Néstor Araujo

Néstor Alejandro Araujo Razo (born 29 August 1991) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for La Liga club Celta Vigo and the Mexico national team. He is an Olympic gold medalist.[2]

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Araujo and the second or maternal family name is Razo.
Néstor Araujo
Araujo with Celta in 2018
Personal information
Full name Néstor Alejandro Araujo Razo
Date of birth (1991-08-29) 29 August 1991
Place of birth Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Position(s) Centre-back
Club information
Current team
 Celta
Number 4
Youth career
2007–2013 Cruz Azul
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2014 Cruz Azul 49 (0)
2013–2014 → Santos Laguna (loan) 29 (0)
2014–2018 Santos Laguna 106 (3)
2018– Celta 129 (4)
National team‡
2011 Mexico U20 12 (0)
2011–2012 Mexico U23 18 (0)
2011– Mexico 58 (3)
Honours
Men's football
Representing  Mexico
Olympic Games
2012 LondonTeam
Pan American Games
2011 GuadalajaraTeam
CONCACAF Gold Cup
2019 United StatesTeam
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 May 2022
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 March 2022

Araujo began his career with Cruz Azul in 2010, and played with the club for three years before joining Santos Laguna, initially in a loan deal which the club made permanent the following year. At Santos, he played in over 100 matches, winning the Liga MX on two occasions.

A Mexican international since 2011, Araujo has represented his country at the 2011 Copa America, 2012 Toulon Tournament, Copa America Centenario, and the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. He also won the Olympic gold medal with Mexico at the 2012 Summer Olympics.[2]

Club career

Cruz Azul

Araujo joined Cruz Azul's youth academy in 2007, making his way through the Cruz Azul Premier team and the under-20s.

In 2010, Enrique Meza promoted Araujo to the first team.[3] On 19 September, Araujo made his Primera División debut for Cruz Azul,[4] playing 90 minutes in the 3–0 home victory against Querétaro.[5]

Santos Laguna
Araujo lining up for Santos Laguna in 2016.

On 5 June 2013, Araujo joined Santos Laguna on a year-long loan deal with an option to buy.[6] He made his league debut on 26 July against his former club Cruz Azul, playing the entire match as Santos earned a 3–2 victory. On 19 August 2014, Araujo scored his first goal for Santos in a 3–0 win over UAT in the Copa MX.[7] He won his first cup with Santos Laguna following their victory over Puebla in the final of the Apertura Copa MX.[8] The following year, Araujo won his first league title as Santos defeated Querétaro in the finals of the Clausura tournament.[9] On 20 July, Santos defeated Club América to win the 2015 Campeón de Campeones cup; Araujo started the match and played all 90 minutes.[10]

In May 2018, Santos Laguna defeated Toluca to win the Clausura tournament following a 3–2 aggregate score in the finals. Araujo missed the finals due to an injury he suffered while on international duty with the Mexico national team.[11]

Celta de Vigo

On 14 June 2018, Araujo joined Spanish outfit Celta de Vigo on a five-year contract.[12] On 21 July, he made his debut in a friendly match against Espanyol.[13]

International career

Araujo received his first international call up in 2011 during the 2011 Copa America. In his international debut, he scored in a 2–1 loss against Chile during their first group stage match. He would go on to appear in the rest of the group stage matches and Mexico would end up last in the group. He would not be called up to the senior squad again until 2016, although he was part of the Mexican team at the 2012 Summer Olympics.[2]

He would be an international regular under Juan Carlos Osorio, participating in various friendlies, the CONCACAF 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, the Copa America Centenario, and the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.

