Carlos Alberto Sánchez Moreno (born 6 February 1986) is a Colombian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

for Colombian club Santa Fe. He is nicknamed ''La Roca'' (''The Rock''), due to his strength. He began his career at River Plate Montevideo before moving to

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a ...

in 2007, where he made 178 Ligue 1 appearances and scored ten goals across six seasons. He later played in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

for

Elche Elche ( ca-valencia, Elx) is a city and municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2014 data, Elche has a population of 228,647 inhabitants,Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

, the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

for Aston Villa and

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

for

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

. A full international since 2007, Sánchez has earned over 80 caps for Colombia. He was part of the squads that reached the quarter-finals of the 2011 Copa América, 2014 FIFA World Cup and the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

, and finished third in the 2016

Copa América Centenario The Copa América Centenario ( pt, Copa América Centenário, french: Coupe Amerique Centennaire, en, Centennial Cup America; literally ''Centennial America Cup'') was an international men's association football tournament that was hosted by the ...

and 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Colombia

Born in

Quibdó Quibdó () is the capital city of Chocó Department, in Western Colombia, and is located on the Atrato River. The municipality of Quibdó has an area of 3,337.5 km² and a population of 129,237, predominantly Afro Colombian, including Zambo ...

, Chocó, Sánchez moved to a football school in Medellín and then onto Uruguayan club Danubio, where he signed his first professional contract in 2003 and was a teammate of

Edinson Cavani Edinson Roberto Cavani Gómez (; born 14 February 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Valencia and the Uruguay national team. Nicknamed ''El Matador'' ('The Bullfighter'), being known for his i ...

. However, he was released two years later, making no first-team appearances. In the summer of 2005, Sánchez joined fellow league team River Plate Montevideo. He featured in 40 matches during his two-year spell, scoring once.

Valenciennes

In July 2007, Sánchez was bought by a group of investors and was assigned to

Rangers de Talca Club Social de Deportes Rangers is a Chilean football club based in the city of Talca. The club was founded November 2, 1902 and plays in the second level of the Chilean football system. Their home games are played at the Fiscal stadium, which h ...

, subsequently moving abroad for the first time in his career, by agreeing to a five-year deal with Ligue 1 side

. He made his debut on 4 August, starting in a 3–1 home win against

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

. Sánchez featured regularly for the side in his debut campaign, and was an ever-present figure during the following seasons. In March 2010, he damaged his

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and th ...

, being sidelined nearly a year. After making 148 appearances for the club, scoring 8 goals in the league, Sánchez left the club in the summer of 2012 when his contract expired. After long negotiations with Bolton Wanderers and

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

, he failed to reach an agreement with any club, and subsequently rejoined his former club Valenciennes on 25 August 2012.

Elche

On 16 August 2013, Sánchez signed a three-year deal with Spanish side

, for a

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

3.7 million fee. He made his debut on 24 August, starting in a 1–1 home draw against Real Sociedad.

Aston Villa

On 15 August 2014, Aston Villa announced the signing of Sánchez on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee reported to be around £4.7 million. His first Villa appearance came eight days later when he replaced

Charles N'Zogbia Charles Humphrey N'Zogbia (born 28 May 1986) is a French former professional Association football, footballer who played as a right or left Midfielder#Winger, winger, but also as an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder. He was ca ...

as a substitute in the 62nd minute of a goalless draw with Newcastle United at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway station ...

. He made his first start for the club in their 3–0 home defeat against Arsenal on 20 September, after illness had ruled out some of his teammates. On 11 April 2015, he was sent off for two yellow cards as the team won 1–0 away to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater it had a capacity of 36,284 before demolition. ...

, causing him to miss their victory over

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

semi-final eight days later. Sánchez scored his first goal for Villa on 25 April, an 85th-minute deflected volleyed equaliser away to title holders Manchester City, but Fernandinho later netted a winner for City. He made a 19-minute substitute appearance in the

2015 FA Cup Final The 2015 FA Cup Final was an association football match played between Arsenal and Aston Villa at Wembley Stadium, London, on 30 May 2015. Organised by the Football Association (FA), it was the 134th final of the Football Association Challeng ...

on 30 May at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

in place of Ashley Westwood, in an eventual 4–0 loss to Arsenal.

Fiorentina

On 10 August 2016, after Villa's relegation, Sánchez was loaned to

club

for a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

. He made his debut ten days later as a 65th-minute substitute for Milan Badelj in a 2–1 loss away to reigning champions Juventus on the first day of the season. Eight days later, he made his first start in a 1–0 home win over

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona, which competes in the second ...

, in which he scored the goal. The move was made permanent at the end of the campaign.

