Johan Vonlanthen

Johan Vonlanthen

Vonlanthen playing for Switzerland in 2006
Personal information
Full name	Johan Jarlín Vonlanthen Benavídez
Date of birth	(1986-02-01) 1 February 1986
Place of birth	Santa Marta, Colombia
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Right winger
Club information
Current club	Schaffhausen
Number	12
Youth career
1998–1999	FC Flamatt
1999–2001	Young Boys
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2001–2003	Young Boys	27	(2)
2003–2006	PSV	29	(5)
2005	→ Brescia (loan)	9	(0)
2005–2006	→ NAC Breda (loan)	32	(6)
2006–2011	Red Bull Salzburg	85	(11)
2009–2010	→ Zürich (loan)	27	(10)
2011–2012	Itagüí	6	(0)
2012	Wohlen	0	(0)
2013–	Grasshoppers	5	(0)
2014	→ Schaffhausen (loan)	1	(0)
National team
2001	Switzerland U-15[1]	4	(1)
2004	Switzerland U-21[1]	3	(1)
2004–2009	Switzerland	40	(7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Johan Vonlanthen Benavídez (born 1 February 1986 in Santa Marta, Colombia) is a Swiss footballer who plays as a winger for Swiss Challenge League side FC Schaffhausen on loan from Grasshoppers. His stepfather is a Swiss national, giving him the right to play for that country.

He announced the end of his active career after playing for Itagüí of the Colombian Primera División.^[2] However, he came back out of retirement on May 2013 and signed on June for Grasshoppers. He currently plays for FC Schaffhausen

Club career

Vonlanthen at Salzburg

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 six 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.

Retirement and return

On 30 May 2012, Vonlanthen announced his retirement at age 26. According to him, he 'could not face the prospect of undergoing a knee operation'.^[3]

However, on 13 June 2013, Vonlanthen came out of retirement to join Grasshoppers, signing a one-year deal with an option for a further two years.^[4]

On 27 December 2013, Vonlanthen was loaned out to Swiss second division side Schaffhausen, due to a lack of playtime at Grasshoppers.^[5]

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.^[6]

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

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Johan Vonlanthen.

• Johan Vonlanthen at National-Football-Teams.com
• www.psvweb.nl profile (Dutch)

Switzerland squads v t e Switzerland squad – UEFA Euro 2004 1 Stiel 2 Haas 3 Berner 4 Henchoz 5 Murat Yakin 6 Vogel 7 Cabanas 8 Wicky 9 Frei 10 Hakan Yakin 11 Chapuisat 12 Zuberbühler 13 Zwyssig 14 Magnin 15 Gygax 16 Celestini 17 Spycher 18 Huggel 19 Barnetta 20 Müller 21 Rama 22 Vonlanthen 23 Roth Coach: Kuhn v t e Switzerland squad – UEFA Euro 2008 1 Benaglio 2 Djourou 3 Magnin 4 Senderos 5 Lichtsteiner 6 Huggel 7 Cabanas 8 Inler 9 Frei (c) 10 Yakin 11 Streller 12 Derdiyok 13 Grichting 14 Gygax 15 G. Fernandes 16 Barnetta 17 Spycher 18 Zuberbühler 19 Behrami 20 Müller 21 Jakupović 22 Vonlanthen 23 Degen Coach: Kuhn