On 27 March 2018, during a friendly match against Croatia, Araujo was forced off after 15 minutes after suffering an knee injury.[14] He was sidelined since then, however in May he was named in Mexico's preliminary 28-man squad for the World Cup in Russia but had to withdraw due to experiencing tendonitis during his injury recovery.[15][16]

He was part of the Mexican team that won the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup.[17]

Personal life

Araujo has an older brother, Félix, who is also a professional footballer.[18]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 1 May 2022[19]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup[lower-alpha 1] Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Cruz Azul 2010–11 Liga MX 170—2[lower-alpha 2]0—190
2011–12 240—5[lower-alpha 3]0—290
2012–13 80100——180
Total 49010070—660
Santos Laguna (loan) 2013–14 Liga MX 290204[lower-alpha 3]0—350
Santos Laguna 2014–15 Liga MX 160102—1[lower-alpha 4]0272
2015–16 361—8[lower-alpha 2]0—441
2016–17 28251——333
2017–18 26051——311
Total 106320480101357
Celta 2018–19 La Liga 32310——333
2019–20 34120——361
2020–21 330———330
2021–22 300———300
Total 129430——1324
Career total 31373541901036811
  1. Includes Copa MX and Copa del Rey
  2. Appearances in CONCACAF Champions League
  3. Appearances in Copa Libertadores
  4. Appearance in Campeón de Campeones

International
As of match played 30 March 2022[20]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Mexico 201131
201680
2017132
201850
201980
202040
2021140
202230
Total583

International goals
Scores and results list Mexico's goal tally first.[20]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.4 July 2011Estadio del Bicentenario, San Juan, Argentina Chile1–01–22011 Copa América
2.24 March 2017Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico Costa Rica2–02–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.24 June 2017Kazan Arena, Kazan, Russia Russia1–12–12017 FIFA Confederations Cup

Honours

Cruz Azul

Santos Laguna

Mexico U23

Mexico

Individual

References
  1. "Profile". RC Celta. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  2. "Olympics football: Mexico shock Brazil to win gold". BBC. 11 August 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  3. "Néstor Alejandro Araujo Razo". LigaMX.net. LIGA BBVA Bancomer MX. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  4. Néstor Araujo – Liga MX stats at MedioTiempo.com (in Spanish)
  5. Ballinas, Diana (19 September 2010). "Néstor Araujo, feliz por su debut en triunfo celeste" (in Spanish). Medio Tiempo.
  6. "Oficial: Néstor Araujo es nuevo jugador de Santos Laguna". El Siglo de Torreón. 5 June 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  7. "Santos Laguna goleó 3-0 a Correcaminos UAT en Copa MX". Fox Sports. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  8. Ruiz, Alberto. "La Copa MX se quedó en el cielo... Santos, Campeón". MedioTiempo. Archived from the original on 6 November 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  9. "Santos se proclamó Campeón ante un histórico Gallo". MedioTiempo. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  10. "¡Santos Laguna, Campeón de Campeones!". El Siglo de Torreón. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  11. "¡La tercera, ya no! Santos es Campeón en el que había sido su Infierno". Medio Tiempo. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  12. "Celta de Vigo anuncia fichaje de Nestor Araujo". espn.com.mx. 14 June 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  13. "Néstor Araujo debutó en partido amistoso con Celta de Vigo". ESPN. 21 July 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
  14. "Néstor Araujo abandona el partido ante Croacia por una lesión en la rodilla". MARCA Claro. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  15. Marshall, Tom (14 May 2018). "Rafa Marquez makes Mexico's preliminary World Cup squad". ESPN. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  16. Arnold, Jon. "Mexico's 2018 World Cup roster: Who joins Chicharito & Guardado in final 23-man squad?". Sporting News. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  17. "Nestor Araujo: "To win the Gold Cup is an amazing feeling"". Gold Cup. 23 July 2021. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  18. "Félix Araujo vs. Néstor Araujo, disputa familiar en la Selva" (in Spanish). Marca Claro. 29 April 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  19. "Néstor Araujo » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  20. Néstor Araujo at National-Football-Teams.com
  21. CONCACAF [@CNationsLeague] (7 June 2021). "Here is the Best XI of the Concacaf Nations League Finals" (Tweet). Retrieved 7 June 2021 – via Twitter.
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