Juan David Cabezas Núñez (born 27 February 1991) is a Colombian 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 currently 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 ...

Club career

Deportivo Cali

Cabezas joined the

Deportivo Cali Asociación Deportivo Cali, best known as Deportivo Cali, is a Colombian sports club based in Cali, most notable for its football team, which currently competes in the Categoría Primera A. Deportivo Cali is one of the most successful footba ...

in 2000, spending 9 years in the academy. Cabezaz made his first team debut for Deportivo Cali in a Categoria Primera A match on 7 March 2009, coming on as a sub in a 2–1 win against

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

. He would pick up 2 more appearances that year. The following season Cabezas went on loan to fellow Primera A club

Cúcuta Deportivo Cúcuta Deportivo Fútbol Club S. A. is a professional Colombian football club based in Cúcuta, which plays in the Categoria Primera B. The club was officially founded on 10 September 1924, and its first appearance in a professional league wa ...

. He made 6 league appearances before going out on loan again the following year, this time to

La Equidad Club Deportivo La Equidad Seguros, also known as La Equidad, is a professional Colombian football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Metropolitano de Techo stadium. History ...

He got his first taste of the

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...

while with La Equidad, getting a start in a 1–0 defeat to

Club Libertad Club Libertad is a professional association football, football club based in Asunción, Paraguay that currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División. The club plays its home games at Estadio Tigo La Huerta; which holds 10,100 people. Fo ...

on 14 September 2011 Cabezas returned to Deportivo Cali in 2011, but only made 27 appearances before going out on loan again, this time to Once Caldes. He helped Los Albos qualify for the playoffs in both seasons with the club. Deportivo Cali gave Cabezas another chance in 2014 and he didn't disappoint. The club reached the playoffs in 2014 and 2015 and he helped them become 2015 Apertura Champions. In 2016, looking for more consistent game time, Cabezas went on loan to

Independiente Medellín Deportivo Independiente Medellín, also known as Independiente Medellín or DIM, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at Estadio Atanasio Girardo ...

. He became a key player for DIM. In the 2016 Apertura finals against Junior, Cabezas scored the equalizing goal in the first leg, They went on to win 3–1 on aggregate.

Houston Dynamo

Cabezaz Joined the Dynamo and on loan for the 2017 season. He quickly established himself as a key figure in countryman Wilmer Cabrerea's side, getting his

MLS 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 ...

debut by coming off the bench in the second match of the season. He recorded his first Dynamo goal on 29 July, an equalizer in a 2–2 draw with the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...

. After helping lead the Dynamo to the

MLS Playoffs The MLS Cup Playoffs is the annual postseason elimination tournament of Major League Soccer. The final match of the tournament is the MLS Cup, the league's championship game. Under the current format adopted for the 2019 season, 14 teams qualif ...

, Cabezas played every minute as Houston reached the Conference Finals. His strong season saw him be named team MVP for the 2017 season. Wilmer Cabrera described Cabezas as "a top player in the midfield for us and is a natural ball winner". The Dynamo rewarded his good performances by acquiring him on a permanent deal in December 2017. Cabezas was plagued with injuries in 2018. In the first game of the season, he picked up a thigh muscle strain, forcing him to come off after 15 minutes and causing him to miss the next 9 games. In his first game since back from injury, he picked up another thigh injury that caused him to miss over 3 months and 20 games. Later he picked up another muscle injury that caused him to miss the final 3 games of the season. The team greatly missed him throughout the season, going 5-1-1 across all competitions when Cabezas played while only going 6-7-15 across all competitions in games Cabezas missed. The Dynamo and Cabezas opened 2019 on 19 February with a

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

match against CD Guastatoya. Despite Houston getting the 1–0 win, Cabezaa was forced off due to picking up an injury. After making 2 appearances with the Dynamo's

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

affiliate

Rio Grande Valley FC Rio Grande Valley FC, also known as RGVFC or Rio Grande Valley FC Toros, is an American semi-professional soccer team based in Edinburg, Texas operated by Lone Star, LLC. They joined the USL Championship in the 2016 season. The team served as a ...

to regain fitness, Cabezas returned to the Dynamo lineup on 13 April in a 2–1 win over the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

. He would find the back of the net for his second goal as a Dynamo on 9 August in a 3–2 defeat to

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 11 September, Cabezas injured his knee after a reckless challenge from an opponent. The Dynamo would go onto defeat Minnesota United 2–0, but Cabezas would miss the rest of the season. On 21 November, Cabezas had his contract option declined.

Rio Grande Valley FC

On 7 April 2021, Cabezas returned to

, signing a contract for the 2021 season.

Personal

Cabezas received his U.S. green card in January 2019, which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes. He is also a very nice person.

Career Statistics

Honors

Club

Categoría Primera A The Categoría Primera A (), commonly referred to as Liga BetPlay Dimayor (between 2015 and 2019 ''Liga Águila'') due to sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is a Colombian professional league for association football clubs. It is the ...

: 2015-I

: 2016-I

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 ...

US Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

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 ...

Individual

Dynamo Team MVP: 2017

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabezas, Juan David 1991 births Living people Colombian men's footballers Colombia men's under-20 international footballers Deportivo Cali footballers Cúcuta Deportivo footballers La Equidad footballers Once Caldas footballers Independiente Medellín footballers Houston Dynamo FC players Rio Grande Valley FC Toros players Colombian expatriate men's footballers Colombian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Categoría Primera A players Major League Soccer players Men's association football midfielders USL Championship players Footballers from Cali