Christian Fernando Noboa Tello (; born 9 April 1985) is an Ecuadorian former

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 played as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

Emelec

Christian started out at Emelec.

Rubin Kazan

2007–2012

Christian was transferred in 2007 to

FC Rubin Kazan FC Rubin Kazan (; ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in the city of Kazan. They play in the Russian Premier League. Founded 1958 in Russia, in 1958, Rubin played its first-ever top flight season in 2003 Russia ...

of the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

. In 2008, he helped Rubin win its first title of the RPL in history. In 2009, he played in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

. On 29 September 2010, as a captain, Noboa helped Rubin Kazan obtain a draw against

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

in a Champions League match by scoring his side's only goal from a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

Dynamo Moscow

2012

On 26 January 2012 Noboa signed with

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (), is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first institution created from the All-Union Dynamo Sports Club. Dynamo Mosco ...

for £8 million. His first match for Dynamo was on 5 March, in a 0–1 home loss to Anzhi Makhachkala. He played in 10 league matches for Dynamo in the 2012 season.

2012–13

His first match of the season was on 21 July, in 0–1 away loss to Volga Nizhny Novgorod. His first goal for club and season was on 25 August, in a 3–2 away win against

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three occasions; the Soviet Cup twice; and the Russian Cup (football), Russian Cup a record ...

, which he later celebrated with tears after not having scored for a while. His next goal came in a 1–2 home loss to Kuban Krasnodar. His third goal of the first half of the season came in a 5–1 away win against league leaders

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

. On 5 April Noboa scored a free-kick goal, in a 1–1 away draw against FK Amkar Perm'. On 21 April, Noboa scored the first goal in a 3–3 away draw against Anzhi.

2013–14

On 3 August he scored the winning goal against Terek Grozny (1–0).

2014–15

It was confirmed on 29 December 2014 that Noboa would not renegotiate terms with his club and is open to offers. On 31 December, the official site of

FC Dynamo Moscow FC Dynamo Moscow (''FC Dynamo Moskva'', , ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Dynamo returned to the Russian Premier League for the 2017–18 season after one season in the second-tier Russian Footba ...

issued statement thanking Noboa for his services and wishing him good luck.

P.A.O.K.

On 7 January 2015, it was confirmed that Noboa would be joining

PAOK FC PAOK FC (, ), short for "Pan-Thessalonian Sports club, Athletic Club of Constantinople, Constantinopolitans" (), and commonly known as PAOK Thessaloniki, PAOK Salonika or simply PAOK, is a Greek professional Association football, football cl ...

on a 2.5 year contract. In an interview given to a radio station in Ecuador, Noboa revealed that his buy-out clause at PAOK is in the region of €1.5 million. Even though there is not any formal interest yet, Noboa hinted that he could be tempted to move away from PAOK if a Mexican club makes an approach.''“I like the prospect of playing in Mexico. I hope that something concrete may come up. I would be open to play in a club there,”'' Noboa has reportedly said. On 8 January, he made his debut with the club in a 1–0 home win against

Platanias Platanias (Greek: Πλατανιάς) is a village and municipality on the Greek island of Crete. It is located about west from the city of Chania and east of Kissamos, on Chania Bay. The seat of the municipality is the village Gerani. Platani ...

, and scored his first goal on 21 February in a 3–1 away win against

Veria Veria (; ), officially transliterated Veroia, historically also spelled Beroea or Berea, is a city in Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the regional unit of Imathia. It is located north-nor ...

. He was in contention for the first two games in the Super League play-offs as he is set to travel to Ecuador late in May in order to start preparations for the

Copa America Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Child Online Protection Act The Child Online Protection Act (COPA) was a United States law, law in the United States, United States of America, passed in 1998 with the declared purpose of ...

. The Ecuadorian midfielder revealed that he will fly to his homeland on 27 May in order to be in contention with his National Team ahead of the tournament in Latin America which goes underway two weeks later.

