Cristián Alejandro "Cimbi" Cuevas Jara (; born 2 April 1995) is a Chilean 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 lea ...

who plays for Universidad Católica. Cuevas plays primarily as a left-back but can also operate as a left-winger. Cuevas played for the Chile national under-20 team and was selected to play in the

South American Youth Championship South American Youth Championships may refer to: * South American Youth Football Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as South American U-20 Championship (; ), branded as CONMEBOL Sub 20, is a South American foo ...

. He competed in the

FIFA 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 when i ...

in Turkey, helping Chile progress to the quarter-finals.

Club career

O'Higgins

Cuevas began his career at

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, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

club O'Higgins. He progressed from the club's youth level all the way to the senior team. In 2011, he was promoted to the senior team, making his debut on 8 May in a 5–1 away loss to

Colo-Colo Colo-Colo (), officially Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo, is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano, it competes in the Chilean Primera División, from which the club has never been ...

at the Estadio Monumental. Cuevas has continued to appear since it, particularly in

Copa Chile The Copa Chile (''Chile Cup'') is an annual cup competition for Chilean football teams. Due to time constraints and club pressure, the trophy was cancelled in 2000, but returned in 2008. Its precursor was the Campeonato de Apertura (''Opening Ch ...

games. In November 2012, it was reported that Cuevas had held a successful trial with

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club Chelsea following a number of impressive performances for the Chilean under-20 team. In 2013, after a season at the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

, he was considered by

Eduardo Berizzo Manuel Eduardo Berizzo Magnolo (; born 13 November 1969) is an Argentine former footballer who played as a central defender, currently manager of Liga MX club León. During his 18-year professional career he played for six teams in four countr ...

to play the Torneo Transición, who chose him after a well

South American Youth Football Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as South American U-20 Championship (; ), branded as CONMEBOL Sub 20, is a South American football tournament organized by the CONMEBOL for South American national teams of men under age o ...

in Argentina with the national under-20 side. He made seven appearances (the most of those as

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

) and before the

, on 23 July, Cuevas completed a five-year contract with Chelsea which will keep at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in ...

until 2018. The transfer fee paid to O'Higgins was reported as £1.7 million.

Chelsea

After his successful move, Cuevas joined the club's pre-season and stayed training with the first adult team alongside other youngsters players under the orders of

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix (; born 26 January 1963) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Süper Lig club Fenerba ...

before being sent on season long loan to Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

club Vitesse. There he linked up with fellow Chelsea loanees

Patrick van Aanholt Patrick John Miguel van Aanholt (; born 29 August 1990) is a Dutch professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, left-back for club Sparta Rotterdam. He began his professional career a ...

Gaël Kakuta Gaël Romeo Kakuta Mambenga (born 21 June 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for TFF First League club Sakaryaspor. Born in France, he represents the DR Congo national team. A youth product of RC Lens, Kakuta moved to ...

Lucas Piazon Lucas Domingues Piazon (born on 20 January 1994) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for Primeira Liga club AVS. He can play as a second striker, a winger, or an attacking midfielder. Piazon spent a decade at Chelsea, though he ...

Tomáš Kalas Tomáš Kalas (born 15 May 1993) is a Czech professional footballer who plays for Schalke 04 and the Czech Republic national team. He plays as a centre-back, but has also been played as a right-back. Having begun his career at Sigma Olomouc, K ...

, Sam Hutchinson and

Christian Atsu Christian Atsu Twasam (10 January 1992 – 6 February 2023) was a Ghanaian professional Association football, footballer who primarily played as a Midfielder#Winger, winger, although he was deployed as an midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacki ...

Loan to Vitesse

On 1 September 2013, Cuevas made his first appearance on the bench in the match against AZ, although he was an unused substitution as Vitesse drew 1–1. On 1 September 2013, he again made an appearance on the bench in the match against

PEC Zwolle Prins Hendrik Ende Desespereert Nimmer Combinatie Zwolle, commonly known as PEC Zwolle, is a Dutch professional football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football. They have played in the Ered ...

, but remained unused. Cuevas failed to make a single first team appearance before Vitesse decided to cancel his loan in February.

