Mateo Cassierra

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Cassierraand the second or maternal family name is Cabezas.

Mateo Cassierra

Cassierra with Zenit St. Petersburg in 2022
Personal information
Full name	Zander Mateo Cassierra Cabezas
Date of birth	(1997-04-13) 13 April 1997 (age 27)
Place of birth	Barbacoas, Colombia
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) [1]
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Zenit Saint Petersburg
Number	30
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2015–2016	Deportivo Cali	43	(12)
2016–2018	Jong Ajax	46	(29)
2016–2019	Ajax	21	(3)
2018	→ FC Groningen (loan)	10	(1)
2019	→ Racing (loan)	0	(0)
2019–2021	Belenenses SAD	63	(14)
2021–2022	Sochi	22	(14)
2022–	Zenit Saint Petersburg	54	(23)
International career‡
2023–	Colombia	3	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 25 May 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22 March 2024

Zander Mateo Cassierra Cabezas (born 13 April 1997) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg and the Colombia national team.

Career

Deportivo Cali

Cassierra made his debut for Deportivo Cali in 2015. Despite having played at Deportivo Cali with a jersey displaying "Casierra", his official name is spelled "Cassierra" (with two s's). ^[2]

Ajax

On 17 June 2016, Cassierra signed a five-year contract with Dutch club Ajax, lasting until 2021. ^[3] The club paid Deportivo Cali €5.5 million to complete the transfer. ^[4] Cassierra is the third Colombian player to play for Ajax after Daniel Cruz (2000–2003) and Davinson Sánchez. ^[5] He scored a goal in his Eredivisie debut against Sparta Rotterdam in a 1–3 win.

Cassierra spent the majority of the 2017–18 season playing for the reserves' team Jong Ajax, in the Eerste Divisie. He finished as top scorer of the reserves team with 18 goals scored, helping his side to clinch their first championship since joining the professional ranks and competing in the second tier of Dutch football. ^[6]

Groningen loan

On 2 June 2018, Ajax announced its loan, for one season, to FC Groningen. However, he returned after only half a season. ^[7]

Racing loan

In January 2019, he joined Racing on loan until July 2020. ^[8]

Sochi

On 26 August 2021, he signed a two-year contract with an additional one-year option with Russian Premier League club PFC Sochi. ^[9] Cassierra finished 2021–22 Russian Premier League as the second-best goal scorer with 14 goals, behind Gamid Agalarov who scored 19, as Sochi finished in 2nd place, club's historical best position. ^[10]

Zenit St. Petersburg

On 30 June 2022, Zenit St. Petersburg announced the signing of Cassierra to a three-year contract, with the option of an additional year. ^[11]

After scoring only twice in the 2022–23 Russian Premier League, Cassiera started the 2023–24 season with 6 goals in the first 6 games, taking the top spot in the scoring race. He went into the winter break of the season in December with 14 goals, 6 goals ahead of the second-highest scorers. ^[12] On 2 February 2024, Cassiera extended his contract with Zenit to June 2027. ^[13]

On 19 May 2024, Cassiera scored 5 goals in a 5–1 victory over Akhmat Grozny. He became the first player to score 5 goals in a game since Russian Premier League was formed in 2002, and the third overall player to do so in the history of the Russian top-tier championship (following Viktor Panchenko in 1994 and Oleg Veretennikov in 1998). ^[14] He finished the season as league's top scorer with 21 goals as Zenit came back on the last match day to claim their sixth consecutive title. ^[15]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 2 June 2024 ^[16]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup [lower-alpha 1]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Deportivo Cali	2015	Categoría Primera A	23	8	10	3	–		–		33	11
	2016	Categoría Primera A	20	4	0	0	6	2	–		26	6
	Total		43	12	10	3	6	2	0	0	59	17
Ajax	2016–17	Eredivisie	17	2	3	2	9	0	–		29	4
	2017–18	Eredivisie	4	1	1	0	0	0	–		5	1
	Total		21	3	4	2	9	0	0	0	34	5
Jong Ajax	2016–17	Eerste Divisie	17	11	–		–		–		17	11
	2017–18	Eerste Divisie	29	18	–		–		–		29	18
	Total		46	29	0	0	0	0	0	0	46	29
Groningen	2018–19	Eredivisie	10	1	0	0	–		–		10	1
Jong Groningen	2018–19	Derde Divisie	2	1	–		–		–		2	1
Racing	2018–19	Argentine Primera División	0	0	–		0	0	2 [lower-alpha 2]	0	2	0
	2019–20	Argentine Primera División	0	0	–		–		–		0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	0
Belenenses SAD	2019–20	Primeira Liga	29	4	1	0	–		–		30	4
	2020–21	Primeira Liga	32	10	4	1	–		–		36	11
	2021–22	Primeira Liga	2	0	–		–		1 [lower-alpha 3]	0	3	0
	Total		63	14	5	1	0	0	1	0	69	15
Sochi	2021–22	Russian Premier League	22	14	1	0	–		–		23	14
Zenit Saint Petersburg	2022–23	Russian Premier League	26	2	6	3	–		1 [lower-alpha 4]	0	33	5
	2023–24	Russian Premier League	28	21	9	3	–		1 [lower-alpha 4]	0	38	24
	Total		54	23	15	6	–		2	0	71	29
Career total			261	97	35	12	15	2	5	0	316	111

