Cristian Gamboa

Cristian Gamboa

Gamboa with Costa Rica at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name	Cristian Esteban Gamboa Luna
Date of birth	(1989-10-24) 24 October 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth	Liberia, Costa Rica
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) [1]
Position(s)	Right-back
Team information
Current team	VfL Bochum
Number	2
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2006–2010	Municipal Liberia	68	(0)
2010–2011	Fredrikstad	27	(1)
2011–2012	Copenhagen	0	(0)
2012	→ Rosenborg (loan)	10	(0)
2013–2014	Rosenborg	30	(0)
2014–2016	West Bromwich Albion	11	(0)
2016–2019	Celtic	20	(0)
2019–	VfL Bochum	122	(3)
International career‡
2010–2020	Costa Rica	78	(3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 2 November 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 13 November 2020

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Gamboaand the second or maternal family name is Luna.

Cristian Esteban Gamboa Luna (born 24 October 1989), commonly known as Cristian Gamboa, is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Bundesliga club VfL Bochum.

Gamboa is an international player for Costa Rica and played in the team at the 2014 FIFA World Cup that reached the quarter-finals.

Club career

Gamboa was born in Liberia, Costa Rica. At age 15, he was deemed not good enough to play for Costa Rican clubs Saprissa and Alajuelense. ^[2] He played from the 2006–2007 season for hometown club Municipal Liberia. He then moved abroad and joined Norwegian side Fredrikstad in summer 2010 ^[3] and played there for two half seasons, before he joined Copenhagen in summer 2011. ^[4] He made his debut in a 0–1 loss against Standard Liège in the UEFA Europa League.

Gamboa joined Rosenborg on a three-month-loan deal in August 2012 with the Norwegian club having an option to buy. ^[5] He made his debut on 3 September 2012 in a Tippeligaen match away at Stabæk, winning 2–0. ^[6] By November he had impressed sufficiently in the ten games he played in for Rosenborg for them to offer him a permanent deal, and he signed five-year contract with the club. ^{[7] [8]}

In late July 2014, English Premier League club West Bromwich Albion agreed to sign Gamboa for a fee estimated in the media as around £2 million. Because the player had insufficient recent international appearances for a work permit to be granted automatically, completion of the deal was dependent on a successful appeal to the Football Association, which was confirmed on 5 August. The player signed a three-year contract. ^{[9] [10] [11]}

He made his debut on 26 August 2014, coming on as a second-half substitute in a League cup tie against Oxford United. ^[12] He made his League debut a few days later against Swansea City, after which further substitute appearances followed. ^[12] Gamboa finally made a starting appearance on 4 October in a 2–1 loss away at Liverpool in the league. Despite the defeat, he was reported as having turned in an impressive performance. ^{[13] [14] [15] [16]} It was however to be Gamboa's only league start that season, ^[12] and he fell further out of favour when manager Alan Irvine was sacked in December ^[17] and replaced by Tony Pulis. ^[18] From January 2015 onwards to the end of the season, Gamboa only played one minute of first team football, coming on as an injury-time substitute in a fifth round FA Cup tie against West Ham in February 2015. ^{[12] [18]}

Gamboa continued to struggle to hold down a first team place in his second season in England, playing only two games early on in the season. He then went five months without a first team appearance, before making a return to the side in February 2016 in an FA Cup fourth round replay tie against Peterborough United. ^[19]

On 30 August 2016, Gamboa signed for Scottish Premiership club Celtic on a three-year deal. ^[20]

On 27 August 2019, Gamboa joined VfL Bochum on a two-year deal. ^[21] In the 2022 season, he scored once in a 4-2 win against FC Bayern Munich.

International career

He participated in the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup for Costa Rica ^[22] where they finished in fourth place. He has represented Costa Rica in other international games. ^{[23] [24] [25]}

He made his debut for the Costa Rica national football team in January 2010, in a friendly match against Argentina. Gamboa scored his first goal in a 7–0 home win against Guyana in a 2014 World Cup qualifier. He was selected for the Costa Rica national team against part at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and played in all five games, reaching the quarter-final where they were eventually knocked out on penalty kicks by the Netherlands. ^[26]

In May 2018 he was selected in Costa Rica's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. ^[27]

Personal life

Gamboa is married to Melissa Salazar and they have 3 children, Felipe, Julián and Bruna. ^[28]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 2 November 2024 ^[12]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Municipal Liberia	2006-07	Primera División	16	0	0	0	–		–		–		16	0
	2007-08		26	0	0	0	–		–		–		26	0
	2008-09		13	0	0	0	–		–		–		13	0
	2009-10		13	0	0	0	–		–		–		13	0
	Total		68	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	68	0
Fredrikstad	2010	Adeccoligaen	11	1	0	0	–	–	–		3	0	14	1
	2011	Tippeligaen	16	0	1	0	–	–	–		–		17	0
	Total		27	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	31	1
Copenhagen	2011–12	Superliga	0	0	1	0	–		0	0	–		1	0
	2012–13		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Rosenborg	2012	Tippeligaen	10	0	0	0	–		6	0	–		16	0
	2013		28	0	2	0	–		4	0	–		34	0
	2014		2	0	0	0	–		0	0	–		2	0
	Total		40	0	2	0	0	0	10	0	0	0	52	0
West Bromwich Albion	2014–15	Premier League	10	0	1	0	3	0	–		–		14	0
	2015–16		1	0	1	0	1	0	–		–		3	0
	Total		11	0	2	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	17	0
Celtic	2016–17	Scottish Premiership	17	0	1	0	1	0	2	0	–		21	0
	2017–18		2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	–		3	0
	2018–19		1	0	0	0	1	0	5	0	–		7	0
	Total		20	0	1	0	2	0	8	0	0	0	31	0
VfL Bochum	2019–20	2. Bundesliga	26	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	–		26	1
	2020–21	2. Bundesliga	29	0	3	0	–		–		–		32	0
	2021–22	Bundesliga	23	1	4	0	–		–		–		27	1
	2022–23	Bundesliga	19	0	2	0	–		–		–		21	0
	2023–24	Bundesliga	22	0	1	0	–		–		0	0	23	0
	2024–25	Bundesliga	3	1	0	0	–		–		0	0	3	1
	Total		122	3	10	0	–		–		0	0	132	3
Career Total			288	4	17	0	6	0	18	0	3	0	332	4

