Joan Isaac Cuenca López (born 27 April 1991) is a Spanish 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 winger. Formed at

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, where he made 30 total appearances, he also represented Deportivo and

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

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's ...

, additionally playing top-flight football in the Netherlands, Turkey, Israel and Japan.

Club career

Early years

Born in

Reus Reus () is the capital of Baix Camp, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The area has always been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental importance at the time of the Phylloxera plague. Nowadays it is k ...

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, Cuenca began playing football with local Unió Barri Juroca, going on to have spells with

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 sy ...

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. Founded ...

, UE Barri Santes Creus,

CF Reus Deportiu Club de Futbol Reus Deportiu, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Reus, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1909, it last competed in the Segunda Division (while its B team competed in the Tercera Division) before foldi ...

and

CF Damm Club de Futbol Damm is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Barcelona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1954, it is dedicated to youth football. Their ''Juvenil A'' squad play in the Group III of th ...

before return to

La Masia La Masia de Can Planes, usually shortened to La Masia (; en, "The Farmhouse"), is a term used for FC Barcelona's youth academy. The academy includes more than 300 young players. It has been an instrumental factor in Barcelona's European success ...

in 2009. He made his senior debut in the 2010–11 season, being loaned to another club in his native region,

CE Sabadell FC Centre d'Esports Sabadell Futbol Club, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team based in Sabadell, a city in the province of Barcelona in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1903, it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holdi ...

of the

third division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

; he made an immediate impact, starting in 24 of his appearances and totalling 2,288 minutes as the ''Arlequinats'' returned to the second level after an 18-year absence. In July 2011, Cuenca returned to Barcelona and joined its B-team, alongside Martí Riverola. Shortly after, he was called by first-team manager

Pep Guardiola Josep "Pep" Guardiola Sala (; born 18 January 1971) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of club Manchester City. He is considered one of the greatest managers of all time and holds the re ...

to the pre-season, and made his debut on 23 July against

HNK Hajduk Split Hrvatski nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split () or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, t ...

Barcelona

Cuenca made his official debut for ''Barça B'' on 4 September 2011, playing the last 29 minutes in a 4–0 away win against

FC Cartagena Fútbol Club Cartagena, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Cartagena, in the Region of Murcia, Spain. Founded in 1995 it currently plays in Segunda División, holding home games at ''Estadio Cartagonova'', with a capacity of 15,105 spe ...

and scoring the last goal of the match. On 19 October he made his first official appearance for the main squad, coming on as a substitute for

David Villa David Villa Sánchez (; born 3 December 1981) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a striker. Villa is regarded by pundits as one of the best forwards of his generation, and one of the best Spanish strikers of all time. ...

in the dying minutes of a 2–0 home victory over

FC Viktoria Plzeň Football Club Viktoria Plzeň () is a Czech professional football club based in Plzeň. They play in the Czech First League, the top division of football in the country. As runners-up in the 1970–71 Czechoslovak Cup, the club gained the right ...

in the season's

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

. On 25 October 2011, after another game on the bench, Cuenca made his

debut, playing the full 90 minutes and being booked in a 1–0 away win against

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. (), known simply as Granada, is a Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that plays in the Segunda División, after being relegated from La Liga in the 2021� ...

. Four days later, again as a starter, he scored in a 5–0 home rout of

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

, assisted by

Adriano Adriano or Adrião is the form of the Latin given name ''Hadrianus'' commonly used in the Italian language; the form Adrian is used in the English language. Notable people with the name include: * Adriano Banchieri, Italian composer, music theori ...

. On 3 December 2011, Cuenca netted his second league goal, playing the entire 5–0 home win against

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante ...

. On 31 January 2012 he signed a contract extension, keeping him at the club until June 2015, and also switched permanently to the first team, being assigned jersey number 23. Cuenca spent the first half of

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

nursing a knee injury. On 31 January 2013, he was loaned to

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

side

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

until 30 June. He was given the number 11 shirt, which was previously worn by

Lorenzo Ebecilio Lorenzo Ebecilio (born 24 September 1991) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Vierde Divisie club DHSC. An Ajax academy product, he debuted for Ajax in the 2010–11 Eredivisie. During the first two seasons, despit ...

; that jersey, however, was reserved for league and

Dutch Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

matches, while he wore number 28 in the team

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

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. It ...

, as Ebecilio had already made continental appearances with the club wearing the former number during the campaign. Cuenca made his debut for his new team 10 February 2013, against

Roda JC Kerkrade Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; Ripuarian: ), also known as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie. ...

at the

Amsterdam Arena The Johan Cruyff Arena ( nl, Johan Cruijff Arena ; officially stylised as Johan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam and the home stadium of football club AFC Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to 1996 ...

, assisting

Daley Blind Daley Blind (; born 9 March 1990) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder, left-back or centre-back for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the Netherlands national team. He is the son of former Ajax defender and fo ...

in his first ever goal for Ajax as the match ended in a 1–1 draw. However, in March, he suffered another knee injury, being sidelined for a further four months; he underwent surgery in early June, returning to training in October.

Deportivo

On 10 July 2014, Cuenca and Barcelona reached an agreement to terminate the player's contract, due to expire in June 2015, due to technical reasons. Late in the same day, he signed a one-year deal with fellow league team

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. They currently p ...

. Cuenca made his debut for the club on 23 August 2014, replacing Toché in a 2–1 away loss to Granada, and scored his first goal eight days later, netting a last-minute equalizer in a 2–2 home draw against

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Lig ...

