Christopher Cristaldo Zambrini (born 15 January 1995) is a Paraguayan-born Australian footballer who currently plays as a forward for Moreland City.
Club career
Youth career
In 2011, he played for the Victorian Training Centre where he made 18 appearances and scored 1 goal in the 2011 Victorian Premier League.
Melbourne Victory
2012–13 season
On 17 November 2012, Cristaldo debuted in the 2012–13 A-League season for Melbourne Victory when he was substituted onto the field for Andrew Nabbout in the 71st minute in a 2–2 home draw against the Central Coast Mariners.
He made his second appearance for Melbourne Victory on 23 March 2013. He was substituted onto the field in a home match against Perth Glory, replacing Argentine Marcos Flores, and scored an equalizer to draw the game at 2–2 in the 89th minute. Perth Glory ultimately scored in the 94th minute to win the match.
Cristaldo made his third appearance for the club in the 2012–13 season in a 3–2 away victory against Wellington Phoenix on 31 March 2013. He was substituted onto the field for New Zealander Marco Rojas.
2013–14 season
On 4 January 2014, Cristaldo was made his first appearance for Melbourne Victory in the 2013–14 season, coming on as a substitute for Brazilian Guilherme Finkler in the second half of a 3–0 home defeat to Brisbane Roar.
On 18 January 2014, Cristaldo was an unused substitute in a 5-0 away defeat against Wellington Phoenix.
2014 AFC Champions League
On 15 April 2014, Cristaldo was included in Melbourne Victory's squad for a 2-0 home victory against China's Guangzhou Evergrande in the 2014 AFC Champions League, where he was an unused substitute.
Melbourne City
2015
On 18 July 2015, Cristaldo was in Melbourne City's first-team squad for a friendly match against FA Premier League club Manchester City at the Cbus Super Stadium in Australia. Cristaldo was substituted onto the field for Harry Novillo in the 70th minute.
Hume City
In early 2014, Cristaldo joined Hume City FC in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, where he made 13 appearances, scoring one goal.
Werribee City
In 2015, Cristaldo joined Werribee City FC. In the first half of the season, he managed 3 goals in 11 appearances. He left the club mid year.
Melbourne City
In November 2015, Melbourne City FC Youth announced their squad for the upcoming National Youth League season, with Cristaldo included as one of the two 1995 born players, the other being Philip Petreski. He also played for their NPL side in the third tier of the Australian league system, finishing as the team's top scorer for the season.
Nacional Asunción
On 17 July 2016, it was announced by ABC Paraguay that Cristaldo joined Club Nacional Asunción for the second semester of the 2016 Paraguayan Primera División season.
Markos Gonzalez, Tigo Sports reporter in Paraguay, stated "Christopher Cristaldo Zambrini is the new player of Nacional and will be presented on Monday (for the day 18 of July)". According to the club president, Cristaldo would play in the club's reserve-team because the principal squad was complete. Paraguay's ABC news paper verified this whilst reporting Nacional's signing of Roberto Nanni, among other players.
Upon Cristaldo's signing, he converted in the club's 12th contracted player for the second semester of 2016. He eventually featured in the club's youth team as well, and departed the club in November after 4 months to join Melbourne club Port Melbourne Sharks.
Port Melbourne Sharks
2016
In November 2016, Cristaldo joined Victorian National Premier League club Port Melbourne Sharks. He had contacted the first-team coach, Dominic Barba, and both agreed terms. Cristaldo was one of seven players to join the club at the time of his arrival. The player arrived at the club having endured a stint of several months at Primera División Paraguaya club Nacional Asunción.
"I had a stint for about three, four months in Paraguay but things didn't work out but at the same time I'll take it as good experience. I learnt a lot of things overseas." – Cristaldo speaking about his time in Paraguayan football.
2017
On 17 February 2017, Cristaldo made his league debut for Port Melbourne Sharks in a 4–0 home thrashing of South Melbourne. Cristaldo scored his team's third goal in the 58th minute and was in the starting line up in the squad a long side former Superleague Greece player Andreas Govas.
On 24 April 2017, Cristaldo scored his second goal for Port Melbourne Sharks in a 2–2 away draw against Kingston City.