Cristopher Toselli

Cristopher Toselli
Cristopher Benjamín Toselli Ríos (born 15 June 1988) is a Chilean footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Universidad de Chile.
Toselli is best known for beating Cláudio Taffarel's clean sheet record of 484 minutes during 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup of Canada, surpassing him by eight minutes and completing 492 minutes in total, helping Chilean youth squad to a third-place finish. In 2009, he was a member of Ivo Basay's 23-man squad who won the Toulon Tournament, a tournament that Cristopher lost in 2008 against Italy under Marcelo Bielsa as coach.
Club career
Universidad Católica
Early career
Born in Antofagasta, Toselli joined Universidad Católica youth ranks in 2001. He was promoted to first-team by coach Jorge Pellicer in 2006 for the Torneo Apertura, due to the departure of second-choice keeper Rainer Wirth to Deportes Temuco. The following year, after a notable performance in the FIFA U-20 World Cup, he made his club debut on 25 November, during a 3–0 home win to Coquimbo Unido played at San Carlos. The next season, he was challenging the goal with record-man José María Buljubasich, becoming the first-choice keeper, after their mistakes and its departure to Olimpia.
In 2009, he participated in the Toulon Tournament final against France, which Chile won 1–0. Toselli suffered a bad injury that side-lined him for six months. This angered Univeridad Católica's coach, Marco Antonio Figueroa, after risking and losing his first-choice keeper. During his recovery time, second-choice keeper Paulo Garcés broke into the first team, relegating Toselli to the bench.
2010 season
On 5 December 2010, Toselli played in the Primera División final match against Everton. Where his club was crowned champion after defeating the Viña del Mar based–team, 5–0 at home.
2011 season
On 11 May 2011, he regained the starting position under orders of Juan Antonio Pizzi, after a terrible mistake of Garcés in a Copa Libertadores quarterfinals match against Peñarol at Montevideo. In this match, Garcés inexplicably dropped the ball and Peñarol's Alejandro Martinuccio took the opportunity to score, sealing the victory with a score of 2–0, in the 90th minute. After losing the playoffs finals of the Torneo Apertura against Universidad de Chile, was reinstated as the starting keeper by new coach Mario Lepe, after the departures of Pizzi and Garcés. On 16 November, Toselli won the Copa Chile final against Magallanes. This was his second title at Católica, and it qualified his team to the 2012 Copa Sudamericana, in which Los Cruzados were eliminated at the semifinal stage, against Brazilian side São Paulo after two draws, where Toselli had incredible performances.
Loans
On 15 December 2017, Toselli joined Liga MX side Atlas on loan for the remainder of the 2017–18 season. On 30 April 2018, the club announced that Toselli's loan would not be extended due to his poor performances.
On 13 July 2018, Toselli returned to Chile, joining Everton on loan, as an emergency replacement for recently departed Eduardo Lobos, and injured Franco Torgnascioli.
On 18 February 2021, Toselli joined fellow Primera División club Palestino, on a one-year loan. He also extended his contract with La Católica until the end of the 2022 season.
On 6 January 2022, Toselli joined Argentine Primera División side Central Córdoba SdE on loan, after the club lost their two keepers Andrés Mehring (ACL rupture) and César Rigamonti (three broken ribs) to injuries.
Universidad de Chile
On 9 January 2023, Toselli returned to Chile, joining Universidad de Chile on a free transfer.
International career
During his early career, Toselli represented Chile U17 at the 2005 South American U–17 Championship, playing in four matches. Later, Toselli was called up to the Chile U20 national team for the 2007 South American Youth Championship in Paraguay. He started in the national team as second goalkeeper until the third game of tournament, in where he relegated Colo-Colo's player Richard Leyton, to the bench. Chile finished in fourth place of the final stages of the tournament tied at six points with Paraguay. However the Guaraníes had a lower goal difference than Chile, thus Chile classified to the 2007 FIFA U–20 World Cup celebrated in Canada.
In the U–20 World Cup, Toselli's performance with Chile was outstanding, with the team finishing in third–place of the tournament, after beating Austria 1–0. In addition, he broke Brazilian goalkeeper Cláudio Taffarel's record of 484 minutes without conceding goals in a Youth World Cup, achieving 495 minutes in total.
After his U–20 World Cup performances, he was called-up to the Toulon Tournament in France, for three years consecutively (2008–2010). In 2008 (U23 squad), Toselli was called-up by coach Marcelo Bielsa and after another great performance, Chile finished as runner-up of the tournament, after a 1–0 defeat against Italy. In 2009 (U21 squad), he was once again called-up to play the Toulon Tournament, which Chile would win beating France 1–0 with a Gerson Martínez goal at the 86th minute. In the final, he suffered a cruciate ligament rupture that sidelined him for six-months. In 2010 (U22 squad), Chile finished fourth place in the Toulon Tournament, after losing the thrid-place match against France.
In addition, Toselli played in a friendly match against Mexico U22 in San Luis Potosí, Mexico on September 3, 2011. The squad only included under-25 players and resulted in 3–1 win.
Toselli was called up by Bielsa to play his first senior international game for his country against Panama, match that ended in a 2–1 win. During the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification process, he was frequently called-up by Bielsa as third goalkeeper. But for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, it was Luis Marín was who called-up, with Nery Veloso as a stand in. Toselli would be called up by Bielsa's successors, Claudio Borghi and Jorge Sampaoli, during the 2014 World Cup qualifiers. He was eventually included in the 23-man squad that played the World Cup.
Career statistics
Club
International
Honours
Universidad Católica
Primera División: 2010, 2016–C, 2016–A, 2019, 2020
Copa Chile: 2011
Supercopa de Chile: 2016, 2019
Friendlies: Torneo de Verano Fox Sports 2019
Chile U20
FIFA U-20 World Cup: Third Place 2007
Chile U21
Toulon Tournament: 2009
Chile
Copa del Pacífico: 2012
Copa América: 2016
Confederations Cup: Runner-up 2017
China Cup: 2017
Individual
Best goalkeeper of Toulon Tournament: 2009
Chilean Footballer of the Year: 2013
References
External links
1988 births
Living people
Chilean men's footballers
Chilean expatriate men's footballers
Sportspeople from Antofagasta
Chilean people of Italian descent
Men's association football goalkeepers
Chile men's under-20 international footballers
Chile men's youth international footballers
Chile men's international footballers
2014 FIFA World Cup players
Copa América Centenario players
2017 FIFA Confederations Cup players
Copa América-winning players
Club Deportivo Universidad Católica footballers
Atlas F.C. footballers
Everton de Viña del Mar footballers
Club Deportivo Palestino footballers
Central Córdoba de Santiago del Estero footballers
Chilean Primera División players
Liga MX players
Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Mexico
Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Argentina
Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico
Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina