Players - Mark Gonzalez

Mark Gonzalez
Birthdate: 10 July 1984
Birthplace: Durban, South Africa
Nationality: Chile
Other clubs: Universidad Católica (2002-04), Albacete (2004-05), Real Sociedad (loan 2005-06), Real Betis (2007-09), CSKA Moskva (2009-14), Universidad Católica (2/ loan 2014), Universidad Catolica (3/2014-16), SC Recife (2016), Colo-Colo (2017), Deportivo Magallanes (2018-2019)
Signed from: Albacete
Signed for LFC: £1.5m, 20.10.2005
International debut: 08.06.2003 vs. Costa Rica
International caps: 46/4 - 17.10.2012
Liverpool debut: 09.08.2006
Last appearance: 05.05.2007
Debut goal: 09.08.2006
Last goal: 09.12.2006
Contract expiry: 17.07.2007
Win ratio: 66.67% W:24 D:5 L:7
League games / goals / assists: 25 / 2 / 0
Total games / goals / assists: 36 / 3 / 0

Player Profile

Mark Dennis Gonzalez Hoffman was born to Chilean parents in South Africa as his father, Raul, was playing football there at the time. He was named after Mark Tovey and Dennis Wicks, both former teammates of his dad while playing for NSL champions Durban Bush Bucks during the mid-1980s. Mark Dennis revealed a coin was tossed to decide whose name would feature first, with "Mark" being the winner. Mark moved to Chile when he was ten-years-old but failed to get opportunities at top clubs and eventually ended up on the books of Everton! This was, however, a Chilean club called Everton de Viña del Mar. He made his breakthrough at one of Chile's top clubs, Universidad Católica. Gonzalez was spotted by Liverpool's first-team coach Paco Herrera, a former manager of Albacete, where the Chilean prospect was playing. Despite his excellent progress, he couldn't prevent Albacete from being relegated from the Spanish La Liga. A cruciate knee ligament injury in April 2005 threatened the move, but Liverpool's application for his work permit proved a bigger obstacle as Chile was outside the top 70 in the FIFA world rankings. Gonzalez' arrival at Liverpool was delayed by one year, of which he spent six months on loan at Real Sociedad, proving a great success for the Spanish side. Finally he got his permit in the summer of 2006 and his move to Liverpool became a reality.

Gonzalez' career at Anfield got off to a sensational start. He came on as a late substitute for Steven Gerrard in the home leg of the Champions League qualifier against Maccabi Haifa with the score delicately balanced at 1-1. Gonzalez received a pass from Alonso and clipped a precise shot past the goalkeeper and into the far corner of the net to ensure a vital victory on the night. Although he played a part in 36 of Liverpool's first-team matches during his one and only full season at Anfield, the goal against Haifa would prove to be the highlight. The Chilean was clearly out of his depth in the Premier League and in July 2007 Gonzalez signed a contract with Real Betis. He stayed at Betis until the summer of 2009, which coincided with the Seville club's relegation to the Spanish second tier. CSKA Moskva outbid Olympiacos in August 2009 that resulted in Gonzalez signing a five-year deal with the club from the Russian capital. He was a member of the Chile squad that was knocked out by Brazil in the first match of the knock-out stage at the South African World Cup. He played in all three of the group matches against Honduras, Switzerland and Spain and scored the winning goal against the Swiss as Chile finished as runners-up to Spain in Group H.

