Carlos Andrés Villanueva Rolland (born 5 February 1986) is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an football player who plays as a

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 boundarie ...

for Audax Italiano.

Club career

Audax Italiano

In the

Copa Libertadores 2007 The 2007 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2007 Copa Toyota Libertadores de América for sponsorship reasons) was the 48th edition of the Copa Libertadores. It started on January 24, 2007 and finished on June 20, 2007. It was won by ...

, the left-footed playmaker was the hub of Audax Italiano. The team was not able to qualify for the knockout phase due to goal differential. Villanueva was rewarded with a call-up to Chile's

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 ...

squad.

Blackburn Rovers

On 17 July 2008, it was confirmed by Villanueva's agents and also former club that Villanueva would play for the

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

of 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 ...

in England. He also confirmed this on 29 July, pending a work permit being issued. On 2 August, Villanueva completed his season-long loan move to Blackburn. The club had the option to make the deal permanent, at a pre-agreed fee. Villanueva also agreed terms to extend his contract for a further three years, if the option is exercised. On 27 August, Villanueva made his debut for Blackburn in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

game against

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

, a match in which he scored his first goal for the club. He also set up a goal for striker

Matt Derbyshire Matthew Anthony Derbyshire (born 14 April 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Indian Super League club NorthEast United. He played for Blackburn Rovers for five years, and had loan spells with Plymouth Argy ...

in the 4–1 win. His debut was delayed by a few weeks due to the virus, chicken pox which forced him to stay away from club training facilities, so that he did not pass on the virus to other staff. On 20 September, Villanueva made his (home) debut in the Premier League as a late second-half substitute against Fulham, his impact was immediate and substantial. Linking up well to provide a looping cross for

Roque Santa Cruz Roque Luis Santa Cruz Cantero (; born 16 August 1981) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Paraguayan club Club Libertad. He is the record goal scorer and has earned over 100 caps for the Paraguay national team, ...

to head down for the winning goal, which was converted by Derbyshire. He made his full starting Premier League debut on 27 September, against Newcastle United at St. James' Park, getting an assist providing a cross for a headed goal for

Christopher Samba Veijeany Christopher Samba (born 28 March 1984), known as Christopher Samba, is a former professional footballer who played as a defender. Born in France, he played for the Congo national team. Samba notably played in the Premier League for ...

. On 5 January 2009, he scored a free kick against

Blyth Spartans Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is a football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park. They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secretary before fo ...

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 ...

giving his team the lead, and on 4 February he assisted two goals against Sunderland in the FA Cup. On 11 April, he played in the Premier League for the first time since

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (; born 19 October 1954), colloquially referred to as Big Sam, is an English football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football Lea ...

took charge of Blackburn.

Al-Shabab

On 15 May 2009, Audax Italiano Villanueva signed for Al Shabab, the Emirati club paid Audax about $5 million. Although he publicly stated he wished to have stayed at Blackburn and tried to established himself in one of the world's top leagues.

Universidad Católica

On 4 February 2013, Al Shabab confirms that Villanueva will play on loan at Universidad Católica until 31 May.

Al-Ittihad

On 15 July 2016, Villanueva joined Al Ittihad, in the Saudi Professional League.

Magallanes

In June 2022, Villanueva rescinded his contract with

Palestino Club Deportivo Palestino is a professional football club based in the city of Santiago, Chile. The club was founded in 1920 and plays in the Primera División de Chile. They play their home games at the Estadio Municipal de La Cisterna stadi ...

and moved to Primera B club Magallanes. He ended his contract in December 2023.

Return to Audax Italiano

In 2024, he rejoined Audax Italiano after fifteen years.

International career

Villanueva represented Chile U17 at the

2003 South American U-17 Championship The 2003 South American Under-17 Football Championship was played in Bolivia from 1 to 18 May 2003. The competition was originally scheduled for February 28-March 16 in Venezuela, Maracay - it was postponed to May and moved to Santa Cruz de la Sie ...

and Chile U20 at the

2005 South American U-20 Championship The 2005 South American Youth Championship (Sudamericana sub-20) was a football competition contested by all ten U-20 national football teams of CONMEBOL. The tournament was held in Colombia between 13 January and 6 February 2005, it was the 22n ...

. He was also capped for the senior squad and played for Chile in the

, where he scored a superb free kick goal against

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

on his first official game with the senior squad. He is also credited with an assist during Chile's qualifier game at

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 ...

. However, he was not called up to the 30-man preliminary squad for

for the South Africa World Cup.

International goals

Personal life

The Villanueva family has a close friendship with the footballer Luis Jiménez's family. In addition to the fact that Villanueva coincided with Jiménez in

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad (Arabic: الاتحاد "The Union"), sometimes transliterated as Al-Etihad or Al-Ettihad may refer to: Sports Football Libya *Al-Ittihad Club (Tripoli), a football club based in Bab Ben Gashier * Al Ittihad Gheryan, a football club bas ...

, Jiménez and his wife, María José, are the

godparent In infant baptism and denominations of Christianity, a godparent (also known as a sponsor, or '' gossiprede'') is someone who bears witness to a child's christening and later is willing to help in their catechesis, as well as their lifelon ...

s of the Villanueva's son as well as Villanueva and his wife are the godparents of the Jiménez's children.

Honours

Club

;Al-Ittihad *

Crown Prince Cup The Saudi Crown Prince's Cup ( ar, كأس ولي العهد) was the Saudi Arabian annual cup competition. It was the oldest domestic football competition in Saudi Arabia, its first edition was held in 1956–57, but was not crowned from 1975 unti ...

: 2016–17 *

King Cup The King Cup (sometimes spelled King's), officially known as The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Cup ( ar, كأس خادم الحرمين الشريفين), is the Saudi Arabian football knockout cup competition, run by the Saudi Arabian Foot ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

Individual

*Saudi Professional League Player of the Season: 2017–18 *

Top goalscorer:

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Villanueva, Carlos 1986 births Footballers from Viña del Mar Living people Chilean people of French descent Men's association football midfielders Chilean men's footballers Chile men's international footballers Chile men's youth international footballers Chile men's under-20 international footballers Chilean expatriate men's footballers Deportes La Serena footballers Audax Italiano footballers Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Al Shabab Al Arabi Club (Dubai) players Club Deportivo Universidad Católica footballers Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah) players Al-Fayha FC players Club Deportivo Palestino footballers Deportes Magallanes footballers Chilean Primera División players Premier League players UAE Pro League players Saudi Pro League players Primera B de Chile players 2007 Copa América players Expatriate men's footballers in England Chilean expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Chilean expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia