Sergio Duvan Córdova Lezama (born 9 August 1997), known as Sergio Córdova (), is a Venezuelan 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 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 ...

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 ...

club

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Marc ...

. He also represents the Venezuela national team. Córdova is an academy graduate of Venezuelan side

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

and scored on his professional debut in 2015. He spent two and a half season's in the club's first team, scoring five goals in 38 appearances, before signing for Augsburg in 2017. Internationally, he represented Venezuela at U20 level and featured for the nation at the

South American Youth Football Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as U-20 South American Championship and es, Torneo Juventudes de América, "Campeonato Sudamericano Sub 20" or pt, Juventude da América (English: "America's Youth") is a South American f ...

and

U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 wh ...

in 2017, winning the Goal of the Tournament award at the latter competition. Later that year, he made his debut for the senior side.

Club career

Caracas

Having previously represented the club at youth level following his arrival in 2013, Córdova made a goal scoring debut for

on 12 July 2015, starting and scoring the opening goal in a 4–0 league victory over Tucanes. He repeated the feat in his Copa Venezuela debut the following month when he broke the deadlock in the 78th minute of a 3–0 win over second division side Petroleros de Anzoátegui. On 31 October, he became the youngest ever player to score a

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 ...

brace for the club when he scored twice in a 3–1 win over Metropolitanos. He ended his debut season having amassed 13 appearances across all competitions with a return of four goals. In the following year's campaign, Córdova was marred by injury and had to undergo surgery after breaking the fifth metatarsal in his left foot. Despite the injury, he managed to make 20 appearances as Caracas ended fourth in the Venezuelan Primera División, thereby qualifying for the

2017 Copa Sudamericana The 2017 Copa CONMEBOL Sudamericana was the 16th edition of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana (also referred to as the ''Copa Sudamericana'', or pt, Copa Sul-Americana), South America's secondary club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. Argent ...

. He made only four more appearances for the club, taking his overall tally to 38 with a return of five goals, before being signed by

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg () or Augsburg, is a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. The team was founded as ...

following his impressive form with Venezuela at the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

FC Augsburg

On the evening of 4 July 2017, Córdova completed a transfer to German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

side

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

for a reported fee of €1m, signing a five-year contract with the club. He made his debut on 13 August, coming on as a second–half substitute for fellow debutante

Marcel Heller Marcel Heller (born 12 February 1986) is a German footballer who plays as a winger for SV Straelen. Career Early career In 2006, Heller signed with Regionalliga Süd club Sportfreunde Siegen for its 2006–07 campaign, joining from the Alema ...

in a 2–0 DFB Pokal loss to

third division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

side

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

. He scored his first goal for the club on 26 August, netting an 89th-minute equalizer from an

assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...

by Heller in a 2–2 draw with

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional Association football, football club based in ...

. In October, whilst on international duty with Venezuela, Córdova suffered a fractured ankle and torn ligaments which him ruled out for part of the Hinrunde. He made his first Bundesliga start for the club the following year, starting in a 1–0 win over

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

on 13 January.

Loan to Arminia Bielefeld

On 17 August 2020, he signed a five-year contract extension with Augsburg before joining newly-promoted Bundesliga side

Arminia Bielefeld DSC Arminia Bielefeld (; full name: ; commonly known as Arminia Bielefeld (), also known as ''Die Arminen'' or ''Die Blauen'' ), or just Arminia (), is a German sports club from Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Arminia offers the sports of ...

on a season-long

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

Loan to Real Salt Lake

On 3 February 2022, it was announced Córdova had joined

side

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...

on a season-long loan.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

On 20 February 2023, Córdova returned to

, signing as a designated player with Canadian side

on a 3-year deal.

International career

Youth

Córdova has represented Venezuela at U20 level and featured at the 2016 Copa de los Andes tournament held in Peru. He scored twice in a 5–1 win over

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 ...

which saw Venezuela claim the gold medal, and was named Player of the Tournament, with teammate Ronaldo Peña claiming the top goalscorer award. In February 2017, Córdova took part in the U20 ''Campeonato Sudamericano'' with the Venezuela squad. He scored once during the course of the tournament, in a 4–2 win over

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

, as Venezuela qualified for the

2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 21st edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 as ...

in South Korea by securing a third-place finish. The World Cup took place in May the same year and he opened his account with the second goal in a 2–0 win over

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in the tournament's opening match. Three days later, he added two goals to his tally when he netted a brace in a 7–0 victory over

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

which saw Venezuela become the first team to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition. Córdova scored again in a 1–0 win over

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

on 26 May which helped Venezuela progress from their group without losing or conceding. His four goals saw him end as the tournament's joint-second top goal scorer alongside Fashion Sakala,

Dominic Solanke Dominic Ayodele Solanke-Mitchell (born 14 September 1997), known as Dominic Solanke, is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for side AFC Bournemouth. Solanke started his career with Chelsea, making his first-team debut in ...

Jean-Kévin Augustin Jean-Kévin Augustin (born 16 June 1997) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for Swiss Super League club Basel. An academy graduate of French club Paris Saint-Germain, Augustin made his senior debut in 2015 and made 31 a ...

and Joshua Sargent, and one behind Golden Boot winner

Riccardo Orsolini Riccardo Orsolini (born 24 January 1997) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a winger for club Bologna and the Italy national team. Club career Orsolini is a product of Ascoli's youth academy. He made his debut with the first t ...

, as Venezuela were ultimately beaten by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the final. Córdova's goal against Mexico in the group stages was also voted Goal of the Tournament.

Senior

Córdova received his first call-up to the senior side on 25 August 2017 when he was named in Rafael Dudamel's squad for

World Cup qualifiers The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

against

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. He made his debut on 31 August against the former, starting in a 0–0 draw before registering his first senior

in a 1–1 draw with the latter on 5 September.

Personal life

Córdova is a practicing

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

and, during a 2018 interview, revealed that his faith in God had helped him overcome the early challenges he faced with the language and cold weather during his time in Germany.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Venezuela U20 * U-20 Copa de los Andes: 2016 * FIFA U-20 World Cup runner-up:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

third place:

Individual * 2016 Copa de los Andes: Player of the Tournament * FIFA U-20 World Cup 2017 Goal of the Tournament: 1–0 (1–0) vs. Mexico Records * Youngest player to score a

brace (''with Caracas FC''): 18 years, 2 months and 22 days

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cordova, Sergio 1997 births Living people People from Calabozo Sportspeople from Guárico Venezuelan Christians Venezuelan men's footballers Venezuelan expatriate men's footballers Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Germany Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Venezuela men's international footballers Venezuela men's under-20 international footballers Men's association football forwards Venezuelan Primera División players Bundesliga players Caracas FC players FC Augsburg players Arminia Bielefeld players Real Salt Lake players Vancouver Whitecaps FC players 2021 Copa América players Major League Soccer players Designated Players (MLS)