Luis Javier Paradela Díaz (born 21 January 1997) is a Cuban 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 for

Deportivo Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. The team's signature colours are purple ...

and the

Cuban national team Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

. He primarily plays as a

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

, but can also be deployed as a winger or 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

Youth career

Paradela began his youth career in his native Cuba with club

FC Matanzas FC Matanzas is a Cuban football (soccer), football club based in Matanzas. Its home stadium is the 1,000-capacity Estadio Calimete. It last played in the Campeonato Nacional de Fútbol de Cuba, Campeonato Nacional in 2013. Current squad ...

Universidad SC

He joined

Universidad SC Universidad SC or, more commonly known as, ''USAC'' or just ''Universidad'' is a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala. They currently compete in the Primera División, the second division in the nat ...

in 2019, making his competitive debut for Universidad SC in a 2–1 home defeat against Sansare FC on January 20, 2019, during the Clausura tournament of the 2018-2019 season. He scored his first goal and brace in a 4-1 home victory over

Deportivo Achuapa Club Deportivo Achuapa, is a Guatemalan football club based in El Progreso El Progreso () is a city, with a population of 119,260 (2020 calculation), and a municipality located in the Honduran department of Yoro. Ramón Villeda Morales ...

on January 26, 2019, followed by another brace four days later in a 2-2 away tie against

Aurora F.C. Aurora Fútbol Club is a Guatemalan professional football club. They are based in Guatemala City and play their home matches in the Estadio Cementos Progreso. Once one of the most powerful teams in the country and a traditional rival of fellow ...

Reno 1868

In August 2019, Paradela joined

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 ...

side Reno 1868 on loan. Paradela became the first Cuban soccer player to play in the United States without defecting. Due to the unique unprecedented process, the P1 VISA took months to be processed and was obtained with only single entry and for 90 days validity. The player was cleared to arrive in Reno only with 6 games remaining in the season.

Jocoro

In late January 2020, after being denied return to the USL Championship due to pressure from the

Football Association of Cuba The Asociación de Fútbol de Cuba is the official governing body of the sport of football in Cuba including the National Team. The league is composed of one amateur division with total of 8 teams. Association staff Notable former players * ...

, and missing out on several offers in different countries due immigration bottlenecks, Paradela joined Jocoro F.C. in the La Liga Mayor, playing six matches before the cancellation of the Clausura 2020 due to the Covid19 pandemic.

Chalatenango

In August 2020, after not being able to join Santos de Guápiles F.C. in Costa Rica due to the Covid19 pandemic travel restrictions, Luis Paradela confirmed his commitment to play the Apertura 2020 with

C.D. Chalatenango Asociación Deportiva Chalatenango is a Salvadoran professional football club based in Chalatenango, El Salvador, they are currently playing in the top-tier Primera División de Fútbol de El Salvador. The club was founded in 1950 as C.D. Alac ...

. The offer by Santos de Guápiles F.C. remained valid for the Clausura 2021.

Santos de Guápiles

In early January 2021, Paradela transferred to Santos de Guápiles in the

Liga FPD The Primera División of Costa Rica, commonly known as Fútbol de Primera División (FPD), and Liga Promerica for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional association football division in Costa Rica. It is administered by the Unión de Clubes ...

debuting shortly after in a match against

C.S. Cartaginés Club Sport Cartaginés Deportiva S.A., also known as Cartaginés, is a Costa Rican football club, that currently plays in the Liga de Fútbol de Primera División, the top division of Costa Rican football league system. Cartaginés' home venue i ...

. In 2022, Paradela was awarded the best foreign player of the 2021-22 season award for his excellent performance in the Apertura 2021. His participation in the Clausura 2022 was limited to 7 games only due to an immigration issue affecting several foreign players in Costa Rica, which also prevented him from participating in the Concacaf Champions League 2022 series against

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 ...

Saprissa

Paradela was signed by

Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. The team's signature colours are purple ...

on a transfer from Santos in the summer of 2022 along with his offensive partner

Javon East Javon Romario East (born 22 March 1995) is a Jamaican professional footballer who plays as a striker for Saprissa and the Jamaica national team. Career Club He has played club football for Portmore United. With East in the squad Portmore U ...

. He quickly established himself as a fans’ favorite, scoring 4 goals in his first 6 matches at the club.

International career

On 27 August 2018, Parabela made his official senior international debut for

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 ...

in a friendly against

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

. He scored a

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

Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and n ...

on 8 September 2018 in an 11–0 victory, helping Cuba to their biggest ever win. Paradela was included in the best eleven of

2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League qualifying The qualifying phase of the 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League was a one-off tournament that took place from 6 September 2018 to 24 March 2019. The qualifying determined the seeding for the group phase of the inaugural tournament, as well as determ ...

and was among the top scorers with five goals.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Cuba's goal tally first.''

Style of play

Paradela is a talented, fast, skillful, and hardworking player, with good technique, a short stature, and a strong build. He usually plays as a left winger, a position which enables him to beat opponents with the ball, cut into the centre, and shoot on goal from outside the area with his stronger right foot, although he is also an accurate striker of the ball with his left foot; he is also capable of creating chances for teammates as well as scoring goals himself. He is also known for his defensive contribution off the ball, and has been deployed anywhere along the front line, as well as in several

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

positions, most frequently as either an

, although he has also been used as a

main Main may refer to: Geography * Main River (disambiguation) **Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries ...

second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

on occasion.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paradela, Luis 1997 births Living people Cuban footballers Cuban expatriate footballers Cuba international footballers Association football forwards People from Matanzas Province 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players FC Pinar del Río players Universidad de San Carlos players Reno 1868 FC players Jocoro F.C. players C.D. Chalatenango footballers Santos de Guápiles footballers Deportivo Saprissa players USL Championship players Primera División de Fútbol Profesional players Liga FPD players Cuban expatriate sportspeople in Guatemala Cuban expatriate sportspeople in the United States Cuban expatriate sportspeople in El Salvador Cuban expatriate sportspeople in Costa Rica Expatriate footballers in Guatemala Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in El Salvador Expatriate footballers in Costa Rica