Luis Cristaldo

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Cristaldo and the second or maternal family name is Ruiz Díaz.

Luis Cristaldo

Personal information
Full name	Luis Héctor Cristaldo Ruiz Díaz
Date of birth	August 31, 1969 (1969-08-31)
Place of birth	Formosa, Argentina
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Guabirá
Youth career
	Tahuichi Academy
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1988–1992	Oriente Petrolero	?	(?)
1993–1998	Bolívar	127	(11)
1994	→ Textil Mandiyú (loan)	12	(0)
1998–1999	Sporting de Gijón	8	(1)
2000	Cerro Porteño	0	(0)
2001–2006	The Strongest	107	(8)
2007	Oriente Petrolero	11	(0)
2009–	Guabirá
National team
1989–2005	Bolivia	93	(5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of May 17, 2008. † Appearances (Goals).

Luis Héctor Cristaldo Ruiz Díaz (born August 31, 1969 in Formosa, Argentina) is an Argentine-Bolivian football midfielder who currently plays for Guabirá. He holds the record for the most appearances for the Bolivian national team with 93 international matches and 5 goals between 1989 and 2005, including two appearances in the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Cristaldo made his international debut on September 10, 1989 in a World Cup Qualifier against Uruguay in Montevideo (2-0 loss).

Born in Argentina, he relocated to Santa Cruz, Bolivia at the age of 15. Cristaldo then began attending the prestigious Tahuichi football academy, and by the time he was 18 years-old he made his official debut in first division. He played for Bolivian teams Oriente Petrolero (1990–92) and Bolívar (1993–98), winning 4 national titles combined during those years.

In 1998, he went abroad to play for Sporting de Gijón in Spain and later with Cerro Porteño and Sol de América in Paraguay, not to mention a previous spell he had during 1994 with Argentine club Mandiyú de Corrientes and legendary Diego Maradona as the manager.

In 2001, Cristaldo returned to Bolivia and played with The Strongest for the next six years. In 2007, while making his second spell with Oriente Petrolero he called it quit, laying his football career to rest permanently after seventeen years of professional football.

Honours

Club

• Oriente Petrolero (1)
  • Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano: 1990
• Bolívar (3)
  • Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano: 1994, 1996, 1997
• The Strongest (3)
  • Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano: 2003 (A), 2003 (C), 2004 (C)

External links

• FIFA (English)
• International statistics RSSSF (English)
• BDFA profile (Spanish)
• comunidadboliviana article (Spanish)
• Argentine Primera statistics (Spanish)