International

As of 13 November 2020 ^[29]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Costa Rica	2010	4	0
	2011	4	0
	2012	3	1
	2013	11	0
	2014	10	0
	2015	12	1
	2016	7	1
	2017	11	0
	2018	11	0
	2019	4	0
	2020	1	0
Total		78	3

Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Gamboa goal.

List of international goals scored by Cristian Gamboa

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	16 October 2012	Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, San José	Guyana	2–0	7–0	2014 World Cup qualifier
2	13 November 2015	Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, San José	Haiti	1–0	1–0	2018 World Cup qualifier
3	28 May 2016	Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, San José	Venezuela	2–1	2–1	Friendly

Honours

Municipal Liberia

• Costa Rican Primera División: Clausura 2009 ^[29]

Copenhagen

• Danish Cup: 2011–12 ^[30]

Celtic

• Scottish Premiership: 2016–17, 2017–18
• Scottish League Cup: 2016–17, ^[31] 2018–19
• Scottish Cup: 2016–17

VfL Bochum

• 2. Bundesliga: 2020–21

Costa Rica

• CONCACAF Gold Cup: Bronze-medal 2017
• Copa Centroamericana: Runner-up 2011 ^[32]
• FIFA U-20 World Cup: Fourth-place 2009
• CONCACAF U-20 Championship: 2009

Individual

• CONCACAF Best XI: 2017 ^[33]

References

1. "2018 FIFA World Cup: List of players" (PDF). FIFA. 24 June 2018. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
2. Cristian Gamboa fue descartado por la Liga y Saprissa Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine - Al Día (in Spanish)
3. Cristian Gamboa se va a préstamo al Fredrikstad Archived 20 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine - Nación (in Spanish)
4. Cristian Gamboa jugará en el FC Copenhague danés - Nación (in Spanish)
5. Sagbakken, Ole Kristian (23 August 2012). "Gamboa klar for Rosenborg". Aften Posten (in Norwegian). Retrieved 30 August 2016.
6. "Christian Gamboa". Altom Fotball. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
7. Vikan, Tore (3 November 2012). "Gamboa blir i fem år". Trønderavisa (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
8. Stenseth, Jørgen (8 November 2012). "Gamboa med 5-årskontrakt". RBK. Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
9. "West Brom face snag on Cristian Gamboa". Express & Star . 30 July 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
10. "West Brom: Jason Davidson and Cristian Gamboa join Baggies". BBC Sport. 5 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
11. "Premier League Player Profile Cristian Gamboa". Premier League. Barclays Premier League. 2015. Archived from the original on 29 March 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
12. "C. Gamboa". Soccerway. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
13. "Liverpool v West Bromwich Albion, Premier League: as it happened". The Telegraph. 4 October 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
14. Dick, Brian (4 October 2014). "Liverpool 2 West Bromwich Albion 1 - Brian Dick's on-the-whistle report with stats and pictures". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
15. "Cristian Gamboa warning for Andre Wisdom". Express & Star. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
16. Dick Brian (7 October 2014). "West Bromwich Albion defender reveals his dream to play against Manchester United". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
17. "Alan Irvine: West Brom sack manager after Stoke defeat". BBC Sport. 30 December 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
18. Jones, Dean (14 March 2015). "West Brom's Cristian Gamboa reckons he is TOO SHORT to be picked by new boss Tony Pulis". The Mirror. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
19. Suart, Paul (18 February 2016). "West Brom: Tony Pulis cheers me up, says Cristian Gamboa". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
20. McClymont, Scott (30 August 2016). "Celtic complete deal for Costa Rica international Cristian Gamboa". STV Sport. Archived from the original on 2 September 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
21. "VfL verpflichtet Cristian Gamboa" (in German). VfL Bochum. 27 August 2019. Archived from the original on 27 August 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
22. "FIFA U-20 World Cup Egypt 2009 List of Players" (PDF). FIFA . Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
23. "Slovakia beats Costa Rica 3–0 in World Cup warmup". Kitsap Sun. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
24. "Valbuena nets winner as France beat Costa Rica". Gulf News . Archived from the original on 22 September 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
25. "France v Costa Rica – 26th May 2010". Sky Sports . Retrieved 9 June 2010.
26. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 30 June 2014.
27. Arnold, Jon (14 May 2018). "Keylor Navas & six MLS players named in Costa Rica's 23-man World Cup squad". Goal. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
28. "Esperan a Felipe". Archived from the original on 5 August 2017.
29. "Cristian Gamboa". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
30. "Horsens vs. København - 17 May 2012". Uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
31. English, Tom (27 November 2016). "Aberdeen 0–3 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
32. "Copa Centroamericana 2011 (UNCAF Nations Cup)". RSSSF . Retrieved 30 January 2017.
33. "2017 CONCACAF Award Winners Announced". CONCACAF. 19 December 2017. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.

External links

• Cristian Gamboa at National-Football-Teams.com
• 2014 World Cup profile - FIFA
• F.C. Copenhagen statistics
• Profile at Football-Lineups.com