Christian Mangaron Rontini (born 20 July 1999), also known as Yasir Ali, is a 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

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Thai League 1 The Thai League (, pronounced as ') or Thai League 1 (, pronounced as '), often referred to as T1, is the highest level of the Thai football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Thai L ...

club Nongbua Pitchaya. Born in Italy, he represents the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

at international level.

Personal life

Rontini decided to convert to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

on 5 September 2023 at the Al-Azhom Mosque,

Tangerang Tangerang (Sundanese script, Sundanese: , ) is the List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city with the largest population in the province of Banten, Indonesia. Located on the western border of Jakarta, it is the sixth largest city proper in ...

. After converting to Islam, he changed his name to Yasir Ali. Strong support for his conversion to Islam came from Javlon Guseynov, a player from

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

when both of them played for

Persita Tangerang Persatuan Sepakbola Indonesia Kabupaten Tangerang ( 'Indonesian Football Association of Tangerang'), commonly known as Persita is an Indonesian professional football club based in Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia. The club currently competes in the ...

. On 28 October 2023, Rontini married his girlfriend, Amanda Gonzales who is the daughter of former Indonesia national team player

Cristian Gonzáles Cristian Gérard Alfaro Gonzáles (born 30 August 1976), also known as Abubakar Mustafa Habibi or Mustafa Habibi, is a former Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. He was top scorer in Liga In ...

. He officially married Amanda in a wedding ceremony held at the Royal Ambarrukmo pavilion,

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...

Club career

Youth

Rontini is a former youth player of Floria 2000.

Sangiovannese

In 2018, Rontini joined Serie D/E club Sangiovannese on a one-year deal. After an impressive season, Rontini renewed his contract with Sangiovannese that kept him with the club until June 2020.

Azkals Development Team

In October 2021, Rontini signed with the

Azkals Development Team The Azkals Development Team, commonly referred to as ADT, is a Philippine developmental football club that last competed in Philippines Football League, before officially withdrawing from the competition in May 2023. Founded in 2020, the team ...

(ADT) of the

Philippines Football League The Philippines Football League (PFL) is a men's professional association football, football league in the Philippines. Sanctioned by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) and organized by Liga Futbol Inc., it is the country's Football in t ...

(PFL).

Madura United

In July 2024, he was officially registered in

Madura United Madura United Football Club is an Indonesian professional football club. The club is based in Pamekasan, Madura, East Java. They currently play in the Liga 1. The current form of the club was established on 10 January 2016; the team's lin ...

squad for the 2024–25 Liga 1 season after playing at

the previous season.

International career

Rontini was born in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

to an Italian father and a Filipino mother, which made him eligible to represent either

or the

at the international level.

Philippines U-22

Rontini was part of the Philippines U-22 squad that competed at the

2019 SEA Games The 2019 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 30th Southeast Asian Games, or the 30th SEA Games, and commonly known as Philippines 2019, were the 30th edition of the SEA Games, Southeast Asian Games, a biennial regional multi-sport ...

on home soil. He was included in the 20-man squad for the

2021 SEA Games The 2021 Southeast Asian Games (), officially known as the 31st Southeast Asian Games, 31st SEA Games or SEA Games 31, and also recognized as Viet Nam 2021, were the 31st edition of the Southeast Asian Games, the biennial regional multi-sport e ...

held in Vietnam. He scored his first goal for the Philippines in a 4–0 win against

Timor Leste Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

Senior team

In 2019, it was reported that Rontini received an invitation to train with the Philippines national team. He received his first call-up for the Philippines in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

China PR China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the second-most populous country after India, representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the e ...

. He replaced Curt Dizon in the 86th minute of the match where the team lost 2–0.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list the Philippines' goal tally first.''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rontini, Christian 1999 births Living people Footballers from Bagno a Ripoli Filipino Muslims Italian Muslims Converts to Islam Filipino men's footballers Philippines men's international footballers Italian men's footballers Filipino people of Italian descent Italian people of Filipino descent Men's association football midfielders ASD Sangiovannese 1927 players Azkals Development Team players Penang F.C. players Kelantan F.C. players Persita Tangerang players Madura United F.C. players Philippines Football League players Malaysia Super League players Liga 1 (Indonesia) players Christian Rontini Christian Rontini Filipino expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Malaysia Filipino expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia Expatriate men's footballers in Indonesia Filipino expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia Expatriate men's footballers in Thailand Filipino expatriate sportspeople in Thailand Competitors at the 2019 SEA Games Competitors at the 2021 SEA Games SEA Games competitors for the Philippines 21st-century Italian sportsmen 21st-century Filipino sportsmen