Mariano Sebastián Trípodi, usually known as Mariano Trípodi (born July 3, 1987), is an Argentine

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 footballer, who is currently playing for Vaduz

FC Vaduz

FC Vaduz is a Liechtenstein football club from Vaduz, that play in the Swiss Football League. The club plays at the national Rheinpark Stadion, which has a capacity of 6,127 when all seated but has additional standing places in the North and South ends of the ground, giving a total stadium capacity...

. Mariano Trípodi is also known by the nickname El León (meaning The Lion). He was born in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

.

Career

He started his career playing for the famous Boca Juniors academy which has a habit of producing star players. Clubs from across the continent started to become aware of Tripodi's goalscoring for the Boca Juniors U18s team, scoring 31 times in his first season. He was then quickly taken on by Köln

1. FC Köln

1. FC Köln is a German association football club based in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs Kölner Ballspiel-Club 1901 and SpVgg Sülz 07....

, of Germany, where he played one match, against Duisburg

MSV Duisburg

MSV Duisburg is a German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed "the Zebras" for their traditional striped jerseys, the club was one of the original members of the Bundesliga when it was formed in 1963.-Early years:...

, in which he scored his only goal for the club, and then was demoted to Köln II. He then returned to Argentina, where he joined San Martín de San Juan, playing four matches for the club.

On February 7, 2008, he was signed by Santos

Santos Futebol Clube

Santos Futebol Clube is a Brazilian professional football club based in Santos, São Paulo They play in the Campeonato Paulista and the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the highest professional leagues in São Paulo state and Brazil, respectively....

 of Brazil, and on February 21, 2008, Trípodi played his first match as a Santos player when his club beat Guarani

Guarani Futebol Clube

Guarani Futebol Clube is a Brazilian football club located in Campinas, São Paulo. Guarani is also known as Bugre, a popular term for an Indigenous Brazilian...

 3-1. On August 22, 2008, he was loaned by Santos to Vitória

Esporte Clube Vitória

Esporte Clube Vitória, usually known simply as Vitória, is a Brazilian football team from Salvador in Bahia, founded on May 13, 1899.Vitória's home games are played at the club's own stadium . They play in red and black horizontal striped shirts, black shorts and black socks...

, and on August 30, 2008, he played his first match as a Vitória player, when his club and Ipatinga

Ipatinga Futebol Clube

Ipatinga Futebol Clube, commonly known as Ipatinga, is a Brazilian football club, based in Ipatinga, Minas Gerais. They were founded on May 21, 1998.-History:...

 drew 0-0. Trípodi joined Atlético Mineiro

Clube Atlético Mineiro

Clube Atlético Mineiro , are a Brazilian football club based in Belo Horizonte, the oldest in the city. Founded in 1908, they play in the Campeonato Mineiro and Campeonato Brasileiro Série A or Brasileirão. Atlético Mineiro have been Brazilian champions once, state winners a record 40 times and...

 on March 5, 2009. Tripodi is regularly scouted and it was no surprise that it was announced that he had agreed to a ten-day trial at Leeds United

Leeds United A.F.C.

Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...

 on August 5, 2009, arriving in England on August 6, 2009. He played and scored the opening goal on August 12, 2009 in a behind closed doors game against a Newcastle United XI, which Leeds won 5-1. After a half year with Clube Atlético Metropolitano

Clube Atlético Metropolitano

Clube Atlético Metropolitano, or Metropolitano as they are usually called, is a Brazilian football club from Blumenau in Santa Catarina state...

 in Brazil, he returned in June 2010 to Argentina and signed an one year contract for Arsenal de Sarandí

Arsenal de Sarandí

Arsenal Fútbol Club, usually referred as Arsenal de Sarandí, is a football club from the Sarandí neighbourhood in the city of Avellaneda, Argentina, which was founded in 1957 by the Grondona brothers. Arsenal currently plays in the top tier of Argentine football, the Primera División Argentina....

.

External links

• Argentine Primera statistics at Fútbol XXI
• Career statistics at BDFA