Nelson Rafael Cuevas Amarilla (; born 10 January 1980) is a Paraguayan 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 ...

and current singer. He represented the

Paraguay national football team The Paraguay national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de Paraguay) represents Paraguay in men's international Association football, football competitions, and are controlled by the Paraguayan Football Association (Asociación Paraguaya ...

at the 2002 and 2006

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

s and the 1999 and 2007 Copa América tournaments. In addition to playing club football in his native Paraguay, Cuevas played for Santos in Brazil, River Plate in Argentina,

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

in Chile,

Albacete Albacete (, also , ; ar, ﭐَلبَسِيط, Al-Basīṭ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, the ...

in Spain,

Inter Shanghai Beijing Chengfeng Football Club () was a professional Chinese football club that last participated in the Chinese League One under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team was based in Fengtai District, Beijing and their h ...

in China, and three clubs in Mexico.

Career

Born in

Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of ...

, Paraguay, Cuevas started his career at

Club Atlético Tembetary Club Atlético Tembetary Ypané is a football club from Villa Elisa, Paraguay, founded in 1912 in Asunción. The club currently plays in the Paraguay third-tier. Despite being a very small team that is actually part of the lower divisions of Pa ...

, a lower division club from Paraguay, before moving to River Plate of Argentina in 1998. He will forever be remembered by River fans for his memorable goals against Racing and Boca, the first resulting in River's championship win. In the 2004–05 season he was transferred to Club América of Mexico, who loaned him out to

Pachuca Pachuca (; ote, Nju̱nthe), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Hidalgo. It is located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca de Soto is also the name of the municipality of whi ...

where he was champion in the year 2006. He then returned to Club América. Cuevas was released by Club América, and trained for brief period with

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. Portsmouth and

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

were strongly linked to him, with the player stating that a move to England was a possibility. However, Cuevas would end up playing the first half of 2008 for Libertad in his native country and was later signed by Brazilian club Santos in July 2008. On 15 January 2009, he was released from his contract with Santos. On 9 February, Cuevas signed a six-month deal with

, one of the most popular teams in that country. On 7 July he won the 2009 Apertura tournament with Universidad de Chile ending with 18 match played and 3 goals. At the end of the tournament he announced that he will not renew with the Chilean club. During the 2009 off-season Cuevas had trials at

FC Twente Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedese ...

(making his debut in a friendly match played in the Netherlands, which ended in victory against Borussia Mönchengladbach) and Hannover 96. Cuevas did not finalize his contract with the aforementioned European clubs and returned to Paraguay to play for Olimpia Asunción, where he is trying to return to the top form he once had during his River Plate years. On 16 December 2010 he signed with Mexican football club Puebla F.C. On 14 July 2011, Cuevas signed a contract with

Cerro Porteño Club Cerro Porteño is a professional Paraguayan football club, based in the neighbourhood of Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1912, Cerro has won 34 Primera División titles and is one of the most popular football clubs in Paraguay. Its presi ...

Deportivo Carapeguá

Cuevas scored his first goal for Deportivo Carapeguá in a 2–0 home victory against Club Libertad on 28 August 2012, Cuevas was substituted onto the field in the 69th minute and scored Carapeguá's second goal in the 88th minute.

International career

Cuevas represented Paraguay U23 at the 2000 CONMEBOL Men Pre-Olympic Tournament. Cuevas represented

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

at the 2002 World Cup, scoring two goals in Paraguay's final group match, a 3–1 win over

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. Without the two goals,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

would have progressed to the second round at Paraguay's expense on goal difference. Cuevas was also in the National team in the Germany 2006 World Cup, and scored the second goal in the 2–0 Paraguay victory over

Trinidad & Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of Gr ...

after an assist by teammate

Roque Santa Cruz Roque Luis Santa Cruz Cantero (; born 16 August 1981) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Paraguayan club Club Libertad. He is the record goal scorer and has earned over 100 caps for the Paraguay national team, ...

. Despite the win, Paraguay failed to advance to the second round.

Personal life

His mother, Nidia Amarilla, is also his manager, which is a rarity in the football world. He currently is married to Alicia Ramirez and the couple have one pezuñento: Enzo Rafeal born in 2008.

Singing career

In 2013, Cuevas became a singer, after retiring from football with knee injuries. While making success with music, Cuevas dreams of a comeback to sport.

Honours

Club

River Plate * Apertura: 1999–2000 * Clausura: 1999–2000, 2001–2002, 2002–2003, 2003–2004 C.F. Pachuca * Clausura: 2006 Club Libertad * Apertura: 2008 Universidad de Chile *

Primera División de Chile 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 Alí Rafael Primera Rosel ...

(1): 2009 Apertura

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cuevas, Nelson 1980 births Living people Paraguayan footballers Paraguayan expatriate footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Universidad de Chile footballers Expatriate footballers in Argentina Expatriate footballers in Brazil Expatriate footballers in Chile Expatriate footballers in China Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Spain Club América footballers Santos FC players Club Olimpia footballers Club Libertad footballers Association football forwards Paraguay under-20 international footballers Paraguay international footballers 2002 FIFA World Cup players Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in China 2006 FIFA World Cup players Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Chile Paraguayan Primera División players Chilean Primera División players Argentine Primera División players Liga MX players Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Brazil 1999 Copa América players 2007 Copa América players Beijing Renhe F.C. players Albacete Balompié players Club Puebla players Cerro Porteño players Sportivo Luqueño players