Enner Remberto Valencia Lastra (born 4 November 1989) is an Ecuadorian 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 forward for

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

club Fenerbahçe and

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

the Ecuador national team. He previously played for Emelec in Ecuador, where he won the 2013 Ecuadorian Serie A and was awarded the Copa Sudamericana Golden Boot in 2013. Valencia also played for

Pachuca Pachuca (; ote, Nju̱nthe), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Hidalgo. It is located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca de Soto is also the name of the municipality of whi ...

in Mexico, being awarded the Liga MX Golden Boot in the 2014 Clausura tournament. He joined English club

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 ...

for an estimated £12 million in July 2014. In August 2016, Valencia went out on loan to Everton for the season, before being sold to Mexican club

Tigres UANL Club de Fútbol Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, simply known as Tigres UANL or Tigres, is a Mexican professional football club based in San Nicolás de los Garza, a city in the Monterrey metropolitan area, Nuevo León. Found ...

in July 2017. At Tigres, he won Liga MX's 2017 Apertura and 2019 Clausura tournaments, and finished runner-up in the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League, winning the latter competition's Golden Boot. In August 2020, Valencia signed for Fenerbahçe in Turkey. At the international level, Valencia has earned over 70 caps for Ecuador since his debut in 2012. He represented the nation at the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and

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, and the Copa América in 2015,

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2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and

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. With 38 goals, Valencia is Ecuador's all-time top goalscorer, and holds the record for the most goals scored in the World Cup for Ecuador, with six.

Club career

Emelec

Valencia came to

Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...

to trial for Emelec in 2008 from Caribe Junior's youth system, the same team where Ecuador star

Antonio Valencia Luis Antonio Valencia Mosquera, known as Antonio Valencia (; born 4 August 1985), is an Ecuadorian former professional footballer who played primarily as a right-sided player throughout his career, initially as a right winger, before developin ...

played in his early years. In 2008, he was transferred to Emelec. From 2008 to early 2010 he received no opportunities in the first team, but with the arrival of the Argentinian coach Jorge Sampaoli, Valencia started to receive playtime opportunities. Emelec were runners-up to champions LDU Quito, losing 2–1 on aggregate score. Valencia scored nine league goals in 30 league matches in 2011. In November 2012, he scored five goals in five separate matches against El Nacional, LDU Loja, Técnico Universitario, and twice against

Manta Manta or mantas may refer to: * Manta ray, large fish belonging to the genus ''Manta'' Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * Manta (comics), a character in American Marvel Comics publications * Manta (''Uridium''), a spaceship in the Br ...

in both home and away matches, winning four of the five matches, only drawing against LDU Loja. This brought his goal tally to 13 goals scored in 40 league matches played, his best season yet, but for a third season in a row, the team was runner-up to league champions and club rivals Barcelona SC. On 7 August 2013, Valencia scored his first career

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

against Peruvian side

Sport Huancayo Club Sport Huancayo is a Peruvian football club based in Huancayo, Junín. The club play in the Peruvian Primera División since 2009, having gained promotion after winning the 2008 Copa Perú. History Founding On February 7, 2007, ''Hu ...

, in a 4–0 2013 Copa Sudamericana first round match. He finished the season as league champions with Emelec, the club's first since 2002.

Pachuca

After numerous rumours involving the interest of Liga MX side

for Valencia, both parties came to terms and agreed on a transfer. On 18 January 2014, Valencia scored his first goal in a 2–1 victory against

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

. The following week he scored two goals to in Pachuca's first away win league match against league champions

Club León Club León Fútbol Club, also known as León, is a Mexican professional football club based in León, Guanajuato, that competes in the Liga MX, the top flight of Mexican football. León has won the Primera División de México/Liga MX title ...

. He finished the regular season as the top goal-scorer with 12 goals, scoring various braces for Pachuca. Valencia scored his first hat-trick against

UNAM The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigge ...

in a 2–4 away win to advance in the 2014 Liga MX Clausura play-offs.

