Miguel Ángel de las Cuevas Barberá (born 19 June 1986) 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 ...
who plays for
Córdoba CF. A versatile midfield element, he can play both in
the wings and
behind the forwards, but usually occupies the
attacking 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 ...
position.
After starting out at
Hércules, he went on to appear in 201
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' ...
matches over eight seasons, totalling 18 goals for
Atlético Madrid,
Sporting de Gijón
Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, ...
and
Osasuna. He added 127 games in
Segunda División (16 goals), and also spent one year in the Italian
Serie B
The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...
with
Spezia
La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy.
La Spezia is the second largest cit ...
.
Club career
Born in
Alicante
Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...
,
Valencian Community
The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wi ...
, de las Cuevas started his professional career with hometown club
Hércules CF, in the
Segunda División B. In the
2004–05 season, he was instrumental as the team achieved promotion to the
Segunda División after a six-year-absence.
For the
2006–07 campaign, de las Cuevas signed a five-year contract with
Atlético Madrid. During preseason, on 13 August, in the
Teresa Herrera Trophy match against
Club Nacional de Football
Club Nacional de Football (, ''National Football Club'' or simply as Nacional) is a Uruguayan professional sports club based in Montevideo.
The club was founded on 14 May 1899 as a result of the merger between ''Uruguay Athletic Club'' and ''Mon ...
, he suffered a serious ankle injury that kept him out of action for more than one year.
De las Cuevas finally made his debut for the ''Colchoneros'' on 12 December 2007, playing the second half of a
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 footb ...
away tie against
Granada 74 CF, in the
round of 32. He appeared in 13
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' ...
matches in
his first season after returning from injury, 12 as a
substitute.
On 25 June 2009, after producing slightly the same numbers with Atlético, de las Cuevas moved to fellow top-tier side
Sporting de Gijón
Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, ...
on a four-year deal. However, Atlético retained an option to rebuy in the first three. He had a breakthrough season in
2009–10, ranking second in goals in the team at eight;
highlights included braces against
RCD Mallorca (4–1),
Athletic Bilbao (2–1, away) and one against former club Atlético (1–1) that certified Sporting's permanence in the top flight for a further year, on 8 May 2010.
Still under manager
Manuel Preciado
Manuel "Manolo" Preciado Rebolledo (28 August 1957 – 6 June 2012) was a Spanish football defender and manager.
His 15-year career was mainly associated with Racing de Santander, and he also represented five other teams, mostly in the lower ...
, de las Cuevas was again an undisputed starter for Gijón in the
2010–11 campaign. On 2 April 2011, he scored the only goal in a win over
Real Madrid at the
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium ( es, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, ) is a football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a current seating capacity of 81,044, it has been the home stadium of Real Madrid since its completion in 1947. It is the second-larg ...
, ending
José Mourinho's record of nine years and 150 league matches unbeaten at home; he only missed one league game and netted six times, in another final escape from relegation.
[
De las Cuevas was loaned to ]CA Osasuna
Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El S ...
on 11 January 2013, thus returning to the top flight. The move was made permanent in late May after the Navarrese managed to retain their status, with a €
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...
1.2 million fee being paid in equal shares to Atlético and Sporting.
On 29 January 2015, de las Cuevas terminated his contract that ran until June 2016, and moved abroad for the first time in his career at the age of 28, signing with Spezia Calcio in Italy. His first appearance in the Serie B
The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...
occurred on 14 February, as he featured 73 minutes in a 0–0 draw at Carpi F.C. 1909.
In late September 2015, de las Cuevas successfully underwent surgery to his heart after an anomaly was detected. He was sidelined for six months.
De las Cuevas returned to Osasuna on 1 February 2016, on a free transfer. He left the club in July 2018 after his contract expired, and signed a one-year deal with Córdoba CF on 31 August.
De las Cuevas scored a career-best nine goals in 2018–19, but his team suffered relegation from the second tier. He continued to be first choice the following years.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuevas, Miguel De Las
1986 births
Living people
Spanish footballers
Footballers from Alicante
Association football midfielders
La Liga players
Segunda División players
Segunda División B players
Primera Federación players
Segunda Federación players
Hércules CF B players
Hércules CF players
Atlético Madrid footballers
Sporting de Gijón players
CA Osasuna players
Córdoba CF players
Serie B players
Spezia Calcio players
Spain youth international footballers
Spanish expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in Italy
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Italy