Joao Grimaldo

Joao Grimaldo
	Grimaldo in 2022
Personal information
Full name	Joao Alberto Grimaldo Ubidia
Date of birth	20 February 2003 (age 21)
Place of birth	Lima, Peru
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Winger
Team information
Current team	FK Partizan
Number	20
Youth career
0000–2015	Esther Grande
2016–2020	Sporting Cristal
Senior career*
Years	Team
2020–2024	Sporting Cristal
2024–	Partizan
International career‡
2019	Peru U17
2020	Peru U20
2023–	Peru
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 October 2024; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:17, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Joao Alberto Grimaldo Ubidia (born February 20, 2003), is a Peruvian footballer who plays as a winger for Serbian club FK Partizan and the Peru national team.

Early years

Grimaldo was born in Lima, the capital of Peru. His family was based in the province of Lima, Rímac, a town located in the central subregion of Metropolitan Lima, Cono Centro.

From the first moments in which he played ball, he was inclined to practice offensive soccer. Although he developed his game at the María Reina del Cielo School, his first contact occurred in 2009, when a close relative created a futsal team in the Rímac District. He was tested to enter the lower divisions of the Atlético Ritma club. Colegio San Andrés was the name of the 2002 class team, created to play the Toque y Gol Cup in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The team won that tournament, remaining on the squad until it was 12 years old, the age at which Esther Grande de Bentín was able to sign him and the rule that governs the Peruvian Football Federation to include a footballer from that age.

This team became part of the minor divisions of the club, after being key in various matches of the different competitions, it was in the sights of the directors of Sporting Cristal who managed to make it part of the club's reserves at the beginning of 2016. Jorge Soto assigned him, along with the rest of his classmates —among them Carlos Ruiz, Marlon Perea, Flavio Alcedo, Leonardo Díaz, Gilmar Paredes and Aldair Vásquez—, psychologists, personalized tutors who guided him in his studies and doctors who observed his physical growth, making him that contributed to his formation as a person and footballer. Together with the team from the minor divisions, he won the 2018 Under-15 Centenary Tournament and the U-18 Copa Generación in his last season with the reserve.^[1]

Club career

Sporting Cristal

2020–2022: Rise to the first team

In 2021 Grimaldo already established himself in the team's starting lineup, and had a good season for La Celeste, playing 27 games and scoring one goal. During a match against Racing for the Copa Libertadores, he entered the starting lineup. However, the match was unsuccessful for both Joao and the club, which lost 2-0. However, Cristal had an excellent performance in the domestic cups, since on May 30 he won Phase 1 against the San Martín University 2-0 with goals from Hohberg and Riquelme. The following month, on June 25, he scored his first goal in a match against Ayacucho de Huamanga. The goalkeeper was Maximiliano Cavallotti. On the 27th of the following month, he won the Bicentennial Cup, against Carlos Mannucci, with Joao Grimaldo scoring a goal in the tournament.

By the beginning of 2022, Joao was shaping up to be one of those included in the first team. During the 2022 League 1, his scoring average increased considerably, going from 0.09 last year to 0.38 during the current championship.^[2] However, despite his growing figure in Peruvian soccer, he was not considered by the coach of the senior team at that moment. In April, Joao played a match with Sporting Cristal against San Martín for the opening championship, where he scored two goals.^[3] In September, he suffered the first expulsion of his career, playing against Binacional at the Guillermo Briceño Rosamedina.^[4] The semifinal of La Liga was played against the Foot Ball Club Melgar, on November 2 and 6. The first match was won by Melgar, at the Monumental, 2-0, while the second ended with the same result for the rival, at the Nacional de Lima. In this match, during the 36th minute, Grimaldo was removed and had suffered muscle discomfort in his right leg after a hard challenge from Alec Deneumostier nineteen minutes into the game.^[5] At the end of the season, in which Cristal finished 3rd in the national championship, Grimaldo ended up scoring a total of 4 goals in 25 games played.^[6]^{[better source needed]}

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 5 October 2024^[7]

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Sporting Cristal	2020	Liga 1	1	0	—		0	0	1	0
	2021		17	0	4^[a]	1	7^[b]	0	28	1
	2022		24	4	—		1^[c]	0	25	4
	2023		32	7	—		11^[d]	1	43	8
	2024		15	3	—		1^[c]	0	16	0
Partizan	2024–25	Serbian SuperLiga	4	0	1	0	4	0	9	0
Career total			93	14	5	1	24	1	122	16

Notes

^ Appearances in Copa Bicentenario
^ Three appearances in Copa Libertadores, four appearances in Copa Sudamericana
^ ^a ^b Appearance(s) in Copa Libertadores
^ Nine appearances and one goal in Copa Libertadores, two appearances in Copa Sudamericana

International

As of match played 15 October 2024

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Peru	2023	4	0
Peru	2024	4	1
Total		8	1

References

^ "La cantera de Sporting Cristal cambió la cara del equipo". Diario AS (in Spanish). 15 July 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
^ Reátegui, Sebastián (25 September 2022). "Grimaldo es el único jugador de Sporting Cristal que suma en la bola de minutos". Strikers (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 July 2023.
^ "El Show de Joao Grimaldo: Futbolista de Cristal marcó un doblete". Diario Líbero (in Spanish). 5 February 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
^ "Joao Grimaldo se fue expulsado en los minutos finales del Binacional vs. Sporting Cristal". El Comercio (in Spanish). 18 September 2022. ISSN 1605-3052. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
^ "Sporting Cristal detalló las lesiones de Yoshimar Yotún y Joao Grimaldo". ESPN (in Spanish). 8 November 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
^ Zevallos Francia, Santiago Emilio (2022). Sistema web "Cantolao" para la evaluación del rendimiento de futbolistas de la Liga 1 en Perú utilizando modelos matemáticos, 2022 (Bachelors thesis). Repositorio Institucional - UCV. p. 13. hdl:20.500.12692/101303.
^ Joao Grimaldo at Soccerway

External links

Joao Grimaldo at National-Football-Teams.com
Joao Grimaldo at Soccerway

[CBIC-8] Appearances in Copa Bicentenario

[9] Three appearances in Copa Libertadores, four appearances in Copa Sudamericana

[CLIB-10] Appearance(s) in Copa Libertadores

[11] Nine appearances and one goal in Copa Libertadores, two appearances in Copa Sudamericana

[1] "La cantera de Sporting Cristal cambió la cara del equipo". Diario AS (in Spanish). 15 July 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2023.

[2] Reátegui, Sebastián (25 September 2022). "Grimaldo es el único jugador de Sporting Cristal que suma en la bola de minutos". Strikers (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 July 2023.

[3] "El Show de Joao Grimaldo: Futbolista de Cristal marcó un doblete". Diario Líbero (in Spanish). 5 February 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2023.

[4] "Joao Grimaldo se fue expulsado en los minutos finales del Binacional vs. Sporting Cristal". El Comercio (in Spanish). 18 September 2022. ISSN 1605-3052. Retrieved 4 July 2023.

[5] "Sporting Cristal detalló las lesiones de Yoshimar Yotún y Joao Grimaldo". ESPN (in Spanish). 8 November 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2023.

[6] Zevallos Francia, Santiago Emilio (2022). Sistema web "Cantolao" para la evaluación del rendimiento de futbolistas de la Liga 1 en Perú utilizando modelos matemáticos, 2022 (Bachelors thesis). Repositorio Institucional - UCV. p. 13. hdl:20.500.12692/101303.

[7] Joao Grimaldo at Soccerway

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