Mikel Villanueva Álvarez (born 14 April 1993) is a Venezuelan

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

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Portuguese club

Vitória Guimarães Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória (b ...

and the Venezuela national team. He spent several years at

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

, where he made 15

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's ...

appearances and was mainly loaned to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

clubs. He also played in the Portuguese

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

for Santa Clara and

. A full international for

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

since 2016, Villanueva represented the nation at three

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

tournaments.

Club career

Early career

Born in

San Cristóbal, Táchira San Cristóbal () is the capital city of the Venezuelan state of Táchira. It is located in a mountainous region of Western Venezuela. The city is situated above sea level in the northern Andes overlooking the Torbes River, from the Colombian ...

, Villanueva was a

Deportivo Táchira ''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to: * Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club * Déportivo, a French rock band * Deportivo (Mexicable), an aerial lift station in Ecatepec, Mexico * Deport ...

youth graduate. On 3 March 2013 he made his professional debut, starting in a 0–1 away loss against Estudiantes de Mérida. After being rarely used, Villanueva moved to fellow

Primera División Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

team ACD Lara in 2014. He scored his first professional goal on 25 January 2015, netting the game's only in an away win against Carabobo FC. On 22 February 2015, Villanueva scored a brace in a 3–1 home win against

Trujillanos FC Trujillanos Fútbol Club is a Venezuelan football team playing at the top level, the Primera División Venezolana. It is based in Valera. Their home stadium is Estadio Luis Loreto Lira. At the end of the 2006–2007 season Trujillanos finis ...

. He finished the campaign with 20 appearances and four goals.

Málaga

On 4 July 2015 Villanueva joined

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a association football, football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, ...

, being assigned to the reserves in

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 ...

. On 3 May 2016, he was bought outright by the club, signing a permanent three-year deal and being promoted to the main squad in

. Villanueva made his debut in the main category of Spanish football on 16 October 2016, starting in a 1–1 away draw against

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the ...

. The following 10 August he renewed his contract until 2020, and was immediately loaned to

club

Cádiz CF Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., known simply as Cádiz, is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia. Founded in 1910, the club competes in the La Liga, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of 20 ...

for one year. On 24 July 2018, Villanueva joined fellow second division side

CF Reus Deportiu Club de Futbol Reus Deportiu, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Reus, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1909, it last competed in the Segunda Division (while its B team competed in the Tercera Division) before foldi ...

, on a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

-long loan. On 28 December, he was one of the five players who left the club due to unpaid wages. On 9 January 2019, Villanueva moved to Gimnàstic de Tarragona still in the second tier, on loan until June. Back at his parent club, he scored his only goal in Spanish football on 20 October to open a 2–0 win at Deportivo de La Coruña.

Santa Clara

On 31 August 2020, Villanueva signed a two-year deal at

C.D. Santa Clara Clube Desportivo Santa Clara is a Portuguese football club from Ponta Delgada, Azores. They play in the 13,277-seat Estádio de São Miguel. They are the most successful football team from the Azores Islands as the only team from the archipelag ...

in the Portuguese

. He missed only five games in his first season as the club from the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

came sixth, and scored a fourth-minute opener in a 5–1 home win over

C.D. Nacional Clube Desportivo Nacional, commonly known as Nacional and sometimes Nacional da Madeira (), is a Portuguese football club based in Funchal, on the island of Madeira. Founded on 8 December 1910, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, Portug ...

on 11 April. Villanueva took part in the first continental campaign of his career in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League. On 29 July 2021, he scored in a 2–0 home win (5–0 aggregate) over

KF Shkupi KF Shkupi ( mk, ФК Шкупи, sq, Klubi Futbollistik Shkupi) is a professional football club based in Čair, Skopje, North Macedonia. The club plays in the Macedonian First Football League, which is the top tier of football in the country. ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

in the second leg of the second qualifying round.

Vitória Guimarães

On 27 June 2022, at the end of his Santa Clara contract, Villanueva moved to Vitória de Guimarães in the same league on a three-year deal.

International career

On 20 January 2016, Villanueva was called up to the Venezuela national team for a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

against

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

. He made his full international debut on 2 February, starting in the 1–0 win in Barinas. Villanueva scored his first international goal on 24 March 2016 in

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

qualification, netting the second in a 2–2 away draw against

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

following an assist from Málaga teammate

Juanpi Juan Pablo Añor Acosta (born 24 January 1994), commonly known as Juanpi, is a Venezuelan footballer who plays for Super League Greece club Panetolikos as an attacking midfielder. He played 146 games and scored 11 goals for Málaga in Spain, in ...

. He was named in the ''Vinotinto''s squad for the year's Copa América Centenario in the United States, but did not play. Villanueva was called up for the

2019 Copa América The 2019 Copa América was the 46th edition of the Copa América, the international men's association football championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. It was held in Brazil and took place between 14 June and 7 ...

in Brazil. He played the first two group games as the team reached the quarter-finals, goalless draws against Peru and the hosts, but was then ruled out with fever. At the

2021 Copa América The 2021 Copa América was the 47th edition of the Copa América, the international men's football championship organised by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. The tournament took place in Brazil from 13 June to 10 July 2021. The tour ...

, in the same country as before, Venezuela were the one team eliminated from five in Group B. Villanueva played only in the last game, a 1–0 loss to Peru at the

Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha Arena BRB Mané Garrincha, formerly Estádio Nacional de Brasília Mané Garrincha, also known as ''Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha'', ''Estádio Nacional de Brasília'', ''Arena Mané Garrincha'' or simply ''Mané Garrincha'', is a football ...

International goals

, - , 1. , , 24 March 2016 , , Estadio Nacional de Lima,

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

, , , , 2–1 , , 2–2 , ,

2018 World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA FIFA#Structure, confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia national football team, Rus ...

, - , 2. , , 23 March 2017 , ,

Estadio Monumental de Maturín The Estadio Monumental de Maturín (Monumental Stadium of Maturin) is the largest stadium in Venezuela by seating capacity, with 52,000 spectators. It was one of the venues of the 2007 Copa America. It is also the home stadium of the Monagas Spor ...

Maturín Maturín () is a city in Venezuela, the capital of the Venezuelan state of Monagas and a centre for instrumental exploration and development of the petroleum industry in Venezuela. The metropolitan area of Maturín has a population of 401,384 inha ...

, , , , 1–0 , , 2–2 , , 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Villanueva, Mikel 1993 births Living people Sportspeople from San Cristóbal, Táchira Venezuelan footballers Men's association football defenders Venezuelan Primera División players Deportivo Táchira F.C. players Asociación Civil Deportivo Lara players La Liga players Tercera División players Primeira Liga players Atlético Malagueño players Málaga CF players Cádiz CF players CF Reus Deportiu players Gimnàstic de Tarragona footballers C.D. Santa Clara players Venezuela men's international footballers Venezuelan expatriate footballers Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Portugal Venezuelan people of Basque descent Copa América Centenario players 2019 Copa América players 2021 Copa América players Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Portugal