Cristian Arrieta

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Cristian Arrieta
Cristian-Arrieta.jpg
Arrieta with the Puerto Rico Islanders in 2009
Personal information
Full name Cristian Arrieta
Date of birth (1979-09-18) September 18, 1979 (age 46)
Place of birth Orlando, Florida, United States
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Position Defender
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1997–1998 Gravellona 23 (1)
1998–2002 Mestre 79 (5)
2002–2003 Genoa 0 (0)
2003 Alessandria 9 (2)
2003–2004 Ivrea 25 (1)
2004–2005 Cervia 33 (3)
2005–2006 Lecco 26 (1)
2006–2007 Lecce 7 (0)
2008–2009 Puerto Rico Islanders 54 (17)
2010 Philadelphia Union 16 (0)
2011 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 14 (1)
2012–2014 Juventus Domo ? (?)
2014–2015 Briga ? (?)
2015–2016 F.A. Euro 5 (1)
International career
2010–2018 Puerto Rico 22 (5)
Managerial career
2014–2015 LIAC New York (U19)
2015 F.A. Euro (U14)
2016 Athletic Union (assistant)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Cristian Arrieta (born September 18, 1979) is a retired professional footballer who played as a defender and worked as a head coach for youth clubs. He represented the Puerto Rico national team, making 22 appearances and scoring five goals between 2010 and 2018. [1]

Contents

Born in Orlando, Florida, Arrieta has Spanish and Italian heritage. He began playing football in Italy at clubs in lower divisions. In 2008, he returned to North America to sign for the Puerto Rico Islanders and played under head coach Colin Clarke. During the 2008 season, the Islanders finished first in the regular-season standings and reached the league final. Arrieta was named the USL First Division Defender of the Year and was selected to the All-League First Team. [2] [3]

In February 2010, he ranked 14th in the USL First Division Top 25 of the Decade list. [4] That same year, he gained his first cap for the Puerto Rico national team. [1]

Club career

Europe

Born to a Basque-Spanish father and a Portuguese mother from Salento, [5] Arrieta grew up in Bilbao, Spain, and Borgomanero, Italy. He spent much of his early career playing in the Italian lower divisions, with over 120 appearances for clubs such as Varese, Mestre, Ivrea, and Alessandria in the Serie C2. He took part in the Italian reality show Campioni, il sogno (Champions, the dream), centered around the football club Cervia. [6]

In 2005, he signed with Lecco in Serie C1, and in 2006 he joined Lecce in Serie B, where he made seven appearances. [7] [8]

North America

In 2008, Arrieta signed with the Puerto Rico Islanders of the USL First Division. That season, the club won the Commissioner's Cup after finishing first in the regular season. Arrieta recorded seven goals and two assists and was named the USL First Division Defender of the Year and an All-League First Team selection. The Islanders reached the league final, losing 2–1 to the Vancouver Whitecaps, and advanced to the knockout stages of the CONCACAF Champions League. [9]

During the 2009 season, Arrieta scored 10 goals and made five assists, finishing fourth in the league's scoring rankings. He and the Islanders returned to the playoffs with a third-place finish. For the second consecutive year, Arrieta became an All-League selection. [10] On October 15, 2009, Arrieta was named Defender of the Year for the second consecutive season. He also received the Most Valuable Player award, becoming the second defender to do so after Marcelo Balboa in 1988. [11]

Arrieta signed with Major League Soccer club Philadelphia Union on April 5, 2010. [12] Philadelphia waived him on February 8, 2011. [13] He signed with Fort Lauderdale Strikers of the North American Soccer League on March 31, 2011. [14] Arrieta was released by the club at the end of the season.

