Jonatan Miguel Germano (born 31 May 1988 in San Nicolás) is an Argentine-Australian footballer who currently plays for

National Premier Leagues Victoria 3 The National Premier Leagues Victoria (NPL Victoria or NPL VIC) is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer league syste ...

club

Preston Lions FC Preston Lions Football Club (formerly Preston Makedonia Soccer Club) is a semi-professional association football, soccer club from Preston, Victoria, Preston, a northern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The club ...

Early life

Germano's odyssey into football began when he joined the Estudiantes youth team. He signed a professional contract in 2007.

Club career

Estudiantes (2007–2011)

Germano made his debut for Estudiantes on 9 September 2007 against Racing Club in the Primera División. He came on as a substitute for Juan Manuel Salgueiro in the 66th minute, Estudiantes won the match 2–1. He was released from the club after the 2010–11 season.

Loan to HNK Rijeka

In 2009 Germano wen't on a season long loan to Croatian club

HNK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka (), commonly referred to as HNK Rijeka, is a Croatian professional association football club from the city of Rijeka. HNK Rijeka competes in Croatia's top division, Croatian First Football League, Supersport HNL, o ...

. He was unable to cement a place in the first team. He was used sparingly, featuring just four times in the 2009–10

Prva HNL The Hrvatska nogometna liga (; ), abbreviated as HNL and also known for sponsorship reasons as the SuperSport HNL, is a professional association football league in Croatia and the highest level of the Croatian football league system. Establish ...

season.

Loan to Sportivo Luqueño

Germano was loaned to

Primera División Paraguaya Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera Ely Rafael Primera Ros ...

club

Sportivo Luqueño Club Sportivo Luqueño is a Paraguayan football club, based in the city of Luque on the outskirts of the capital Asunción. It currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División, the country's top tier of football, where it has won thrice, in 19 ...

for the Torneo Apertura of the 2010 season. He featured in 14 games for the club, playing in a variety of positions.

Melbourne Heart / City

In July 2011, Germano traveled to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

for a one-month trial with

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

club

Melbourne Heart Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in the South-Eastern Metropolitan Region, South-Eastern region of Melbourne, Victoria. They compete in the A-League Men, the Australian soccer ...

, where he 'surprised' the team with his talent. He played in two trials for the club, playing a full 90 minutes in both games. At the end of July, he returned to his homeland after impressing coaches

John van 't Schip Johannes Nicolaas "John" van 't Schip (; born 30 December 1963) is a Dutch football manager and former player who played as a winger. He is the current manager of Armenia. Born in Canada, he played for the Netherlands national team for nine ...

Ante Milicic Ante Milicic ( ; ; (born 4 April 1974) is an Australian soccer manager and former professional player who currently is the head coach of the China women's national football team. Personal life The son of Croatian immigrants, Milicic grew up i ...

and

John Aloisi John Aloisi (; born 5 February 1976) is an Australian former soccer player and current head coach of A-League club Western United. In a professional career that spanned 20 seasons, with league totals of 459 games and 127 goals, he was the first ...

. Germano was offered a contract and awaited clearance on his

visa Visa most commonly refers to: * Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country * Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Vi ...

application. His signing completed Melbourne Heart's squad for the 2011–12 season. He claimed the fifth and final 'Visa spot' for the club. On 5 September 2011, he officially signed with Melbourne Heart and was given the number 13. On 18 November 2011, Germano scored his first official goal which sealed the win for the game. It was his sixth appearance for the club. After heading in his second goal for the club, the opener in a 2–1 victory over the

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland. competing in Australia's premier men's competition, A-League Men, which is the top tier Australia's football pyramid. When Queensland Lions F.C. were ...

, Germano celebrated by pulling a

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

hat from his shorts whilst celebrating in front of Roar fans. Later, referee Kris Griffiths-Jones booked Germano for the celebration. As of October 2014, Germano, along with his manager John van't Schip were the only members of Melbourne City who spoke Spanish. On 28 March 2015 Germano scored the winner against

in the 4th minute all but ending Brisbanes title defence making it almost impossible for them to make the finals. Germano was released by Melbourne City at the end of the

2014–15 A-League The 2014–15 A-League was the 38th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the 10th season of the A-League since its establishment in 2004. Brisbane Roar were both the defending A-League Premiers and Champions. The regular season commen ...

season.

Avondale FC

In late 2015, it was confirmed that Germano, along with former

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory ...

player Spase Dilevski, would be joining

National Premier Leagues Victoria The National Premier Leagues Victoria (NPL Victoria or NPL VIC) is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer league syst ...

side Avondale for the 2016 NPL Victoria season. Germano said after leaving Melbourne City, he wanted another chance to play in the A-League but no clubs came, leading him to join Avondale FC. Germano had to sit out the first few rounds of the NPL season, waiting for his Australian Visa to come through. He made his debut in a 3–1 loss at

Knights Stadium Knights Stadium was a baseball stadium which served as the home of the International League's Charlotte Knights from 1990 to 2013 and had a capacity of 10,002. The park was located across the state line from Charlotte, North Carolina, in Fort ...

against reigning champions

Bentleigh Greens Bentleigh Greens Soccer Club is an Australian semi professional soccer club based in Cheltenham, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. The club was formed in 1986, by the Greek Cypriot community and currently competes in the Victoria Premier League ...

on 11 March 2016. He then scored his first goal for the club, the fifth in a 5–1 win over South Springvale in Round 5 of the

FFA Cup The Australia Cup (currently known as the Hahn Australia Cup for sponsorship reasons) is the national soccer knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia (known as Football Federation Austra ...

, after coming on as a late substitute. Germano scored both of Avondale's goals in a Round 13 2–2 draw with

Richmond SC Greater Dandenong Football Club is an Australian association football, soccer club from Dandenong, Victoria, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Greater Dandenong most recently competed in the Victorian State League Division 1, Victorian ...

on 20 May 2016, hitting home a 92nd-minute goal to give his side a point from the game. Germano became an Australian citizen as of 2017. Jonatan Germano won the Dockerty cup in 2021 with Avondale Heights.

Honours

Club

Avondale FC Avondale FC is an Australian semi-professional association football club, with the men's and women's teams based in Parkville and the junior sides based in Avondale Heights, suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the National Pre ...

* Dockerty Cup Winners: 2021 *Runners up NPL 2017/18

References

External links

*
Profile at Ceroacero
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Germano, Jonatan 1988 births Living people Argentine people of German descent Argentine men's footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Estudiantes de La Plata footballers Sportivo Luqueño players Melbourne City FC players Avondale FC players Preston Lions FC players HNK Rijeka players Argentine Primera División players Croatian Football League players A-League Men players National Premier Leagues players Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in Paraguay Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Naturalised soccer players of Australia Argentine emigrants to Australia Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Footballers from San Nicolás de los Arroyos 21st-century Argentine sportsmen