West Ham United

2014–15

On 29 July 2014,

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 ...

club

completed the transfer of Valencia, on a five-year contract for a fee estimated at £12 million. He later confirmed that he knew little about West Ham before signing and that he mainly knew of them having watched

hooligan Hooliganism is disruptive or unlawful behavior such as rioting, bullying and vandalism, usually in connection with crowds at sporting events. Etymology There are several theories regarding the origin of the word ''hooliganism,'' which is a ...

films such as the 2005 release of '' Green Street'' starring

Elijah Wood Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of Frodo Baggins in the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003) and '' The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'' (2012). Woo ...

. Valencia made his West Ham debut on 16 August 2014 in a 1–0 home defeat 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 ...

coming on as an 81st-minute substitute for Carlton Cole. On 27 August, he had his penalty saved by Mark Howard as West Ham were knocked out at home in the second round of the

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 ...

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

. Valencia's first goal for West Ham came in his full league debut, against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

on 15 September 2014, in a 2–2 draw. The strike, timed at , was described by journalist Henry Winter of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' as an "exceptional goal". Valencia went on to score two more goals for West Ham in the following weeks, including a header in a 3–1 away win at

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

, and a goal in a 2–2 draw with Stoke City.

2015–16

His first match of his second season was on 30 July 2015 in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

third qualifying round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

first leg at home against

Astra Giurgiu Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian football club based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ''Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română'', it spent th ...

; he headed West Ham into the lead but was one of two players substituted through injury in the first half as the team eventually drew 2–2. It was confirmed that he had suffered "significant" injuries to his right knee and ankle, and was ruled out for twelve weeks. Valencia scored his first league goals of the 2015–16 season with two in a 3–1 comeback win against AFC Bournemouth on 12 January 2016, including a powerfully hit free-kick.

Loan to Everton

On 31 August 2016, Valencia signed for Everton on a season-long loan, with the option of a permanent £14.5 million move in the summer of 2017. Valencia scored his first league goal for Everton when he fired home from close range in a 3–0 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 ...

on 2 January 2017.

Tigres UANL

On 13 July 2017, Valencia signed for

for a fee of 4.2 million.

Fenerbahçe

On 28 August 2020, Valencia signed for

club Fenerbahçe on a free transfer.

International career

After playing for the nation's under-22 team at the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, ...

, Valencia made his debut for

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 12 February 2012 in a friendly against Honduras. Valencia initially began his career as a winger, but was converted to play as a striker by Emelec coach Gustavo Quinteros. Reinaldo Rueda started experimenting with Valencia as a striker after the untimely death of

Christian Benítez Christian Rogelio Benítez Betancourt (1 May 1986 – 29 July 2013), also known as Chucho, was an Ecuadorian professional footballer who played as a striker. He began his career with El Nacional in Ecuador and then joined Santos Laguna, with ...

. After making three appearances in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, he scored his first international goal in a 2–2 draw against Honduras on 19 November 2013. He continued his good form in 2014, scoring in three of Ecuador's four pre-tournament friendlies. On 5 March, he scored, assisted a goal and won 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. ...

as ''La Tri'' came from 3–0 down to defeat Australia 4–3. He then scored the team's only goal in a 3–1 loss against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and gave them an early lead in a 2–2 draw with

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

. In June 2014, Valencia was named in Ecuador's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. On 15 June, he made his

debut in the team's opening match against Switzerland at the

Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha Arena BRB Mané Garrincha, formerly Estádio Nacional de Brasília Mané Garrincha, also known as ''Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha'', ''Estádio Nacional de Brasília'', ''Arena Mané Garrincha'' or simply ''Mané Garrincha'', is a football ...

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

, opening the scoring with a header in a 2–1 defeat. In Ecuador's second match, Valencia scored both goals to defeat Honduras 2–1 in

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in Brazil's South Region. The Curitiba Metropolitan area ...

