Leonardo Pisculichi

Leonardo Nicolás Pisculichi (Spanish pronunciation: [leoˈnaɾðo piskuˈlitʃi]; born 18 January 1984) is an Argentine retired footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.^[2] He won the Copa Sudamericana in 2014 and Copa Libertadores in 2015 with River Plate.^[3][4]

Leonardo Pisculichi

Pisculichi in his return to Argentinos Juniors
Personal information
Full name	Leonardo Nicolás Pisculichi[1]
Date of birth	(1984-01-18) 18 January 1984 (age 41)[1]
Place of birth	Rafael Castillo, Argentina
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002–2005	Argentinos Juniors	57	(18)
2006	Mallorca	20	(3)
2007–2012	Al-Arabi	112	(63)
2012–2013	Shandong Luneng	9	(1)
2014	Argentinos Juniors	15	(4)
2014–2016	River Plate	69	(10)
2017	Vitória	3	(0)
2017–2019	Argentinos Juniors	35	(5)
2019–2021	Burgos	38	(6)
Total		370	(114)
International career
2003	Argentina U20	2	(1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Pisculichi started his career with Argentinos Juniors, making his first division debut on 20 February 2002, against Talleres de Córdoba. He was transferred to Spain's RCD Mallorca on 4 January 2006.

Pisculichi (in left) with Al-Arabi in action against Fábio César Montezine of Al-Rayyan in 2011

On 30 November 2006, he was transferred to Al-Arabi Sports Club in Doha, Qatar, for €3.9 million, with the move being made effective in January of the following year.

In July 2012, Pisculichi transferred to the Chinese Super League side Shandong Luneng Taishan. In 2014, he joined the Argentine powerhouse River Plate. While at River Plate, he won the 2014 Copa Sudamericana against Atletico Nacional. He left River in December 2016 and signed for Brazilian side Esporte Clube Vitória in January 2017.

Return to Argentina

Having left Vitória in May 2017, Pisculichi returned to the newly promoted Argentinos Juniors in August 2017. He was the first signee of the campaign.

Burgos CF

In June 2019, Pisculichi joined Spanish Segunda División B club Burgos CF.^[5]

International career

Pisculichi played in the 2003 South American Youth Championship in Uruguay, representing the Argentina youth football team. He started the game against Uruguay and scored in the 82nd minute. He also came on as a substitute in a match against Brazil.^[6]

He was set to be naturalized to play for the Qatar national team by 2009. However, he had previously represented the Argentina under-20 team, rendering him ineligible to play for the Qatar team without special permission from FIFA.

The same scenario occurred in 2012. The Al-Arabi administration wanted to naturalize him to have an extra foreign player in their squad to participate in the AFC Champions League. He did not gain Qatari citizenship, and the local media criticized the club's management.^[6][7]

Personal life

Pisculichi is of Croatian descent. His family Hispanicized their surname Piškulić (originally from the town of Novi Vinodolski) to its current spelling.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[8][9]

Club	Season	League			State league[a]		National cup[b]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Argentinos Juniors	2001–02	Argentine Primera División	8	1	—		—		—		—		8	1
	2002–03	Primera B Nacional	1	0	—		—		—		—		1	0
	2003–04		1	0	—		—		—		—		1	0
	2004–05		2	1	—		—		—		—		2	1
	2004–05	Argentine Primera División	34	7	—		—		—		—		34	7
	2005–06		14	10	—		—		—		—		14	10
	Total		60	19	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	60	19
Mallorca	2005–06	La Liga	16	3	—		—		—		—		16	3
	2006–07		4	0	—		1	0	—		—		5	0
	Total		20	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	21	3
Al-Arabi	2006–07	Qatar Stars League	?	7	—			2	—		—		?	9
	2007–08		?	18	—			2	—			2	?	22
	2008–09		?	21	—			1	—			2	?	24
	2009–10		?	3	—		0	0	—			1	?	4
	2010–11		19	9	—		0	0		3		3	19	15
	2011–12		21	5	—		0	0	5[c]	2	—		26	2
	Total		112	63	0	0		5	5	5		8	117	80
Shandong Luneng	2012	Chinese Super League	2	0	—		0	0	—		—		2	0
	2013		7	1	—		0	0	—		—		7	1
	Total		9	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	1
Argentinos Juniors	2013–14	Argentine Primera División	15	4	—		—		—		—		15	4
River Plate	2014	Argentine Primera División	16	5	—		2	0	9[d]	2	—		27	7
	2015		17	0	—		2	0	12[e]	1	3[f]	0	34	1
	2016		7	1	—		0	0	3[g]	1	—		10	2
	Total		40	6	0	0	4	1	24	3	3	0	71	10
Vitória	2017	Serie A	2	0	3[h]	0	0	0	—		1	0	6	0
Argentinos Juniors	2017–18	Argentine Primera División	18	5	—		3	0	—		—		21	5
	2018–19		17	0	—		1	0	1[d]	0	—		19	0
	Total		110	28	0	0	4	0	1	0	0	0	115	28
Burgos	2019–20	Segunda División B	22	5	—		2	0	—		—		24	5
	2020–21		10	1	—		0	0	—		—		10	1
	Total		32	6	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	34	6
Career total			325	107	3	0	11	6	30	8	4	5	?	124

1. Includes Campeonato Baiano
2. Includes Copa del Rey, Copa Argentina
3. Appearances in AFC Champions League
4. Appearances in Copa Sudamericana
5. Eight appearances in Copa Libertadores, four appearances and one goal in Copa Sudamericana
6. Two appearances in Recopa Sudamericana, one appearance in FIFA Club World Cup
7. Appearances in Copa Libertadores
8. Appearances in Campeonato Baiano

Honors

River Plate

• Copa Sudamericana: 2014
• Recopa Sudamericana: 2015
• Copa Libertadores: 2015

Vitória

• Campeonato Baiano: 2017