Joel Apezteguía Hijuelos (born 17 December 1983) is a

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

n 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Sammarinese Sammarinese () are citizens and people of the Republic of San Marino. Language San Marino recognizes Italian as the official language. The indigenous language, known as Sammarinese, is a variety of Romagnol spoken by approximately 83 percent o ...

team Tre Fiori.

Club career

Apezteguía had spells in the Spanish lower leagues and played in Moldova for

Nistru Otaci FC Nistru Otaci was a Moldovan football club based in Otaci, Moldova. The club was founded on 17 August 1953. It was dissolved in 2017. History During the 1999–2000 season, the club played as FC Nistru-Unisport Otaci due to Nistru being expell ...

Teuta

He scored four goals in an

Albanian Superliga The Kategoria Superiore, officially known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons, is a professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Albanian football league system, it is the country's primary football compet ...

game on 2 February 2014 against

KS Lushnja KF Lushnja is an Albanian football club based in the city of Lushnjë in the County of Fier. Their home ground is the Abdurrahman Roza Haxhiu Stadium and they currently compete in the Kategoria e Parë. History Early history The club was origina ...

which ended in a 6–2 win and lifted Teuta to second place. He added another three goals to his final tally in Albania in Cup games

CD Utiel

With CD Utiel he scored 7 goals. These were scored against Villarreal and Osasuna.

Tre Fiori

Apezteguía made his debut in the Europa League against KÍ Klaksvík, making history as the first Cuban to play in the Champions League.

International career

He made his debut for

Cuba national football team The Cuba national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de Cuba) represents Cuba in men's international football and it is controlled by the Football Association of Cuba. Nicknamed Leones del Caribe (''Lions of Caribbean''), the team repres ...

on 24 March 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against Guatemala.

Honours

Club

Tre Fiori *

Coppa Titano The Coppa Titano is the national football cup of San Marino. It was first awarded in 1937. Cup Winners *1937 : Libertas ''not played from 1938 to 1949'' *1950 : Libertas ''not played from 1951 to 1953'' *1954 : Libertas ''not played from 1955 to 1 ...

: 2018–19 *

San Marino Federal Trophy The San Marino Federal Trophy ( it, Trofeo Federale) was a Supercup of association football in San Marino. The tournament began in 1986. The tournament had four teams: the finalists of the Premier League play-offs and Cup. The final competition ...

2019–20 * San Marino Championship 2019–20

References

http://www.cubadebate.cu/especiales/2018/10/04/la-historia-de-joel-apezteguia-fotos-y-video/#.XLsqWOgzaUk

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Apezteguia, Joel Living people 1983 births Kategoria Superiore players Alma Juventus Fano 1906 players Men's association football forwards CD Utiel players Cuban expatriate men's footballers Campionato Sammarinese di Calcio players Cuban expatriate sportspeople in Albania Cuban expatriate sportspeople in Italy Cuban expatriate sportspeople in Moldova Cuban expatriate sportspeople in Spain Cuban expatriates in San Marino Cuban men's footballers Cuba men's international footballers CE Manresa players Eccellenza players Expatriate men's footballers in Albania Expatriate men's footballers in Moldova Expatriate men's footballers in San Marino Expatriate men's footballers in Spain FC Industriales players FC Nistru Otaci players KF Teuta Durrës players Moldovan Super Liga players Tre Fiori FC players Serie D players Footballers from Havana