 Vonlanthen playing forSwitzerland in 2006 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Johan Jarlín Vonlanthen Benavídez | ||
| Date of birth | (1986-02-01)1 February 1986 (age 39) | ||
| Place of birth | Santa Marta, Colombia | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position | Winger | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1998–1999 | FC Flamatt | ||
| 1999–2001 | Young Boys | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2001–2003 | Young Boys | 18 | (2) |
| 2003–2006 | PSV | 29 | (5) |
| 2005 | →Brescia (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 2005–2006 | →NAC Breda (loan) | 32 | (6) |
| 2006–2011 | Red Bull Salzburg | 85 | (11) |
| 2009–2010 | →Zürich (loan) | 27 | (10) |
| 2011–2012 | Itagüí | 5 | (0) |
| 2012 | Wohlen | 0 | (0) |
| 2013–2014 | Grasshoppers | 5 | (0) |
| 2014 | →Schaffhausen (loan) | 17 | (2) |
| 2014–2016 | Servette | 32 | (10) |
| 2016–2018 | Wil | 66 | (11) |
| Total | 325 | (57) | |
| International career | |||
| 2001 | Switzerland U-15 | 4 | (1) |
| 2004 | Switzerland U-21 | 3 | (1) |
| 2004–2010 | Switzerland | 40 | (7) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Johan Vonlanthen Benavídez (born 1 February 1986) is a former professionalfootballer who played as awinger. Born in Colombia, he opted to play forSwitzerland, for whom he became eligible through his Swiss-born stepfather.
Having made hisSwiss Super League debutBSC Young Boys at the age of 16, he moved toPSV in 2003.
He initially announced the end of his active career in May 2012. He came back out of retirement in May 2013 and signed forGrasshoppers in June. He retired in August 2018 after two years withFC Wil.
Vonlanthen played as a junior forBSC Young Boys in Switzerland. In the2001–02 season, he made his debut as a 16-year-old in theSwiss Super League starting eight games and appearing once as a substitute. In the summer of 2003, he was transferred to the DutchEredivisie clubPSV Eindhoven. On 21 June 2004, Vonlanthen became the youngest goalscorer when he scored for theSwitzerland national team againstFrance inCoimbra, Portugal at the age of 18 years and 141 days old.[1] He made a good initial impression and helped PSV qualify for theUEFA Champions League. After a good first season, he began to lose form and as a consequence was loaned out to Italian sideBrescia Calcio for the last six months of the 2004–05 season. He was again loaned out toNAC Breda for the 2005–06 season.
At the start of the 2006–07 season, Vonlanthen transferred toRed Bull Salzburg in theAustrian Bundesliga.
On 13 July 2009,FC Zürich signed the Swiss forward on a season long loan deal. The move was not made permanent, and Vonlanthen returned to Salzburg for the start of the 2010–11 season.
Vonlanthen moved toColombian Primera División sideItagüí in August 2011.[2]
On 30 May 2012, Vonlanthen announced his retirement at age 26. According to him, he 'could not face the prospect of undergoing a knee operation'.[3]
On 13 June 2013, Vonlanthen came out of retirement to joinGrasshoppers, signing a one-year deal with an option for a further two years.[4]
On 27 December 2013, Vonlanthen was loaned out to Swiss second division sideSchaffhausen, due to a lack of playing time at Grasshoppers.[5]
He retired in August 2018 after two years withFC Wil.[6]
Vonlanthen's stepfather is a Swiss national, giving him the right to play for that country.
On 6 June 2004, Vonlanthen made his senior debut for theSwitzerland national team againstLiechtenstein. He came on as a substitute in the 81st minute to replaceAlexander Frei. Switzerland went on to beat Liechtenstein 1–0.
AtUEFA Euro 2004, Vonlanthen became the second youngest player to play in the tournament when he came on as asubstitute againstEngland. On 21 June 2004, Vonlanthen became the youngest scorer ever in theEuropean Championships when he equalised againstFrance, beatingWayne Rooney's record – which had only been set four days before – by three months.[7] However his record was beaten byLamine Yamal on 9 July 2024 duringUEFA Euro 2024 semifinals against France.[8]
Since theEuropean Championships in Portugal, Vonlanthen managed to maintain a regular position in the national team and as well as playing frequently in the under 21s side. He was part of the squad that very narrowly lost out to Spain on a place in the2009 European Championships. He had scored the equaliser in the first leg in a 2–1 win but the Spanish came back to win 3–1 in the second leg and 4–3 on aggregate.
Vonlanthen was called up to the Swiss squad to play in2006 FIFA World Cup, but was unable to participate due to ahamstring injury. He was also called up forUEFA Euro 2008.
Vonlanthen is member of theSeventh-day Adventist Church.[9]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | Ref. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Young Boys | 2001–02 | Swiss Super League[a] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8[b] | 1 | 8 | 1 | [10] | ||
| 2002–03 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11[b] | 3 | 27 | 4 | [10] | ||||
| 2003–04 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | [10] | ||||
| Total | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 4 | 37 | 6 | – | ||
| PSV Eindhoven | 2003–04 | Eredivisie | 19 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | 22 | 3 | [citation needed] | |
| 2004–05 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 12 | 2 | [citation needed] | |||
| Total | 29 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 5 | – | ||
| Brescia (loan) | 2004–05 | Serie A | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 9 | 0 | [citation needed] | |
| NAC Breda (loan) | 2005–06 | Eredivisie | 32 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4[c] | 1 | 43 | 12 | [10] |
| Red Bull Salzburg | 2006–07 | Austrian Bundesliga | 35 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | – | 41 | 6 | [10] | |
| 2007–08 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | 25 | 3 | [10] | |||
| 2008–09 | 29 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | 34 | 3 | [10] | |||
| 2010–11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | [10] | |||
| Total | 85 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 102 | 12 | – | ||
| Zürich (loan) | 2009–10 | Swiss Super League | 27 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 3 | – | 39 | 17 | [citation needed] | |
| Itagüí | 2011 | Liga Postobón | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 6 | 0 | [10] |
| Grasshoppers | 2013–14 | Swiss Super League | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | 8 | 0 | [citation needed] | |
| Schaffhausen (loan) | 2013–14 | Swiss Challenge League | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 17 | 2 | [citation needed] | ||
| Servette | 2014–15 | Swiss Challenge League | 32 | 10 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 33 | 11 | [citation needed] | ||
| FC Wil | 2015–16 | Swiss Challenge League | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 10 | 0 | [10] | ||
| 2016–17 | 32 | 6 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 33 | 6 | [citation needed] | ||||
| 2017–18 | 24 | 5 | 2 | 2 | – | – | 26 | 7 | [citation needed] | ||||
| Total | 66 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 69 | 13 | – | ||
| Career total | 325 | 57 | 19 | 12 | 31 | 4 | 24 | 5 | 399 | 78 | – | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | 2004 | 7 | 5 |
| 2005 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2006 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2007 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2008 | 10 | 2 | |
| 2009 | 4 | 0 | |
| Total | 40 | 7 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 June 2004 | Estádio Cidade de Coimbra,Coimbra, Portugal |  France | 1–1 | 1-3 | UEFA Euro 2004 | [12] |
| 2 | 4 September 2004 | St. Jakob-Park,Basel, Switzerland |  Faroe Islands | 1–0 | 6–0 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification | [13] |
| 3 | 2–0 | ||||||
| 4 | 6–0 | ||||||
| 5 | 9 October 2004 | Ramat Gan Stadium,Ramat Gan, Israel |  Israel | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification | [14] |
| 6 | 30 May 2008 | Kybunpark,St. Gallen, Switzerland |  Liechtenstein | 3–0 | 3–0 | Friendly | [15] |
| 7 | 20 August 2008 | Stade de Genève,Lancy, Switzerland |  Cyprus | 4–1 | 4–1 | Friendly | [16] |
Switzerland squads | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