RCD Espanyol

On 31 January 2018, Sánchez returned to La Liga on loan to

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league s ...

for the remainder of the

. He made his debut four days later in a 1–1 home draw with

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

in the ''

Derbi barceloní The Derbi Barceloní (; es, Derbi Barcelonés, ; "Barcelonian derby"), is the name given to football matches between FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol. Both clubs are located in the Barcelona metropolitan area, Spain. Rivalry In the first half of ...

'', playing the final four minutes in place of Léo Baptistão.

West Ham United

On 9 August 2018, Sánchez signed a two-year deal with

club

. Having made just six appearances, in September 2018 he injured his knee in an EFL Cup game against

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was wound-up after a High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 ...

requiring knee surgery. He returned to the first team in May 2019, playing in their 3–0 home win against

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. In June 2020, West Ham confirmed his departure from the club at the end of the month.

Watford

On 4 March 2021, Sanchez joined English side

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

on a short-term deal until the end of the 2020–21 season. He left

at the end of the season following the expiration of his contract.

International career

Sánchez made his international debut against

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

on 9 May 2007. He was then included in the 34-man provisional squad for the

Copa América 2007 Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Computer Operator Programming Assistant. trade of ITI * Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet * Canadian Owners and Pilots Asso ...

, but later dropped for the final list. He was in the first team for all of Colombia's matches for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification including the 2–1 victory over

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

on 20 November 2007 in Bogotá. At the 2011 Copa América, he started three of Colombia's four matches as they reached the quarter-finals, coming into the team at the expense of Gustavo Bolívar after the opening game. He played in all five of Colombia's matches in the FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil in 2014, playing a defensive role which allowed

James Rodríguez James David Rodríguez Rubio (born 12 July 1991) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a winger for Super League Greece club Olympiacos and the Colombia national team. He has been praised in the past ...

and

Juan Cuadrado Juan Guillermo Cuadrado Bello (born 26 May 1988) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays for club Juventus and the Colombia national team. He is known for his direct style of play, including his pace (both on and off the ball) as wel ...

to be attacking midfielders. Sánchez was included in Colombia's squad for the

, where he was credited with "dominating"

Neymar Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (born 5 February 1992), known as Neymar, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Brazil national team. A prolific goalscorer and renowned ...

during his man of the match performance in the 1–0 group stage defeat of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

. His performance at the 2018 FIFA World Cup was poor. He got a red card for stretching his hand to block

Shinji Kagawa Shinji Kagawa ( ja, 香川真司 ''Kagawa Shinji'' ; born 17 March 1989) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Belgian First Division A club Sint-Truiden and the Japan national team. He is widely regarded as one o ...

's shot in the 3rd minute against Japan, giving away a penalty and led to a 2–1 win for the Japanese. Then in the round-of-16, when defending a

corner kick A corner kick is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defending team. The kick is take ...

, he pulled down

Harry Kane Harry Edward Kane (born 28 July 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Tottenham Hotspur and captains the England national team. A prolific goalscorer with strong link play, Kane is regarded as one of ...

in the 57th minute to give away a penalty, which Kane converted. Only

José Batista José Alberto Batista González (born 6 March 1962) is an Uruguayan retired footballer who played as a defender, and a manager. He is best known for having received a red card after 56 seconds – a World Cup record – in the 1986 game against ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

was sent off earlier in a World Cup game. Sánchez received death threats for his red card, which were likened by

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

to the assassination of Colombia player

Andrés Escobar Andrés Escobar Saldarriaga (; 13 March 1967 – 2 July 1994) was a Colombian footballer who played as a defender. He played for Atlético Nacional, BSC Young Boys, and the Colombia national team. Nicknamed ''The Gentleman'', he was known ...

for his own goal at the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

. Manager

José Pékerman José Néstor Pékerman Krimen (; born 3 September 1949) is an Argentine professional football coach and current manager of the Venezuela national team. As a youth level coach for Argentina, he won the FIFA World Youth Championship three times, ...

dedicated the team's 3–0 win over

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

to the suspended Sánchez.

Personal life

Sánchez is married to Noelia Polvoria, whom he met in Montevideo.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Colombia * Copa América third place:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Aston Villa *

runner-up: 2014–15

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Carlos 1986 births Living people People from Quibdó Colombian footballers Association football midfielders Danubio F.C. players Club Atlético River Plate (Montevideo) players Valenciennes FC players Elche CF players RCD Espanyol footballers Aston Villa F.C. players ACF Fiorentina players West Ham United F.C. players Watford F.C. players Independiente Santa Fe footballers Uruguayan Primera División players Ligue 1 players La Liga players Serie A players Premier League players Categoría Primera A players Colombia international footballers 2011 Copa América players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 Copa América players Copa América Centenario players 2018 FIFA World Cup players Colombian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Uruguay Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Italy Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Uruguay Colombian expatriate sportspeople in France Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Colombian expatriate sportspeople in England Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Colombian people of African descent FA Cup Final players Sportspeople from Chocó Department