José Sand

Sand in 2011
Personal information
Full name	José Gustavo Sand
Date of birth	(1980-07-17) 17 July 1980 (age 44)
Place of birth	Bella Vista, Argentina
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1998–1999	River Plate
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1999–2000	Colón	5	(1)
2000–2001	Independiente Rivadavia	17	(0)
2001–2002	Vitória	13	(4)
2002–2003	Defensores de Belgrano	47	(20)
2004–2005	River Plate	42	(8)
2005–2006	Banfield	33	(10)
2006–2007	Colón	24	(7)
2007–2009	Lanús	67	(51)
2009–2011	Al Ain	30	(31)
2011	→ Deportivo La Coruña (loan)	5	(0)
2011–2012	Tijuana	34	(12)
2012–2013	Racing Club	21	(2)
2013–2014	Tigre	14	(1)
2014	Argentinos Juniors	7	(0)
2014	Boca Unidos	16	(4)
2015	Aldosivi	31	(12)
2016–2018	Lanús	52	(35)
2018	Deportivo Cali	31	(11)
2019–2023	Lanús	84	(42)
Total		573	(256)
International career
2008–2009	Argentina	2	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:02, 12 April 2022 (UTC)

José Gustavo Sand (born 17 July 1980), nicknamed Pepe, is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He made two appearances for the Argentina national team.

Born in Bella Vista, Corrientes, Sand started his professional career with River Plate in 1998. He then had his first spell with Colón between 1999 and 2000. In 2000, he dropped down a division to play for Independiente Rivadavia of the Argentine 2nd Division. In 2000, he joined Brazilian side Vitória. In 2002 Sand returned to Argentina to play for Defensores de Belgrano. He had a second spell with River Plate between 2004 and 2005. Between 2005 and 2006 he played for Banfield, and then returned to Colón in 2006 before joining Lanús in 2007.

Sand started his Lanús career by being sent off on his league debut in a 5–3 defeat to Independiente. He then scored ten goals in his next nine league games. His good scoring record of 15 goals in 15 games in his first tournament with Lanús established himself as a favourite amongst the fans. In 2007, he was part of the squad that won the Apertura 2007 tournament, Lanús' first ever top flight league title. Sand became top scorer in the Primera División Argentina for the first time in the Apertura 2008 championship with 15 goals in 19 games. In Clausura 2009 he became the first player to become top scorer in consecutive tournaments since Diego Maradona in 1980. Overall, he scored 50 goals in 67 league matches and 6 in 12 Copa Libertadores matches.

On 7 August 2009, Sand was sold to the Al Ain S.C.C. of Abu Dhabi at $10 million, and presented in Valencia, Spain before media from all over Spain, Argentina and the UAE. He was given the number 9, previously worn by teammate Faisal Ali.^[1] In his first match with Al Ain, he scored his first goal on 9 August in a 2–1 loss against Villarreal B. Sand started this season in great form, and score 33 goals in all competitions and scored three hat-tricks in the league against Al Ahli, Al Shabab & Emirates. Sand was awarded the 2009–10 Al Hadath Golden Boot, after scoring 24 goals in 20 league matches, averaging 1.2 goals per match.^[2]

On 31 January 2011, Deportivo La Coruña announced on their official website that they had acquired the services of Sand for €500,000 on loan for six-months. Deportivo also had a buyout option from Al Ain for €3 million, which could be fulfilled during the summer of that same year.^[3]

On 30 June 2011, Sand was sold to the Club Tijuana of Mexico for $4 million.^[4]

On 8 July 2012, Sand signed a contract with Racing Club in the Argentine Primera División.

After a successful spell at Aldosivi, Sand returned to Lanús in December 2015 with the club declaring that he had 'returned home'.^[5]

In January 2018, Sand joined Deportivo Cali to help spearhead the Colombian team's attack in their Copa Sudamericana campaign.^[6]

After one year in Deportivo Cali, Sand signed for Lanús for the third time. The deal was announced on 15 December 2018.^[7]

In light of his excellent club form, Sand received his first-ever international call up from Alfio Basile to replace the suspended Carlos Tevez in the national squad for the FIFA World Cup qualifier with Chile in Santiago on 15 October 2008. He made his second appearance for Argentina in a friendly match against Panama on 20 May 2009.

Sand's brother, Darío Sand, is also a professional footballer who has played for Club Agropecuario Argentino and San Martín de Tucumán.^[8] Sand's aunt, Nancy Sand, is a politician who served as mayor of his hometown of Bella Vista and as a member of the National Congress.^[9]

As of 1 January 2022^[10][11]

• José Sand – Argentine Primera statistics at Fútbol XXI at the Wayback Machine (archived 12 January 2012) (in Spanish)
• Jose Sand profile on the Lanús website at the Wayback Machine (archived 16 November 2007) (in Spanish)
• José Sand at Soccerway