debut.[2][3]

In July 2023, Gondou signed for Argentinos Juniors agreeing to a four-year contract with Argentinos Juniors reportedly paying a fee of $3,500,000 for 80% of his playing rights.[4] He made his debut in the Copa Libertadores against Fluminense in August 2023.[5] He scored his first goals for Argentinos Juniors on 21 August 2023, against his former club River Plate, scoring a brace as his side completed a comeback 3–2 league win.[6]

On 27 August 2024, Gondou signed a four-year contract with Russian Premier League champions Zenit St. Petersburg.[7] Four days later on his debut against Pari NN he scored twice in a 3–0 Zenit away victory.[8]

International career

In November 2023, Gondou was called up to the Argentina national under-23 football team by coach Javier Mascherano.[9] In January 2024, he scored in his first two appearances for Argentina U23, against Paraguay U23 and Peru U23.[10] He also scored the only goal of the game as Argentina beat Brazil U23 to secure qualification for the 2024 Olympic Games.[11]

In June 2024, he was named in the provisional Argentina squad for the 2024 Paris Olympics.[12]

Career statistics

As of match played 7 December 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Sarmiento 2020 Primera Nacional 0 0 1 0 — — 1 0
2021 Argentine Primera División 26 6 1 0 — — 27 6
2022 Argentine Primera División 34 5 1 0 — — 35 5
2023 Argentine Primera División 22 6 1 0 — — 23 6
Total 82 17 4 0 — — 86 17
Argentinos Juniors 2023 Argentine Primera División 14 9 1 0 2[b] 0 — 17 9
2024 Argentine Primera División 16 3 2 1 3[c] 1 — 21 5
Total 30 12 3 1 5 1 0 0 38 14
Zenit Saint Petersburg 2024–25 Russian Premier League 12 6 3 1 — — 15 7
Career total 124 35 10 2 5 1 0 0 139 38
  1. ^ Includes Copa Argentina, Russian Cup
  2. ^ Appearances in Copa Libertadores
  3. ^ Appearances in Copa Sudamericana

References

  1. ^ Luciano Gondou at Soccerway Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ "LUCIANO GONDOU – SARMIENTO'S RELENTLESS STRIKER". Leftbackfootball. 15 July 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Luciano Gondou, the scorer that River could have had will now face them in Sarmiento". TYC Sports. 30 April 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  4. ^ Mancuso, Matias (11 July 2023). "Argentines presented Luciano Gondou". Ole.com. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Argentinos Juniors lost in Marcaná and was eliminated from the Libertadores". TNTSPORTS. 17 August 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Gondou, the Argentine figure who is "grateful" to River". Ole.com. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Лусиано Гонду — в "Зените"!" (in Russian). FC Zenit Saint Petersburg. 27 August 2024.
  8. ^ "Pari v Zenit game report". Russian Premier League. 31 August 2024.
  9. ^ "THE SENSITIVE LOSS SUFFERED BY JAVIER MASCHERANO'S SUB 23". elgrafico. 14 November 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  10. ^ "Luciano Gondou's brutal mark in the soccer Pre-Olympic: two goals in 20 minutes to rescue Argentina". Clarin.com. 25 January 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  11. ^ "Sub 23 Olympic Pre-Olympic: Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 and qualified for Paris 2024". Pagina12. 12 February 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  12. ^ Smart, Ryan (3 June 2024). "Argentina name 23-man provisional squad for the 2024 Olympics as two Premier League stars not included". Sportbible. Retrieved 4 June 2024.