Juan Cruz Mascia Paysée (born 3 January 1994) is a Uruguayan 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 ...

Club career

Juan was born in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

to Uruguayan parents, and came through the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if ...

Miramar Misiones Club Sportivo Miramar Misiones, usually known simply as Miramar Misiones is a Uruguayan football club based in Montevideo. The club was formed from the merger of two clubs: Miramar (founded on October 17, 1915) and Misiones (founded on March 26 ...

. He was promoted to the first team in the

2010–11 Uruguayan Primera División season The 2010–11 Liga Profesional de Primera División season, also known as the 2010–11 Copa Uruguaya or the 2010–11 Campeonato Uruguayo, was the 107th season of Uruguay's top-flight football league, and the 80th in which it was professional. ...

, making two substitute appearances in the campaign. His debut came in a 5–2 loss against

Danubio F.C. Danubio Fútbol Club is a Uruguayan football club based in Jardines del Hipódromo, Montevideo that currently plays in the Uruguayan Primera División. Founded in 1932, the club's home stadium is Jardines del Hipódromo, which has a capacity ...

on 20 February 2011, when he was a 64th-minute substitute. His second match of the 2010–11 season, again as a substitute, was a 0–0 draw with Bella Vista on 8 May 2011. This was his first appearance in home stadium

Parque Luis Méndez Piana Parque Luis Méndez Piana is a multi-use stadium in Montevideo, Uruguay. It is currently used primarily for football matches and is the home stadium of Miramar Misiones. The stadium holds 4,000 people. The stadium is the located in the Parq ...

. He scored his first goal with

on 22 December 2011 against

Deportivo Maldonado Club Deportivo Maldonado is a football club from Maldonado, Uruguay. They currently play in the Uruguayan Primera División following their promotion from the Uruguayan Segunda División at the end of the 2019 season. History Club Deportivo M ...

in the 2011–12 season of the

Uruguayan Segunda División Segunda División Profesional is the second division of professional football in Uruguay, established in 1942. The league is sometimes referred to as ''Primera B''. Segunda División was first held in 1942 to replace amateur Divisional Intermedi ...

NorthEast United FC

On 27 August 2018, Mascia moved abroad and joined

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

franchise

NorthEast United FC NorthEast United FC is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural season of Indian Supe ...

. On 30 October 2018, Mascia made his debut for the club on away win against

Delhi Dynamos Odisha Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. Prior to the inaugural Indian Super League season, the club was founded ...

. On 23 November 2018, he scored his first goal for the club against

Kerala Blasters Kerala Blasters Football Club (), commonly referred to as The Blasters, is an Indian professional football club based in Kochi, Kerala, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of football in India. The club was established i ...

in the final moments of the game after coming as a substitute and hence, earned the nickname 'Super Sub Mascia'. He is also called 'Boot Jolokia' after Bhoot Jolokia for his goal against Kerala Blasters by the fans. Along with teammate

Bartholomew Ogbeche Bartholomew Owogbalor Ogbeche (born 1 October 1984) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Indian Super League club Hyderabad. He is the all-time top scorer in Indian Super League history. He played his club football i ...

and compatriot Federico Gallego, he formed one of the best attacking combinations for the club.

Chacarita Juniors

In June 2019 his transfer was announced to

Chacarita Juniors Club Atlético Chacarita Juniors (usually known simply as Chacarita) is an Argentine football club headquartered in Villa Crespo, Buenos Aires, while the stadium is located in Villa Maipú, General San Martín Partido of Greater Buenos Aires. ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

International career

Juan entered the Uruguay under-15s in 2009 and his first official international tournament was the

2009 South American Under-15 Football Championship The 2009 South American Under-15 Football Championship was the fourth South American Under-15 Football Championship, the championship for men's under-15 national association football teams in CONMEBOL. It took place in Bolivia for the second time ...

in which he played six matches and scored three goals. Juan is a prolific goalscorer for the Uruguay under-17s. He was the top goalscorer, with six goals, in the

2011 South American Under-17 Football Championship The 2011 South American Under-17 Football Championship ( es, link=no, Campeonato Sudamericano Sub-17 Ecuador 2011) was the 14th U-17 tournament for national teams affiliated with CONMEBOL. It was held in Ecuador from 12 March to 9 April 2011. Th ...

, which was held in

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: ''Eku ...

. His first tournament goals came against the Bolivia under-17s on 15 March 2011. In this match he scored both Uruguay goals in a 2–0 group stage victory. He scored another double in a 3–2 win against the Colombia under-17s in a final group stage game on 6 April 2011, helping Uruguay finish the competition as runners up to champions

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. He also represented Uruguay in the

2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the fourteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, and the eleventh played since the change in age limits from under 16s to Under 17s in 1991. It was held in Mexico with games being played amongst various venues ...

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 ...

. He scored against the Canada under-17s in the group stage on 19 June 2011. Uruguay advanced to the final of the high-status tournament, where they lost 2–0 to hosts Mexico under-17s on 10 July 2011.

Reputation

Following his success at under-17 level, Juan is a reported transfer target for clubs in England, Spain and Italy. He has also been favourably compared to

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

star

Diego Forlán Diego Martín Forlán Corazo (born 19 May 1979) is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former player who played as a forward. Regarded as one of the best forwards of his generation, Forlán is a two-time winner of both the Pichichi T ...

in the English and South American media. For example, in April and May 2011 articles, the UK tabloid ''

The Daily Mirror ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' and the

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 ...

website referred to him as the "new Forlán" and the "Forlán's heir" respectively. In the same month, Uruguay newspaper '' El Observador'' reported that Forlán was, in fact, a keen admirer of the player and had arranged for him to attend a training session with

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

Career statistics

Achievements

Uruguay U17 *FIFA Under-17 World Cup runner-up:

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 ...

*South American Under-17 Football Championship runner-up:

Uruguay U23 *

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Individual *South American Under-17 Football Championship top goalscorer:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mascia, Juan Cruz 1994 births Living people Uruguayan footballers Footballers from Montevideo Soccer players from Ottawa Association football forwards Canadian people of Uruguayan descent Sportspeople of Uruguayan descent Uruguayan Primera División players Miramar Misiones players Club Nacional de Football players Montevideo Wanderers F.C. players El Tanque Sisley players Plaza Colonia players Indian Super League players NorthEast United FC players Chacarita Juniors footballers Uruguay youth international footballers Pan American Games gold medalists for Uruguay Footballers at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Games medalists in football Uruguayan expatriate footballers Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in India Expatriate footballers in India Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games