Claudio Maldonado

Claudio Maldonado

File:Claudio maldonado.jpg
Personal information
Full name	Claudio Andrés del Tránsito Maldonado Rivera
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	Fenerbahçe
Number	33
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22 August 2008

Template:Spanish name 2 Claudio Andrés del Tránsito Maldonado Rivera, or just Claudio Maldonado, (born on January 3, 1980 in Curicó, Chile) is a Chilean football player who is captain of the national side and currently plays for Turkish side Fenerbahçe. He rarely goes forward, his goal tally is less than ten, although 3 of the goals were a hat-trick against Manchester United in a friendly in 2007, but what he lacks in scoring Maldonado makes up for in tenacity and an ability to break down the opposition with great effectiveness. He is married with Vanderlei Luxemburgo's daughter and has Brazilian citizenship.

Brazil

He spent three seasons with São Paulo making 36 appearances with the team.

In May 2003, Vanderlei Luxemburgo, then coach of Cruzeiro, bought the services of Maldonado. At the time of the purchase, Maldonado's then girlfriend was Luxemburgo's daughter. Nevertheless while with Cruzeiro, Maldonado experienced the most success of his career. In 2003 he captained the only team in the history of Brazilian football to win the triple crown.

For the 2006 season, Maldonado was reunited with former Cruzeiro's coach Luxemburgo at Santos for a fee of $4.5 million. However at the end of the Brazilian season was scheduled to have ankle surgery which caused him to miss up to two months. After recuperating Maldonado continued playing for Santos reaching the semi-finals of the 2007 Copa Libertadores. Currently Santos has completed the 2007 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A in second place and are eligible to compete in the upcoming Copa Libertadores 2008. He was being tracked by Fenerbahçe, AC Milan, Real Madrid and Ajax but no firm offers better than Fenerbahçe have been made. At 28 he is at the peak of his potential and European teams may want to capitalise on this, but they may be put off by the 8 red cards that he has received in the last 3 years at club level.

International

Maldonado was selected to represent his country, Chile, at the 2000 Summer Olympics as a part of the Sub-23 team that went on the win the bronze medal. Maldonado made his international debut on February 12, 2000, in a match versus Bulgaria. Since than Maldonado has appeared in 39 games with the adult squad and has netted one goal. For 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification, Maldonado was a regular with the first team and has since gained the captaincy of the national team. As of recent Maldonando has been called up to serve on the Chilean national team that is managed by Marcelo Bielsa.

Titles

Olympic medal record
Representing Chile
Men's Football
	2000 Sydney	Team Competition

Season	Club	Title
1998	Colo-Colo	Primera Division Chile Champion
2000	São Paulo	Campeonato Paulista Champion
2002	São Paulo	Campeonato Paulista Champion
2003	Cruzeiro	Copa do Brasil Champion
2003	Cruzeiro	Campeonato Mineiro Champion
2003	Cruzeiro	Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Champion
2004	Cruzeiro	Campeonato Mineiro Champion
2006	Santos	Campeonato Paulista Champion
2007	Santos	Campeonato Paulista Champion

External links

• claudiomaldonado.com Claudio Maldonado Unoffical Fan Website