Gonzalez played in eleven league matches for CSKA Moscow during the 2012/13 season. He also played twice in the Europa League (both legs against AIK Stockholm in August 2012). In 2013/14 the winger made 7 league appearances for the Moscow club plus one in the Champions League (against Viktoria Plzen) before agreeing a loan move in January 2014 back to his first professional club, Universidad Católica in Santiago, Chile, a move which became permanent later that year when his contract with CSKA expired. In January 2016 he was on the move again, joining Brazilian side SC Recife. After a season there he returned to Chile with Colo-Colo, making just four appearances between January and April 2017. After being released from there he dropped to the Chilean second division, joining Deportivo Magallanes in February 2018 and after two seasons there he retired from playing in November 2019.
Appearances per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 25 0 2 8 1 36
2006-2007 25 0 2 8 1 36
A more detailed look at the player's appearances
Apps Minutes Opponent
4 78 PSV Eindhoven
3 141 Arsenal
2 154 Sheffield United
2 113 Manchester United
2 103 Reading
2 95 Maccabi Haifa
2 93 Fulham
2 88 Tottenham
2 87 Middlesbrough
2 56 Chelsea
2 35 West Ham United
1 90 Birmingham City
1 90 Wigan Athletic
1 69 Bolton Wanderers
1 68 Bordeaux
1 67 Charlton Athletic
1 66 Portsmouth
1 64 Blackburn Rovers
1 25 Manchester City
1 24 Galatasaray
1 24 Watford
1 5 Newcastle United
Total Started/substitutions
20 Started
7 On the bench
16 Substitute
16 Substituted
Total Venue
18 Home
17 Away
1 Neutral
Total Competition
25 Premier League
8 Champions League
2 League Cup
1 Community Shield
Total W D L Win % Manager
36 24 5 7 66.7% Rafa Benítez
Goals per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 2 0 0 1 0 3
2006-2007 2 0 0 1 0 3
A more detailed look at the player's goalscoring
Total Opponent
1 Fulham
1 Tottenham
1 Maccabi Haifa
Total Started/substitutions
1 Started
2 Substitute
Total Competition
2 Premier League
1 Champions League
Total Goal minute period
1 61-75 minutes
2 76-90 minutes
Total Goal origin
2 Open play
1 Direct freekick
Milestone Appearances
# Date Against Stadium Competition
1 09.08.2006 Maccabi Haifa Anfield Europe
Milestone Goals
# Minute Date Against Stadium Competition
1 88 09.08.2006 Maccabi Haifa Anfield Europe
Related Articles
Liverpool's Latin Americans

Declan Sloan has put together a complete record of every South American player to wear the famous Red Jersey, from Mauricio Pellegrino in 2005 to newly recruited Roberto Firmino.

Gonzalez gains reward for Anfield waiting game

Report on Liverpool 2 - Maccabi Haifa 1 in the Daily Post by Ian Doyle.

Gonzalez deal completes hat-trick of South American signings for Liverpool

In the Independent By Paul Walker - Published: 06 July 2006.

Player to Watch: Kid Gonzalez

Article from 3rd May 2004 by FIFAworldcup.com.

Related Quotes

"It's easy for me to keep things in perspective as I have seen difficult times too. I went from having it all in South Africa to starting again with nothing here. My family also keeps me rooted, as they are very down-to-earth people. Everything I have achieved so far has come from sacrifice and hard work, and that's how I intend to continue. My goal is to improve every single day,".

Mark Gonzalez

"I need to settle more to English football. I knew it would be difficult and it's going to take me more time to get used to it. I know I must do more, but I'm confident I will. I know sometimes people don't understand that you can make mistakes in a game and things don't always look perfect immediately, but I'll keep on working.

I just have to keep working hard to get myself fitter. It's a demanding league and it's not the same working on physical training as playing in games. The best way to adjust is always to play as much as possible, and at the moment I'm doing that. There are a lot of new players to the squad, and it's normal for it to take time. At the moment it's not happening, but hopefully it's not going to take long to gel using a system with the two wingers."

Mark Gonzalez in November 2006

"I always say ‘Vamos tata’ at kick-off in the first and second half. That means ‘Come on grandfather’. He is up there now but he is like my angel."

Mark Gonzalez' match routine

Other Clubs
Club Season Club rank League apps League goals Total apps Total goals
Universidad Catolica 2002-2004 Chile 1 42 10 54 10
Albacete 2004-2005 Spain 1 25 5 25 5
Real Sociedad 2006-2007 Spain 1 16 5 16 5
Real Betis 2007-2008 Spain 1 24 6 25 7
Real Betis 2008-2009 Spain 1 20 4 21 4
CSKA Moscow 2009-2010 Russia 1 21 3 27 4
CSKA Moscow 2010-2011 Russia 1 5 2 15 4
CSKA Moscow 2011-2012 Russia 1 0 0 0 0
CSKA Moscow 2012-2013 Russia 1 11 0 13 0
CSKA Moscow 2013-2014 Russia 1 7 0 9 0
Universidad Catolica 2014-2015 Chile 1 26 8 29 8
Universidad Catolica 2015-2016 Chile 1 9 5 14 7
Sport Recife 2016-2017 Brazil 1 8 1 10 1
Colo-Colo 2016-2017 Chile 1 4 0 4 0
Total 218 49 262 55