Claudio Patricio Núñez Caamaño (born October 16, 1975) is a Chilean former footballer who played as a striker. He is nicknamed "El Diablo", which means, "the Devil".

Claudio Núñez
Personal information
Full name Claudio Patricio Núñez Caamaño
Date of birth (1975-10-16) 16 October 1975 (age 49)
Place of birth Valparaíso, Chile
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
Humberto Nelson
Santiago Wanderers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1996 Santiago Wanderers 39 (11)
1996–2001 Tigres UANL 82 (35)
1998Universidad Católica (loan) 5 (1)
2001 Al-Shoalah 13 (2)
2002 Tigres UANL 5 (0)
2002Puebla (loan) 12 (2)
2003 Al-Shoalah 5 (13)
2003 Santiago Wanderers 8 (1)
2004–2005 Tigres UANL 7 (5)
2005 Unión Española 13 (2)
2006–2007 Tigres Los Mochis 16 (3)
2007–2008 Everton 2 (0)
Total 207 (73)
International career
1996–2003 Chile 31 (4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He made his name playing for Tigres UANL, where he had his most success.

Career

edit

As a child, Núñez was with Humberto Nelson in his city of birth, then he joined Santiago Wanderers youth system.[1] After playing during four seasons for the club, he moved to Monterrey, Mexico, to play with Tigres in 1996. Tigres had just been privatized after a crisis that ended with the team's relegation to Primera División A.[2] In 1998, he played on loan at Universidad Católica.[1]

His incredible number of goals in Tigres quickly made him a team hero. He was instrumental in returning Tigres to the First Division.[3]

He played 10 seasons with Tigres, 8 in First Division, in which he scored over 40 goals.[4]

He played many Clásico Regiomontano matches, against Tigres arch-rival Rayados de Monterrey. He became the maximum scorer in the history of Tigres for matches of this kind, with eight goals. His record was tied by Walter Gaitán in January 2007.[5]

An injury separated him from the fields, and Tigres consequently separated him from the team in 2001. In 2002, he moved to play with Puebla F.C., a team that has been relegated to Primera División A.[3]

He used to wear the number 16 on his back for every match he played.

In 2003, he returned to Santiago Wanderers, making 11 appearances.[6]

In 2005, he played his first Copa Libertadores de América with Tigres, where he scored some goals.

Nuñez has also played for Unión Española and Everton in Chile and Al-Shoalah in Saudi Arabia.[3]

For his country Nuñez played 31 matches scoring 4 goals between 1996 and 2003.[7]

A farewell Clásico Regiomontano match where Nuñez played with special guests from Tigres and Monterrey was scheduled for August 4, 2009 at the Estadio Universitario, Tigres' home stadium.[8]

Post-retirement

edit

He has played fast football with Monterrey Flash.[3]

In 2017, he started a football academy, what ended. Next, he has worked for Azteca 7 as an analyst.[3]

Personal life

edit

He lives in Monterrey with his wife.

At the beginning of his playing career, he was nicknamed Huracán Porteño (Hurricane from Valparaíso) due to his speed. Since he was a player of Tigres in Mexico, he is well-known as Diablo Núñez (The Devil Núñez).[2]

Honours

edit

Santiago Wanderers

Tigres UANL

Everton

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Claudio NÚÑEZ". Memoria Wanderers (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Claudio Núñez llegó a México para adoptar el apodo del 'Diablo', para marcar su vida". ESPN.cl (in Spanish). ESPN. 12 April 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e Martínez, Alex (16 January 2019). "¿Qué fue de Claudio Núñez?, goleador en Clásicos Regios" (in Spanish). AS México. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Ficha Estadistica de CLAUDIO NUÑEZ". www.bdfa.com.ar (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  5. ^ "Claudio Núñez, ¿por qué le dicen el Diablo?". Mediotiempo (in Spanish). 6 September 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Wanderers 2003 - Campeonato de Clausura". www.solofutbol.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  7. ^ "Claudio Núñez". Partidos de La Roja (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  8. ^ "Tigres 4-2 Monterrey... Dice adiós el "Diablo" Núñez" [Tigres 4-2 Monterrey ... Say goodbye to "Diablo" Núñez]. MedioTiempo (in Spanish). 4 August 2009. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
edit