Loan to FC Eindhoven

On 7 February 2014, it was announced that Cuevas would spend the rest of the season on loan with

FC Eindhoven Football Club Eindhoven, commonly known as FC Eindhoven, is a professional association football, football club based in Eindhoven, Netherlands, that competes in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football ...

in the Dutch

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

. Later that day, he made his debut, coming off the bench and replacing Torino Hunte after the first half in a match against Almere City which ended in a 2–1 loss for Eindhoven. On 28 March, he scored his first goal for the club – and his first professional goal – in a 4–0 win over

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top flig ...

. He finished the season with 13 appearances and one goal.

Loan to Universidad de Chile

On 30 June 2014, Cuevas was sent on a season long loan to

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile () is a public research university in Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the co ...

. He made his debut on 13 February 2015 against

Unión Española Club Unión Española S.A.D.P. is a professional football club based in the Independencia neighborhood, commune of Santiago, Chile currently participating in the Primera División de Chile. History Foundation, Amateur Era and First seasons ...

, which ended in a 2–1 loss for Universidad de Chile. Cuevas made a total of six appearances with only four league appearances during his time back in his home country.

Loan to Sint-Truiden

On 10 August 2015, Cuevas was sent on a season-long loan to Belgian side

Sint-Truiden Sint-Truiden (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg, Flemish Region, Belgium. With more than 41,500 inhabitants, it is on ...

along with fellow Chelsea youth player Joao Rodríguez. On 16 August 2015, he made his debut off the bench in the 62nd minute, replacing Yannis Mbombo in the match against

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent ( Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghent ** .gent, ...

, a 1–0 defeat. On 21 November 2015, he scored his first goal for Sint-Truiden in their 2–1 away defeat against

Waasland-Beveren Sportkring Beveren (SK Beveren) is a Belgian professional association football club based in Beveren, East Flanders. The club is affiliated with the founded number 4068 and has yellow and blue as its colours. The team was founded in 1936 in H ...

, netting the opener of the fixture in the 9th minute. On 31 August 2016, Cuevas returned to Sint-Truiden for another season-long loan.

Huachipato

On 1 July 2017, Cuevas agreed to return to Chile to join Primera División side

Huachipato Huachipato FC is a Chilean football club based in Talcahuano that currently plays in the Chilean Primera División. Huachipato was founded on 7 June 1947 by workers of the homonymous steel mill in Talcahuano, and it currently plays its home g ...

and a month later joined Dutch side

Twente Twente ( , Tweants dialect: ''Tweante'') is a region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel. Twente is most likely named after the Tuihanti or Tvihanti, a Germanic people ...

on a season-long loan. On 14 April 2018, he became the joint record holder for most yellow cards in a single Eredivisie season after getting his 12th yellow card of the season against

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

. Following a season at Twente, Cuevas joined

Austria Wien Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (), known in English as Austria Vienna, and Austria Wien in German-speaking countries, is an Austrian professional association football club from the capital city of Vienna. It has won the most trophies of any Aust ...

in July 2018 on a season-long loan, with an option to buy.

Universidad de Chile

On 31 January 2022, Cuevas rejoined

on a permanent basis.

International career

Cuevas was part of the Chile under-20 team which participated in the

2013 South American Youth Championship The 2013 South American Youth Football Championship (, ) was an association football competition for national under-20 teams in the South America (CONMEBOL). The tournament was held in Argentina from 9 January to 3 February 2013 and was won by Col ...

in Argentina. He also joined the first team for the

2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the nineteenth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. It ran from 21 June to 13 July 2013. At the FIFA Executive Meeting in Zürich on 3 March 2011, ...

based in Turkey, where they reached the quarter-finals. Cuevas was also included in Chile's squad for the

2015 South American Youth Football Championship The 2015 South American Youth Football Championship (, ) was the 27th edition of the biennial international youth association football, football tournament organized by CONMEBOL for the men's under-20 national teams of South America. It was held i ...

, held in Uruguay.

Career statistics

Club

International

Notes

References

External links

Cristián Cuevas
at Football-Lineups *

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cuevas, Cristian 1995 births Living people Footballers from Rancagua Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football wingers Chilean men's footballers 21st-century Chilean sportsmen Chile men's under-20 international footballers Chile men's international footballers Chilean expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Chilean Primera División players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Belgian Pro League players Austrian Football Bundesliga players O'Higgins F.C. footballers Chelsea F.C. players SBV Vitesse players FC Eindhoven players Club Universidad de Chile footballers Sint-Truidense V.V. players Huachipato FC footballers FC Twente players FK Austria Wien players Club Deportivo Universidad Católica footballers Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Chilean expatriate sportspeople in England Chilean expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Austria