Joao Grimaldo

2020–2022: Rise to the first team

In 2021 Grimaldo already established himself in the team's starting lineup, and had a good season for La Celeste, playing 27 games and scoring one goal. During a match against Racing for the Copa Libertadores, he entered the starting lineup. However, the match was unsuccessful for both Joao and the club, which lost 2-0. However, Cristal had an excellent performance in the domestic cups, since on May 30 he won Phase 1 against the San Martín University 2-0 with goals from Hohberg and Riquelme. The following month, on June 25, he scored his first goal in a match against Ayacucho de Huamanga. The goalkeeper was Maximiliano Cavallotti. On the 27th of the following month, he won the Bicentennial Cup, against Carlos Mannucci, with Joao Grimaldo scoring a goal in the tournament.

By the beginning of 2022, Joao was shaping up to be one of those included in the first team. During the 2022 League 1, his scoring average increased considerably, going from 0.09 last year to 0.38 during the current championship.^[2] However, despite his growing figure in Peruvian soccer, he was not considered by the coach of the senior team at that moment. In April, Joao played a match with Sporting Cristal against San Martín for the opening championship, where he scored two goals.^[3] In September, he suffered the first expulsion of his career, playing against Binacional at the Guillermo Briceño Rosamedina.^[4] The semifinal of La Liga was played against the Foot Ball Club Melgar, on November 2 and 6. The first match was won by Melgar, at the Monumental, 2-0, while the second ended with the same result for the rival, at the Nacional de Lima. In this match, during the 36th minute, Grimaldo was removed and had suffered muscle discomfort in his right leg after a hard challenge from Alec Deneumostier nineteen minutes into the game.^[5] At the end of the season, in which Cristal finished 3rd in the national championship, Grimaldo ended up scoring a total of 4 goals in 25 games played.^{[6][better source needed]}