Johan Vonlanthen

Johan Vonlanthen
Personal information
Full name	Johan Vonlanthen Benavídez
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Right winger
Team information
Current team	Free agent
Youth career
1998–1999	Flamatt
1999–2001	Young Boys
Senior career*
Years	Team
2001–2003	Young Boys
2003–2006	PSV
2005	→ Brescia (loan)
2005–2006	→ NAC Breda (loan)
2006–2011	Red Bull Salzburg
2009–2010	→ Zürich (loan)
International career‡
2004–	Switzerland
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 May 2011; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 February 2010

Johan Vonlanthen Benavídez (born 1 February 1986) is a Swiss footballer who plays as a winger for the Swiss national team. His stepfather is a Swiss national, giving him the right to play for that country.

He is training at Itagüí Ditaires waiting to sign his contract.^[1]^[2]

Club career

Vonlanthen played as a junior for BSC Young Boys in Switzerland. In the 2001–02 season, he made his debut as a 16 year-old in the Swiss Super League starting eight games and appearing once as a substitute. In the summer of 2003, he was transferred to the Dutch Eredivisie club PSV Eindhoven. He made a good initial impression and helped PSV qualified for the UEFA Champions League. After a good first season, he began to lose form and as a consequence was loaned out to Italian side Brescia Calcio for the last 6 months of the 2004/05 season. He was again loaned out to NAC Breda for the 2005/06 season.

At the start of the 2006/07 season Vonlanthen transferred to Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga. On 13 July 2009 FC Zürich signed the Swiss forward on a season long loan deal. The move was not made permanent, and Vonlanthen returned to Salzburg for the start of the 2010/11 season. He is currently without a squad number at the club.

International career

On 6 June 2004, Vonlanthen made his senior debut for the Swiss National Team against Liechtenstein. He came on as a substitute in the 81st minute to replace Alexander Frei. Switzerland went on to beat Liechtenstein 1-0.

At Euro 2004, Vonlanthen became the second youngest player to play in the tournament when he came on as a substitute against England. On 21 June 2004, Vonlanthen became the youngest scorer ever in the European Championships when he equalised against France, beating Wayne Rooney's record - which had only been set four days before - by three months.^[3]

Since the European Championships in Portugal, Vonlanthen has managed to hold a regular position in the national team and as well as playing frequently in the under 21's side. He was part of the squad that very narrowly lost out to Spain on a place in the 2009 European Championships. He had scored the equalizer in the first leg in a 2-1 win but the Spanish came back to win 3-1 in the second leg and 4-3 on aggregate.

Vonlanthen was called up to the Swiss squad to play in 2006 World Cup, but was unable to participate due to a hamstring injury. He was also called up for Euro 2008.

Career statistics

Template:Football player statistics 1 Template:Football player statistics 2

References

^ Golgolgol.net (ed.). "Johan Vonlanthen ya entrena con Itagüí". Retrieved 16 August 2011.
^ Futbolred.com (ed.). "Johan Volanthen ya empezó a entrenar con las 'Águilas' de Itagüí". Retrieved 16 August 2011.
^ Euro 2008 team preview No1: Switzerland | Football | guardian.co.uk

External links

Template:Persondata

[1] Golgolgol.net (ed.). "Johan Vonlanthen ya entrena con Itagüí". Retrieved 16 August 2011.

[2] Futbolred.com (ed.). "Johan Volanthen ya empezó a entrenar con las 'Águilas' de Itagüí". Retrieved 16 August 2011.

[3] Euro 2008 team preview No1: Switzerland | Football | guardian.co.uk

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