Igor Lichnovsky


Igor Lichnovsky Osorio is a Chilean professional footballer who plays for Mexican club Cruz Azul as a central defender.

Club career

Universidad de Chile

Born in Peñaflor near Santiago to an Austrian-born father of German and Slovak descent, Lichnovsky joined Club Universidad de Chile's at the age of 8. On 20 November 2011 he first appeared in the Campeonato Nacional, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 home draw against Club Deportivo Universidad Católica for the Clausura in which he was also voted as Man of the match.
Lichnovsky scored his first goal as a professional on 29 April 2012, contributing to a 5–0 derby home win over Colo-Colo.

Porto

Lichnovsky's good performances for both Universidad and the Chilean national youth teams attracted interest from English club Chelsea. However, nothing came of it, and in late June 2014 he signed a four-year contract with FC Porto from Portugal, being initially assigned to the B-team.
Lichnovsky played his first competitive match on 17 October 2015, in a 2–0 win at Varzim S.C. for the season's Taça de Portugal. On 22 January of the following year he was loaned to Sporting de Gijón until June, making his La Liga debut on 17 February by featuring the full 90 minutes in a 1–3 home loss against FC Barcelona.
Lichnovsky returned to Spain on 2 August 2016, joining Segunda División team Real Valladolid on another loan, and scored his first goal in the country on 3 September when he opened a 2–1 home win over Girona FC in the third minute.

Mexico

On 21 June 2017, Lichnovsky moved to the third continent of his career by joining Club Necaxa. He made his Liga MX debut on 24 July in a 2–0 win at Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz, and was an ever-present over the season for the team from Aguascalientes City.
Lichnovsky transferred to Cruz Azul of the same league in May 2018. He scored his first goal in Mexican football the following 31 March, to secure a 2–2 draw away to CF Monterrey.

International career

Lichnovsky was capped by Chile at under-17 and under-20 levels. He participated with the latter in the 2013 South American Youth Championship, helping his team qualify to the 2013 FIFA World Cup in Turkey whilst acting as captain in both tournaments.
Lichnovsky made his debut with the full side on 14 November 2014, playing the entire 5–0 friendly win with Venezuela at the Estadio CAP in Talcahuano. He did not gain a second cap until 27 March 2018, in a goalless exhibition away to Denmark.
Manager Reinaldo Rueda called Lichnovsky up for the 2019 Copa América in Brazil. He made one substitute appearance for his competitive debut for the fourth-place finishers, as a 55th-minute replacement for Gary Medel in a 1–0 group loss to Uruguay in the Maracanã Stadium.

Honours

Club

Universidad de Chile
Necaxa
Cruz Azul
Chile