. The

Galicians Galicians ( gl, galegos, es, gallegos, link=no) are a Celtic-Romance ethnic group from Spain that is closely related to the Portuguese people and has its historic homeland is Galicia, in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. Two Romance l ...

went on to narrowly avoid relegation, with him starting in 14 of his appearances.

Late career

On 7 August 2015, Cuenca signed a three-year deal with Turkish

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 ...

side

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği (), commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Bursa. Formed in 1963, the club colours are green and white, with home kits usually featuring both colours in a striped pattern. In th ...

. He scored his first competitive goal on 28 October, the game's only in a victory over

Sivasspor Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Demir Grup Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department competes in Süper Lig, as of 201 ...

at the

Bursa Atatürk Stadium Bursa Atatürk Stadium ( tr, Bursa Atatürk Stadyumu) was a multi-purpose stadium in Bursa, Turkey. It was used mostly for football matches and was the home ground of Bursaspor. The stadium held 25,213 and was built in 1979. A stadium had exist ...

. On 1 February 2016, Cuenca returned to his country and signed with Granada until the end of the season. In June 2017, after the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

ns'

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

, he joined

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested b ...

champions

Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C. Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club ( he, מועדון הכדורגל הפועל באר שבע, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Be'er Sheva'') is an Israeli football club from the city of Be'er Sheva, that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The c ...

on a two-year contract. He won the league in his only year in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

, though he was not a regular part of manager

Barak Bakhar Barak Bakhar ( he, ברק בכר; born 21 September 1979) is an Israeli association football manager and former footballer. He is the head coach of Israeli Premier League champions Maccabi Haifa. Early and personal life Bakhar was born in mosha ...

's plans. Cuenca returned to his first senior club Reus ahead of the 2018–19 campaign. After playing the whole pre-season on trial, he could not be registered; Reus claimed that the

Liga de Fútbol Profesional Liga or LIGA may refer to: People * Līga (name), a Latvian female given name * Luciano Ligabue, more commonly known as Ligabue or ''Liga'', Italian rock singer-songwriter Sports * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Lig ...

rejected his registration due to his low salary, while the organisation claimed that the club had breached the wage limits. In January 2019, Cuenca went back abroad and signed a three-year contract with the option of a fourth at

Sagan Tosu is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in the J1 League. The team is located in Tosu, Saga Prefecture. ''Sagan'' is a coined word with a couple of meanings behind it. One of its homophones is in Japanese. This symbolises ...

in Japan's

J1 League The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J ...

. He joined compatriots

Fernando Torres Fernando José Torres Sanz (; born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of Atlético Madrid Juvenil A. Due to his consistent goalscoring rate as a young player, ...

and

Lluís Carreras Lluís Carreras Ferrer (born 24 September 1972) is a Spanish retired footballer who played mostly as a left back but also as a defensive midfielder, currently a manager. He started his professional career with Barcelona, without much success, ...

, his teammate and manager respectively. For the following year, Cuenca joined

Vegalta Sendai is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in J2 League. The team is located in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. History Founded in 1988 as ''Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc. Soccer Club'', Vegalta joined the J-League in 1999 after p ...

in the same competition. In February 2020, he suffered a right knee

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) The meniscus (plural: ''menisci'', from the Greek for "crescent") is the curve in the upper surface ...

injury that ruled him out for six months. He rescinded his contract in April 2021 to return home for treatment.

International career

Cuenca had his first international call-up in November 2011, when Spain under-21 manager Luis Milla named him in a 20-man squad for European qualifiers against

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. He made his debut against the former on the 10th at the Estadio Álvarez Claro in

Melilla Melilla ( , ; ; rif, Mřič ; ar, مليلية ) is an autonomous city of Spain located in north Africa. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was par ...

, starting in a 6–0 win. On 30 December the same year, Cuenca earned his only

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for the non-

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

Catalonia side, in a goalless draw against

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

for the

Catalonia International Trophy The Catalonia International Trophy ( ca, Trofeu Catalunya Internacional, es, Trofeo Catalunya Internacional) is an association football friendly tournament organised in Spain by the Catalan Football Federation and which the Catalonia national te ...

Style of play

Cuenca is capable of playing as a winger on either flank, and has been likened by some in the sport to fellow former Barcelona teammate Pedro Rodriguez. A 2011 ''

Bleacher Report Bleacher Report (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sport and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. Bleacher Report was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in Aug ...

'' profile by Andreas Ehrli described him as a promising young prospect, with good all-round abilities and above average

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

skills, noting that his strengths were his tactical intelligence, technique and positioning, while his weaknesses were his defensive work-rate, physique, ability in the air and lack of end product or "killer instinct."

Career statistics

Honours

Barcelona *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

: 2011–12 *

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Ajax *

Hapoel Be'er Sheva *

: 2017–18

References

External links

FC Barcelona official profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cuenca, Isaac 1991 births Living people People from Reus Sportspeople from the Province of Tarragona Spanish footballers Footballers from Catalonia Association football wingers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players CF Damm players CF Reus Deportiu players CE Sabadell FC footballers FC Barcelona Atlètic players FC Barcelona players Deportivo de La Coruña players Granada CF footballers Eredivisie players AFC Ajax players Süper Lig players Bursaspor footballers Israeli Premier League players Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C. players J1 League players Sagan Tosu players Vegalta Sendai players Spain under-21 international footballers Spain under-23 international footballers Catalonia international footballers Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Israel Expatriate footballers in Japan Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Israel Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Japan