Cristian Sleiker Cásseres Yépes Jr. (born 20 January 2000) is a Venezuelan 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 le ...

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

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

club

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 Par ...

and the Venezuela national team.

Club career

Early

Born in

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

, Venezuela, Cásseres began his career in the youth ranks of

Atlético Venezuela Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico * Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy * Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic ...

playing as a striker. After leaving Atlético he joined the youth ranks of

Deportivo La Guaira Deportivo La Guaira (formerly known as Real Esppor) is a professional Football (soccer), football club promoted to the Primera División Venezolana, Venezuelan league in 2009, based in La Guaira but playing its home games in Caracas at the Estadi ...

and was converted into a midfielder. On 27 September 2016, he scored four goals for the Under 20 side of Deportivo in a 4–2 victory over his former club Atlético Venezuela.

Deportivo La Guaira

On 9 October 2016, Cásseres Jr. made his professional debut for La Guaria at the age of 16 in a

Venezuelan Primera División The Primera División (; en, First Division), or Liga Venezolana (; en, Venezuelan League) is the top-flight professional football league of Venezuela. It was created in 1921 and turned professional in 1957. It is organized by the Federación V ...

match against

, playing 33 minutes in the 3–3 draw. During the 2017 season, Cásseres became a fixture in the starting lineup for La Guaria due to his fine play. On 10 May 2017, Cásseres scored his first goal as a professional in a 3–1 victory over

Zulia FC Zulia Fútbol Club was a professional football club that last competed in the Primera División Venezolana. The club was based in Maracaibo, Zulia State, Venezuela, and it's internationally recognized for his participation in the 2019 Copa Sudame ...

New York Red Bulls

On 2 February 2018, it was announced that Cásseres Jr. had signed with

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. Cásseres Jr. was loaned to affiliate side

New York Red Bulls II New York Red Bulls II is an American professional soccer team based in Montclair, New Jersey. They are the reserve team of the New York Red Bulls and play in MLS Next Pro, the third tier in the American soccer pyramid. History Red Bull New Yo ...

during March 2018. On 17 March 2018, he made his first appearance for Red Bulls II, appearing as second-half substitute in a 2–1 victory over

Toronto FC II Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, who play in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as well as i ...

in the opening match of the season. On 9 June 2018, he scored his first goal for New York, scoring on a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

to help his side to a 4–2 victory over

Charlotte Independence Charlotte Independence is an American soccer team based in Charlotte, North Carolina that plays in the USL League One, the third tier of the American soccer pyramid. The Independence currently play their home games at American Legion Memorial ...

. On 29 August 2018, Cásseres Jr. made his first team debut, appearing as a starter for

in a 1–0 victory over

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establi ...

. On 6 April 2019, Cásseres Jr. scored his first goal for New York in a 2–1 loss to

Minnesota United Minnesota United FC is an American professional soccer club based in Saint Paul, Minnesota that plays in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer. The club began play in 2017 as the league's 22nd club, and replaced the North American So ...

. On 8 November, Cásseres Jr. was named the New York Red Bulls Defensive Player of the Year for 2019. For the next several years Cásseres Jr. became a fixture in the Red Bull midfield. On 17 October 2021, Cásseres Jr. scored the winning goal for Red Bulls in 1–0 victory in the

Hudson River Derby The Hudson River Derby, also known as the New York derby, is the name given to the soccer local derby between the two teams based in the New York metropolitan area, New York Red Bulls and New York City FC. First played in 2015, the rivalry betwe ...

over rival

New York City FC New York City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in New York City that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of American soccer, as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The club is co-owned ...

. On 24 April 2022, Cásseres Jr. scored his first goal of the season for New York in a 3–0 victory over

Orlando City SC Orlando City SC is an American professional soccer club in Orlando, Florida, that competes as a member of the Eastern Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). Orlando City SC began play in 2015 as the 21st franchise in MLS, succeeding the USL ...

. On 27 August 2022, Cásseres Jr. recorded two assists in a 3–1 victory against

Inter Miami Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami, known as Inter Miami CF or simply Inter Miami, is an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. Established in 2018, the club began play in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the 2 ...

, and was named to the MLS Team of the Week for Week 27. On 31 August 2022, Cásseres Jr. assisted Lewis Morgan on the lone goal of the match in a 1–0 victory over

CF Montréal CF Montréal is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Montréal, Québec, Canada. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1992 as the Montreal Impact (french: Impact de Montréal, links=no), ...

, helping his club register its record ninth road win of the season. On 24 June 2023, Cásseres Jr. scored his first goal of the season for New York in a 4–0 victory over

Atlanta United Atlanta United FC, commonly known as Atlanta United, is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. Founded in 2014, Atlanta United began pl ...

Toulouse

On 7 July 2023, Cásseres Jr. signed with

side

for an undisclosed fee.

International career

Cásseres Jr. has featured regularly for his country's U-17 team, playing at the

2017 South American Under-17 Football Championship The 2017 South American Under-17 Football Championship ( es, Campeonato Sudamericano Sub-17 Chile 2017, pt-BR, Campeonato Sul-Americano Sub-17 Chile 2017) was the 17th edition of the South American Under-17 Football Championship, a association fo ...

. In April 2017, Cásseres Jr. was called into training with the Venezuela under-20 team in preparation for the

2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 21st edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 as ...

. He made his

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exam ...

debut on 9 October 2020 in a World Cup qualifier game against

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Personal life

Cásseres was born into a football family: his father

Cristian Cásseres Cristian Alfonso Cásseres (born 29 June 1977) is a Venezuelan football (soccer), football striker who made a total number of 28 appearances (two goals) for the Venezuela national football team, Venezuela national team between 1999 and 2008, and ...

represented the Venezuela national team 28 times, scoring two goals, and also played for

's first team while Cristian Jr. played for the U14 team.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

New York Red Bulls *

MLS Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 1 ...

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 United ...

References

External links

*
Profile on deportivolaguaira.com.ve
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cásseres Jr., Cristian 2000 births Living people Venezuelan men's footballers Footballers from Caracas Men's association football midfielders Venezuela men's international footballers Venezuela men's under-20 international footballers Venezuela men's youth international footballers 2021 Copa América players Venezuelan Primera División players Major League Soccer players USL Championship players Ligue 1 players New York Red Bulls players New York Red Bulls II players Toulouse FC players Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France 21st-century Venezuelan people 2024 Copa América players