. He continued his good form after the

, scoring the third goal of a 4–0 victory against Bolivia. On 10 October, Valencia again netted for Ecuador in the 88th minute over the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, which ended in a 1–1 draw. His swerving, right-footed shot took a right turn on its way towards the goal, making it impossible for goalkeeper

Brad Guzan Bradley Edwin Guzan (; born September 9, 1984) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club Atlanta United FC. A college soccer second-team All-American for the South Carolina Gamecocks, Gu ...

to stop. In Ecuador's second

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

match at 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, ...

in Chile, Valencia successfully converted a penalty to Bolivia, but the kick had to be taken again due to an opponent's infringement; the re-take was saved by Romel Quiñónez. He later scored from close range, but Ecuador lost 2–3 nonetheless. Four days later in

Rancagua Rancagua () is a city and commune in central Chile and part of the Rancagua conurbation. It is the capital of the Cachapoal Province and of the O'Higgins Region, located south of the national capital of Santiago. It was originally named Sant ...

, Valencia set up Miller Bolaños' opener and scored Ecuador's second goal as they won 2–1 against Mexico, eliminating the opponents. On 8 October 2021, in a 2022 World Cup qualification match against Bolivia, Valencia scored his 32nd and 33rd international goals, becoming the Ecuador national team's all time top goal scorer. In the opening game of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Valencia scored the first goal of the tournemant with a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...

. Valencia scored both of Ecuador's goals in the same match, their 2–0 win over tournament hosts

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

in the opening match at the

2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first ...

. In doing so, he became Ecuador's record goalscorer at World Cup final tournaments, with five goals. On 25 November 2022, Valencia scored in a 1–1 tie against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, thus becoming the first South American player to score six consecutive times in the World Cup.

Personal life

Valencia hails from

Esmeraldas Province Esmeraldas () is a province in northwestern Ecuador. The capital is Esmeraldas. The province is home to the Afro-Ecuadorian culture. Demographics Ethnic groups as of the Ecuadorian census of 2010: * Mestizo 44.7% * Afro-Ecuadorian 43.9% ...

and is of Afro-Ecuadorian descent. He came from a poor family and when he arrived at Emelec, he had to sleep in rudimentary lodgings at the club's

Estadio George Capwell Estadio Banco del Pacífico Capwell is a multi-purpose stadium in Guayaquil, Ecuador. It is currently used mostly for football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Un ...

, as he had no money to stay anywhere else and at times struggled to buy enough to eat. In October 2016, a warrant was issued for his arrest in Ecuador for unpaid child support. In August 2020, Valencia's sister, Erci was taken hostage in San Lorenzo by an armed gang and held for 10 days before being released unharmed.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Ecuador score listed first, score column indicates score after each Valencia goal''

Honours

Emelec *

Ecuadorian Serie A The Liga Pro Betcris, simply known as the Liga Pro, or the Serie A, is a professional football league in Ecuador. At the top of the Ecuadorian football league system, it is the country's premier football competition. Contested by sixteen clubs, i ...

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Tigres UANL * Liga MX: Apertura 2017, Clausura 2019 * Campeones Cup:

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Individual *Serie A Best Player:

* Copa Sudamericana top scorer:

* Liga MX top scorer: Clausura 2014 *Liga MX Best XI: Apertura 2017 * CONCACAF Champions League Golden Boot:

*CONCACAF Champions League Team of the Tournament: 2019

References

External links

Profile
at the Fenerbahçe S.K. website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Valencia, Enner 1989 births Living people People from San Lorenzo Canton Ecuadorian footballers Association football wingers Association football forwards C.S. Emelec footballers C.F. Pachuca players West Ham United F.C. players Everton F.C. players Tigres UANL footballers Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Ecuadorian Serie A players Liga MX players Premier League players Süper Lig players Ecuador international footballers Footballers at the 2011 Pan American Games 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 Copa América players Copa América Centenario players 2019 Copa América players 2021 Copa América players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Pan American Games competitors for Ecuador Ecuadorian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Turkey Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in England Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey