Germán Ezequiel Cano Recalde (born 2 January 1988) is an Argentine 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 striker for

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...

club Fluminense.

Career

Lanús and loans

Born in

Lomas de Zamora Lomas de Zamora is a city in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, located south of the City of Buenos Aires and within the metropolitan area of Greater Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Lomas de Zamora Partido and has a population of 111,897 ...

, Cano was a

Lanús Lanús () is the capital of Lanús Partido, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It lies just south of the capital city Buenos Aires, in the Greater Buenos Aires conurbation, metropolitan area. The List of cities in Argentina, city has a populati ...

youth graduate. He made his first team debut on 13 February 2008, coming on as a late substitute for Lautaro Acosta in a 3–1

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

home win against

Danubio Danubio Fútbol Club is a Uruguayan association football, football club based in Jardines del Hipódromo, Montevideo that currently plays in the Uruguayan Primera División. Founded in 1945, the club's home stadium is Jardines del Hipódromo Ma ...

. Cano made his Primera División debut on 17 February 2008, starting in a 1–0 away loss against

Huracán Huracán (; ; , "one legged"), often referred to as ''U Kʼux Kaj'', the "Heart of Sky", is a Kʼicheʼ Maya god of wind, storm, fire and one of the creator deities who participated in all three attempts at creating humanity. He also caused th ...

. On 29 March, he scored his first professional goal by netting his team's only in a 3–1 loss at San Lorenzo, and finished his first senior season with two goals in 11 appearances. On 21 August 2009, Cano was loaned to newly promoted side

Chacarita Juniors Club Atlético Chacarita Juniors (usually known simply as Chacarita) is an Argentine association football, football club headquartered in Villa Crespo, Buenos Aires, while the stadium is located in Villa Maipú, General San Martín Partido of Gre ...

, for one year. After featuring sparingly but suffering relegation he returned to Lanús, but after being rarely used by the latter, he was loaned out to Colón on 30 December 2010. On 26 July 2011, Cano moved abroad for the first time in his career, joining

Categoría Primera A The Categoría Primera A (), commonly referred to as Liga BetPlay Dimayor due to Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is a professional association football league in Colombia and the highest level of the Colombian ...

side

Deportivo Pereira Deportivo Pereira is a professional Colombian football team based in Pereira, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Hernán Ramírez Villegas stadium. History Early years While there are several am ...

on loan until December. The following 31 of January, he moved to Paraguay's

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

also in a temporary deal.

Independiente Medellín

On 5 July 2012, Cano agreed to a permanent contract with

Independiente Medellín Deportivo Independiente Medellín, also known as Independiente Medellín or DIM, is a Colombian professional football club (association football), football club based in Medellín that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their ...

. He was an immediate starter for the club, scoring nine goals in his first season and 15 goals in his second. In the 2014 campaign, Cano scored 27 goals and was the top goalscorer of the Clausura tournament; highlights included a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in a 4–1 away routing of Millonarios on 11 October.

Pachuca and loans

On 21 January 2015, Cano switched teams and countries again after agreeing to a contract with

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 ...

side

Pachuca Pachuca (; ), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the east-central Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Hidalgo (state), Hidalgo, located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca Municipality, Pach ...

. He made his debut for the club on 1 February, starting in a 1–0 loss at

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

, and scored his first goal on 4 March in a 1–1

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

away draw against Montreal Impact. On 11 December 2015, after failing to feature in any league matches during the first half of the campaign due to a

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

injury, Cano was loaned to fellow league team León. After being a regular starter, he returned to Pachuca and was mainly utilized as a substitute. On 10 January 2018, Cano returned to Independiente Medellín on an initial six-month loan deal. On 19 May, he extended his link until the end of the year, and ended the season with 32 goals overall.

Vasco da Gama

On 27 December 2019, Germán Cano was announced as Cruzmaltino's first reinforcement for 2020. In his second match for

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

, Cano scored his first goal with the cruzmaltina shirt, in the last move of the victory over Boavista 1–0. On 6 December 2021, his departure from Vasco da Gama was announced. In all, Cano played in 101 games and provided four assists and scored 43 goals. He is the club's second-highest foreign goalscorer in the 21st century and 2nd among foreigners.

Fluminense

On 27 December, Cano signed with Fluminense, with a contract until 2023. On 26 May 2022, he scored his first hat-trick in the historic 10–1 away thrashing of

Oriente Petrolero Club Deportivo Oriente Petrolero () is a Bolivian football club based in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. They play at the 38,000-capacity Estadio Tahuichi Aguilera. Oriente have been Bolivian champions five times, Copa Aerosur winners two ti ...

, a match valid for the last round of the

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...

group stage. At the end of the 2022 season, Cano was the top scorer of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A

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 ...

with 26 goals. Also in the 2022 season in the fluminense shirt, Cano was the top scorer of the

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil () is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and it is the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de Portugal, ...

with 5 goals. In all of the 2022 season he scored 44 goals. On 4 October 2023, he scored the winning goal in the 87th minute in a 2–1 away victory over Internacional in the second leg of

semi-finals, having also scored a brace in a 2–2 draw in the first leg, which qualified his team to the final. On 4 November, he scored the first goal for Fluminense in a 2–1 victory over

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

after extra time in the Copa Libertadores final. Cano is frequently cited as one of the greatest players in Fluminense history due to his top-tier scoring ability and strong bond with the fans. His iconic "LL" celebration, which pays homage to his two children, Lorenzo and Leonella, has become a fan favorite.

Career statistics

Honours

Lanús *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

: 2007 Apertura Independiente Medellín *

Copa Colombia The Copa Colombia (); officially known as Copa BetPlay Dimayor is an annual football tournament in Colombia. It is contested by the 36 professional clubs affiliated to the División Mayor del Fútbol Profesional Colombiano (DIMAYOR) and is the ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Vasco da Gama *

Taça Rio Taça Rio ( English: Rio Cup) is an annual football tournament attached to Campeonato Carioca, the state football league in the Rio de Janeiro state. It has been organized since 1982 by the Rio de Janeiro State Football Federation. It has had ...

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 ...

Fluminense *

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana (), also known as Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club Association football, football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1988. It ...

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 ...

Taça Guanabara The Taça Guanabara ( English: Guanabara Cup) is an annual football tournament attached to the Campeonato Carioca, the state football league in the Rio de Janeiro state. It has been organized since 1965 by the Rio de Janeiro State Football Fe ...

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro State Championship), also commonly known as the Cariocão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Br ...

Individual * All-time top scorer

(129 goals) * Bola de Prata: 2022 *

Team of the Year:

Top scorer:

* South American Footballer of the Year: 2023 *

top scorer: 2023, 2025

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cano, German 1988 births Living people Copa Libertadores–winning players Footballers from Posadas, Misiones Argentine men's footballers Men's association football forwards Argentine Primera División players Club Atlético Lanús footballers Chacarita Juniors footballers Club Atlético Colón footballers Categoría Primera A players Deportivo Pereira footballers Independiente Medellín footballers Paraguayan Primera División players Club Nacional footballers Liga MX players C.F. Pachuca players Club León footballers CR Vasco da Gama players Fluminense FC players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Colombia Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Paraguay Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in Colombia Expatriate men's footballers in Paraguay Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Copa Libertadores top scorers 21st-century Argentine sportsmen