Quick Facts
Biography
Leonardo Nicolás Pisculichi (born 18 January 1984) is an Argentine footballer who plays for Vitória, last playing for River Plate in the Argentine Primera División, as an attacking midfielder.
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. His beginnings at his new club were promising, as he netted three times in his first five games - including a penalty kick equalizer against Real Madrid on 26 February, in an eventual 2-1 home triumph.
However, Pisculichi gradually fell out of favour with the Balearic Islands outfit and, on 30 November 2006, was transferred to Al-Arabi Sports Club in Doha, Qatar for €3.6 million, with the move being made effective in January of the following year. He played amazing football in his 5 years of football in Al Arabi. He could have been a phenomenal player if he had stayed in Mallorca since he was known in the The Gulf region as one of the best Free kick takers.
In July 2012, Pisculichi transferred to Chinese Super League side Shandong Luneng Taishan. In 2014, he joined Argentine powerhouse River Plate.
International career
Pisculichi played 134 minutes in the 2003 South American Youth Championship held in Uruguay, representing the Argentina youth football team. He started in the game against hosts Uruguay and scored in the 82nd minute. He also came on as a substitute in a match against Brazil.
He was set to be naturalized in order to play for the Qatar national team by 2009. However, he neglected to mention that he had previously represented the Argentina under-20 team, rendering him ineligible to play for the Qatar team without special permission from FIFA.
However, the same scenario occurred in 2012. The Al-Arabi administration wanted to naturalize him so they could have an extra foreign player in their squad to participate in the AFC Champions League. Despite reports of Pisculichi's ineligibility being readily available, they continued with the naturalization process. He did not gain Qatari citizenship and the club's management were criticized by local media.
Honours
- Copa Sudamericana: 2014
- Recopa Sudamericana: 2015
- Copa Libertadores: 2015
Personal life
Pisculichi is of Croatian descent. His family hispanicized their surname Piškulić (originally from the town of Novi Vinodolski) to its current spelling.