International career

Arrieta played for the Puerto Rico national team in September 2010. [15] As a United States citizen, Arrieta became eligible to represent Puerto Rico after meeting residency requirements while playing for the Puerto Rico Islanders. [16] He won his first cup in a 2010 Caribbean Cup qualification stage match against Anguilla on October 2nd, 2010, and scored his first goal in the same competition against Saint Martin two days later. [17] [18]

Coaching career

Between 2013 and 2015, Arrieta held youth coaching roles in New York, including positions with Massapequa Soccer Club, LIAC New York, and Oceanside United. In April 2015, he joined the coaching staff of the Italian Soccer Training Exchange Program (ISTEP). [19]

Personal life

Arrieta was the winner of the Italian football reality show Campioni, il Sogno. [20]

International goals

Scores and results list Puerto Rico's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.October 4, 2010 Estadio Juan Ramón Loubriel, Bayamón, Puerto RicoFlag of France.svg  Saint Martin 2–02–0 2010 Caribbean Cup qualification
2.November 12, 2011 Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, Saint LuciaFlag of Saint Lucia.svg  Saint Lucia 1-04-0 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.February 26, 2012, Managua, NicaraguaFlag of Nicaragua.svg  Nicaragua 1-01-4 Friendly
4.June 2, 2012 Estadio Juan Ramón Loubriel, Bayamón, Puerto RicoFlag of Nicaragua.svg  Nicaragua 1-03-1Friendly
5.September 9, 2012 Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, HaitiFlag of France.svg  Saint Martin 4-09-0 2012 Caribbean Cup qualification

Honours

Club

Puerto Rico Islanders

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 "Cristian Arrieta". globalsportsarchive.com. Retrieved January 23, 2026.
  2. ↑ mlssoccer. "Cristian Arrieta | MLSsoccer.com". mlssoccer. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
  3. ↑ "Top USL-1 honors announced | FutbolBoricua.net" (in Spanish). October 15, 2009. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
  4. ↑ "USL-1 Top 25 of the Decade". USLsoccer.com. Retrieved April 22, 2010.
  5. ↑ Di Naso, Luca (May 28, 2015). "Dalla polvere di stelle di "Campioni – il Sogno" al sogno made " Stars and Stripes"". radiolab.it. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Campioni - Archivio News - La Rosa" (in Italian). Mediaset.it. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Cristian Arrieta team profile". Puerto Rico Islanders. Archived from the original on July 16, 2008. Retrieved July 17, 2008.
  8. ↑ "Cristian Arrieta. Domestic League Stats, Goals, Records". fbref.com. Retrieved January 23, 2026.
  9. ↑ "USL-1 All-League Teams announced". USLsoccer.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
  10. ↑ "USL-1 All-League Teams announced". USLsoccer.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
  11. ↑ "Top USL-1 honors announced". USLsoccer.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
  12. ↑ "Philadelphia Union Sign Cristian Arrieta | Philadelphia Union". Archived from the original on December 16, 2010.
  13. ↑ "Union Waive Defender Cristian Arrieta | Philadelphia Union". Archived from the original on February 10, 2011.
  14. ↑ "North American Soccer League". Archived from the original on April 23, 2011. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
  15. ↑ "Arrieta Called Up to Puerto Rican National Team". Philadelphia Union. September 23, 2010. Archived from the original on September 25, 2010. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  16. ↑ "Llega ayuda en la defensa de la Selección Nacional". Primerahora.com. September 20, 2010. Archived from the original on September 24, 2010. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  17. ↑ "Group A, Match 2: Puerto Rico 3 Anguilla 1". Digicel Football. October 3, 2010. Archived from the original on July 10, 2011. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  18. ↑ "Digicel Caribbean Cup Game 4: Puerto Rico 2 – Saint Martin 0". Digicel Football. October 5, 2010. Archived from the original on July 10, 2011. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  19. ↑ Cristian Arrieta at Linkedin, linkedin.com
  20. ↑ "Da 'Campioni' alla Nazionale di Porto Rico: il sogno a metà di Arrieta, tra Cervia, Inter e Lecce | Goal.com Italia". www.goal.com (in Italian). October 15, 2025. Retrieved March 17, 2026.
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