Rostov

On 29 July 2015, Noboa signed a two-year contract with

side

FC Rostov FC Rostov () is a Russian professionalism in association football, professional football club based in Rostov-on-Don. The club competes in the Russian Premier League, playing their home matches at the Rostov Arena. History Soviet era (1930-199 ...

. He scored a goal on his Rostov debut in a 1–0 win over

FC Amkar Perm FC Amkar Perm ( ) is a professional association football, football club. Originally founded in 1994, it is based in the city of Perm, Russia, Perm. It was a participant in second-tier football from 1995 and in the Russian Premier League from 2004 ...

on 28 August 2015.

Zenit

On 4 June 2017, Noboa signed a three-year deal with

FC Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (, ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, according to some Russian sources), the club p ...

Return to Rubin Kazan

On 18 February 2018, Noboa returned to Rubin on loan from Zenit until the end of the 2017–18 season.

Sochi

On 5 August 2019, he signed a 2-year contract with

newcomers

PFC Sochi Football Club Sochi (), is a Russian professional football club based in Sochi. The club is playing its home matches at the 47,000-capacity Fisht Stadium. History FC Sochi was founded on 4 July 2018 after the relocation of FC Dynamo Saint Pete ...

, joining several other former Zenit players on the squad. As of 25 August 2020, Noboa scored nine goals for FC Sochi, including a late goal against

FC Tambov FC Tambov () was a Russian football team from Tambov. It last played in the Russian Premier League, having won promotion to the top division of Russian football in 2019, before dissolving in 2021. History FC Tambov started out on the professional ...

on the matchday 5. On 19 January 2023, Noboa extended his contract with Sochi for the 2023–24 season, with an option for 2024–25 season.

Return to Emelec

On 24 January 2024, Sochi announced Noboa's return to Emelec.

International career

Noboa was called up to the Ecuador national team for a series of two unofficial friendly matches in late 2006 against Spanish provincial sides. Under Sixto Vizuete's current management, he made his official debut against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

in a

2010 World Cup qualifiers Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oc ...

. In the match, Noboa scored a wonderful goal to tie the game in the 89th minute for his first international goal. Noboa may have saved Ecuador's qualification dreams as he scored his second goal in as many games 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 ...

on 1 April 2009. On 7 June 2009, in a World Cup qualification match he helped Ecuador beat

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

2–1 in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Ecuador's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ecuador goal''.

Personal life

Noboa was married to Russian Olga Romanova, with whom he had two sons, Christopher and Lucas.

Honours

;Rubin Kazan *

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

* Russian Super Cup:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

;Zenit Saint Petersburg *

: 2018–19 ;Individual *

Central Midfielder of the Season: 2020–21 *

Top assist provider: 2020–21 *

best player (as chosen by the

Russian Football Union The Russian Football Union (, ''Rossiyskiy Futbolnyy Soyuz'' or RFS) is the official governing body of association football in the Russian Federation. With headquarters in Moscow, it organizes Russian amateur and professional football, includi ...

): 2021–22

References

External links

Christian Noboa profile
at

Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol * Federación, Entre Ríos, Argentina * Federación Department, Argentina * Federación Municipality, Falcón State Falcón State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Coro. The state was named after Juan Crisóstomo ...

Profile & Statistics
at Guardian's Stats Centre {{DEFAULTSORT:Noboa, Christian 1985 births Footballers from Guayaquil Living people Men's association football midfielders Ecuadorian men's footballers 21st-century Ecuadorian sportsmen Ecuador men's international footballers C.S. Emelec footballers FC Rubin Kazan players FC Dynamo Moscow players PAOK FC players FC Rostov players FC Zenit Saint Petersburg players PFC Sochi players Ecuadorian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Ecuadorian Serie A players Russian Premier League players Super League Greece players 2011 Copa América players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 Copa América players Copa América Centenario players 2021 Copa América players