Mikel Arce Hualde (born 15 June 1984) is a Spanish former

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 played 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

Early years

Arce was born in

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

. After graduating from CA Osasuna's youth academy he spent the entirety of his Spanish career in the lower leagues; he appeared only once in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

, as a second-half substitute in

SD Lemona Sociedad Deportiva Lemona was a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Lemoa, in the autonomous community of Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. Founded in 1923, it last played in Segunda División B, Se ...

's 3–0 away win against

Marino de Luanco Club Marino de Luanco is a Spanish football team based in Luanco, in the autonomous community of Asturias. Founded in 1931 it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 1, holding home games at '' Estadio Miramar'', with a capacity of 3,500 seats. ...

. In the 2007–08 season, Arce scored 20

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

goals for CD Lourdes. Subsequently, he signed for

Major League Soccer 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 ...

side

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 ...

Paraguay

In the following

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer win ...

, Arce he moved teams and countries again, joining

12 de Octubre Football Club 12 de Octubre Football Club is a Paraguayan football club from the city of Itauguá that currently plays in the División Intermedia, the second division of Football in Paraguay. Founded in 1914, the club's home venue is Estadio Luis Alberto ...

for whom he featured in the Paraguayan Primera División as the first Spaniard ever in the competition following the creation of the Paraguayan Football Association. Previously, he had a trial with

Olimpia Asunción Club Olimpia is a Paraguayan sports club based in the city of Asunción. The club promotes the practice of various sports with most importance given to the football, rugby and basketball sides, the former being the highest priority and most su ...

in the same country. Arce said of his spell in Paraguay, compared to that of the United States, that he thought he would have an easier time adapting because he spoke the same language as the natives. However, he found that the challenge of learning Guarani was the equivalent of switching from Spanish to Basque in his homeland.

Later career

In the summer of 2009, Arce returned to Spain and resumed his career in the lower divisions and amateur football.

Personal life

In October 2012, in a Beauty King and Queen contest held in

Villarrobledo Villarrobledo () is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Albacete, part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. It's better known for having the world's largest area covered by vineyards (more than 30,000 has., approxima ...

, Arce finished in third position, being elected Best Spanish Body in the process.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Arce, Mikel 1984 births Living people Spanish footballers Footballers from Pamplona Association football forwards Segunda División B players Tercera División players Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol players Real Sociedad B footballers CD Numancia B players CD Logroñés footballers SD Lemona footballers CD Calahorra players CE Constància players Lorca Deportiva CF footballers San Jose Earthquakes players Paraguayan Primera División players 12 de Octubre Football Club players Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in Paraguay Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Paraguay