1. Includes Copa Colombia, KNVB Cup, Taça de Portugal, Russian Cup
2. Appearances in Copa de la Superliga
3. Appearance in Taça da Liga
4. Appearance in Russian Super Cup

International

As of match played 22 March 2024 ^[17]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Colombia	2023	2	1
	2024	1	0
Total		3	1

Scores and results list Colombia's goal tally first. ^[18]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	16 June 2023	Mestalla Stadium, Valencia, Spain	Iraq	1–0	1–0	Friendly

Honours

Ajax

• UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2016–17 ^[19]

Jong Ajax ^[19]

• Eerste Divisie: 2017–18

Racing Club ^[19]

• Primera División: 2018–19

Zenit Saint Petersburg

• Russian Premier League: 2022–23, ^[20] 2023–24 ^[21]
• Russian Cup: 2023–24 ^[22]
• Russian Super Cup: 2022, ^[23] 2023 ^[24]

Individual

• Russian Premier League Forward of the Season: 2021–22 ^[25]
• Russian Premier League top scorer: 2023–24 (21 goals). ^[15]

References

1. "Mateo Cassierra". FC Zenit Saint Petersburg. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
2. "Ajax rondt transfer Colombiaan Cassierra af" (in Dutch). NU.nl. 17 June 2016.
3. "Ajax sign Mateo Cassierra". Ajax. 17 June 2016.
4. "Ajax rondt komst miljoenenaankoop Casierra af" (in Dutch). Voetbal International. 17 June 2016.
5. "Cassierra tweede Colombiaan bij Ajax" (in Dutch). Ajax. 17 June 2016.
6. "Cassierra laat zich uit over 'eeuwige rol' bij Jong Ajax" (in Dutch). SoccerNews.nl. 2 May 2018.
7. Ajax laat Sierhuis en Matusiwa in kelder Eredivisie minuten maken (Dutch). Voetbal International. 27 December 2018.
8. "Ajax verhuurt Mateo Cassierra aan Racing Club". AFC Ajax. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
9. "Ряды "Сочи" пополнил латиноамериканский форвард!" (in Russian). PFC Sochi. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
10. "Агаларов — лучший бомбардир РПЛ сезона-2021/2022. Дзюба и Смолов — в топ-5" (in Russian). Championat. 21 May 2022.
11. "Матео Кассьерра — в «Зените»!". fc-zenit.ru (in Russian). FC Zenit Saint Petersburg. 30 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
12. "14-й гол Кассьерры в сезоне принёс «Зениту» победу над «Пари НН»" [14th goal of the season by Cassiera brings Zenit a victory over Pari NN] (in Russian). Russian Premier League. 9 December 2023.
13. "«Зенит» продлил контракт с Матео Кассьеррой" (in Russian). Zenit St. Petersburg. 2 February 2024.
14. "Матео Кассьерра – автор первого пента-трика в истории РПЛ" (in Russian). Russian Premier League. 19 May 2024.
15. "Матео Кассьерра – лучший бомбардир Мир РПЛ-2023/24" (in Russian). Russian Premier League. 25 May 2024.
16. Mateo Cassierra at Soccerway
17. "Cassierra, Mateo". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
18. Mateo Cassierra at National-Football-Teams.com
19. "2016/17: United win it for Manchester". UEFA. 30 May 2017.
20. ""Зенит" обеспечил 5-е чемпионство подряд благодаря победе над "Спартаком"" [Zenit secured 5th title in a row thanks to a win over Spartak]. Russian Premier League. 7 May 2023.
21. ""Зенит" завоевал золотые медали Мир РПЛ в шестом сезоне подряд!" [Zenit won the gold medals of MIR RPL for the sixth season in a row!] (in Russian). Russian Premier League. 25 May 2024.
22. "Суперфинал FONBET Кубка России LIVE. Гол Алипа приносит "Зениту" победу" [Russian Cup Superfinal: Alip goal gives Zenit the victory] (in Russian). Russian Football Union. 2 June 2024.
23. "«Зенит» обыграл «Спартак» в Петербурге и завоевал третий OLIMPBET Суперкубок подряд" (in Russian). Russian Premier League. 9 July 2022.
24. "2023 Russian Super Cup game report" (in Russian). Russian Football Union. 15 July 2023.
25. "Агаларов, Сафонов и Захарян – в списке «33 лучших футболистов» сезона". Российский футбольный союз (in Russian). Retrieved 2023-09-14.

External links

• Mateo Cassierra at WorldFootball.net