Yénier Márquez Molina (born 3 January 1979) is a Cuban 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 ...
who played as a
defender.
He is the
Cuba national team's most capped player of all-time.
Club career
Born in
Corralillo
Corralillo is a municipality and town in the Villa Clara Province of Cuba. It was founded in 1831 and established as a municipality in 1879.
Geography
Corralillo is located on the northern coast of Cuba, in the north-western corner of the Villa ...
,
Márquez he his senior debut with
FC Villa Clara
FC Villa Clara is a Cuban football club based in Santa Clara, Villa Clara Province, which currently play Cuban first division.
Overview
The club, playing in Santa Clara at the Sandino Stadium, and representing the city and the whole provinc ...
in 1999.
In 2013, Marquez was the Cuban league's top goalscorer with 16 and in 2014 he was voted Cuban footballer of the year.
He played for Antiguan side
Green Bay Hoppers.
International career
Nicknamed ''El Croqui'', he made his international debut for
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
in a May 2000
FIFA World Cup qualification against
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...
,
and has earned a total of 126 caps, scoring 16 goals.
He represented his country in 19 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches. He played in five FIFA World Cup qualification campaigns and at eight
CONCACAF Gold Cup
The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...
s.
His final international was a July
2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup
The 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 13th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition and the 23rd CONCACAF regional championship overall in the organization's fifty-four years of existence. It was held in the United States, with two matches bein ...
match against
Guatemala.
Personal life
Since football players are not allowed to play professionally in Cuba, Márquez also had a job as motorcycle taxi driver.
Cuba’s Jeniel Marquez: Soccer Star and Taxi Driver
- Havana Times
Career statistics
:''Scores and results list Cuba's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Márquez goal.''
See also
* List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps
In men's association football, a cap is traditionally awarded in international football to a player making an official match appearance for their national team. In total, over 600 players have played in 100 or more international matches. The re ...
References
1979 births
Living people
People from Corralillo
Cuban footballers
Association football central defenders
Cuba international footballers
FC Villa Clara players
Hoppers F.C. players
2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
2014 Caribbean Cup players
FIFA Century Club
Cuban expatriate footballers
Cuban expatriate sportspeople in Antigua and Barbuda
Expatriate footballers in Antigua and Barbuda
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