Cristian Daniel "Chicho" Arango Duque (born 9 March 1995) is a Colombian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

and the Colombia national team.

Club career

Early career

Arango began his professional career with

Envigado Envigado () is a city and municipality due South of Medellín, Colombia in the department of Antioquia Department, Antioquia. It is located in the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley. It borders El Poblado, Medellín to the north, Sabaneta, An ...

in 2012, aged 17. For the 2015–16 season, he was loaned out to Valencia B, Valencia's reserve team in the third division, where he scored eight goals in 26 games. At the end of the season, he returned to Envigado to play the 2016 Finalizacion season, where he played in all 20 games, scoring four goals. In January 2017, his move to

Millonarios Millonarios Fútbol Club, known simply as Millonarios, is a Colombian professional football club based in Bogotá, that competes in the Categoría Primera A, top flight of football in Colombia. It is one of the most successful and iconic clubs i ...

was made official. He played with them in the 2017 Apertura and the

2017 Copa Libertadores The 2017 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores (officially the Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores Bridgestone 2017 for sponsorship reasons) was the 58th edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores (also referred to as the ''Copa Libertadores''), South America's premier c ...

, and although he did not get much playing time due to injuries, his performance interested many European clubs.

Portugal

On 28 June 2017, he was confirmed as a Benfica player, signing a five-year contract After playing the preseason with the club, the board decided to send him on loan. In August 2017, Desportivo Aves signed him on a one-year loan. On 10 January 2018, he scored two important goals in a match against Rio Ave; first, he scored in the last minute of the game to tie the score at 3-3 and send the game into extra time. He added another in extra time, and scored his penalty in the shootout to help his club qualify to the semi-finals of the

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

. Aves later won the cup, defeating

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, although Arango did not play. On 9 July 2018, he was loaned out again, this time to

Tondela Tondela () is a concelho, municipality in the Centro, Portugal, central Portugal, Portuguese subregion of Dão-Lafões. The population in 2011 was 28,946, in an area of 371.22 km2. History Local writer and intellectual Amadeu Ferraz de Carv ...

Return to Millonarios

On 10 July 2019, Arango returned to Millonarios, signing a three-year contract.

Los Angeles FC

On 2 August 2021, Arango joined

club

Los Angeles FC Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. It was establi ...

. Arango made an immediate impact, scoring 14 goals in 17 league matches, and was named Newcomer of the Year.

C.F. Pachuca

In February 2023 Chicho joined

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

Mexican side team C.F. Pachuca from

LAFC Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) is an American professional soccer club based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. It was established on October 30, 2014, and began play in the ...

on a three year contract. Arango played the Clausura 2023 with the Tuzos where he was active in 11 games, five as a starter, and scored five goals.

Real Salt Lake

On 10 June 2023, Major League Soccer club

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

signed Arango through 2025 with an option for 2026. He made his first appearance for the club on 8 July 2023, scoring the opening goal in a 4–0 home win over Orlando City. On 20 February 2024, it was announced that Arango would be the new

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of Real Salt Lake. On 30 March Arango scored a second-half hat-trick, with one of the goals being a penalty, in a 3–1 victory over St. Louis City. On 1 June Arango scored another hat trick in a 5–1 win against

Austin FC Austin FC is an American professional soccer club based in Austin, Texas. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 2018, the club began play in the 2021 season. Their home stadium is Q ...

San Jose Earthquakes

On 11 January 2025 it was announced that Arango had been traded to San Jose Earthquakes from Real Salt Lake, for $1.4 million in GAM (General Allocation Money) and one international roster spot for the 2026 season.

International career

On 16 November 2021, Arango made his senior national team debut in a World Cup qualifier against

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Aves *

: 2017–18 Los Angeles FC *

MLS Cup MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 199 ...

Individual * MLS Newcomer of the Year:

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual Association football, soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from another league. MLS initially ado ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Arango, Cristian 1995 births Living people Footballers from Medellín Men's association football forwards Colombian men's footballers Colombia men's international footballers Colombian expatriate men's footballers Envigado F.C. players Valencia CF Mestalla footballers Millonarios F.C. players S.L. Benfica footballers C.D. Aves players C.D. Tondela players Los Angeles FC players C.F. Pachuca players Real Salt Lake players San Jose Earthquakes players Segunda División B players Categoría Primera A players Primeira Liga players Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Colombian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Major League Soccer players 21st-century Colombian sportsmen Designated Players (MLS)