Gabriel Nicolás Mezquida Sero (born 21 January 1992) is a Uruguayan 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 as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Vancouver FC Vancouver Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club that competes in the Canadian Premier League, the top tier of the Canadian soccer league system. The club is based in Langley, British Columbia (district muni ...

on the

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; ) is a professional Association football, soccer league in Canada and the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The league comprises eight teams, from five of provinces and territories of ...

Club career

Mezquida began his career in the youth academy of C.A. Peñarol in 2006, before being promoted to the first team in the 2008 season. On January 22, 2009, at the age of 17, he signed a pre-contract with

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

worth a reported €2 million with the intent of joining the club at the end of the year. However, he changed his mind and decided to remain with C.A. Peñarol in South America. During his time with Peñarol, he had two loan spells with Norwegian clubs Brann and

Lillestrøm Lillestrøm is a municipality in Akershus county. It is located in the traditional district of Romerike. With a population of 85,757 inhabitants, it is the fourth most populated municipality in Viken. It was founded on 1 January 2020 as a merger ...

. He joined Fénix in 2012, scoring one goal in 14 matches for the club. He was loaned out to

Rampla Juniors Rampla Juniors Fútbol Club, commonly known as Rampla Juniors, is a Uruguayan football club based in Montevideo. The team was actively playing the 2021 season by January 2021. In their home stadium, Rampla won the Uruguayan championship in 1927. I ...

in 2013 and scored seven goals in 24 matches for the club. In September 2013, after leaving Fenix, Mezquida went on trial with

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

of the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

but was ultimately not signed, potentially because of work permit eligibility issues, since he had not featured for the senior national side of Uruguay. On February 5, 2014

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The MLS ite ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

announced that they had signed Mezquida along with fellow Uruguayan Sebastián Fernández on a transfer from

Boston River Club Atlético Boston River, simply known as Boston River, is a Uruguayan sports club located in Montevideo. Founded on 20 February 1939, their football section is currently playing in the Uruguayan Primera División. At the futsal Futsal i ...

of the

Uruguayan Segunda División The Segunda División Profesional is the second division of professional football in Uruguay, established in 1942. The league is sometimes referred to as ''Primera B''. In 1942, the Segunda División was established to replace the amateur Uruguaya ...

where he had been playing since leaving Fenix. Mezquida went on to play five seasons for Vancouver, making 103 regular and postseason appearances, scoring 14 goals and adding four assists. On December 9, 2018, Mezquida was traded along with $100,000 in TAM to the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

in exchange for

Zac MacMath Zachary Michael MacMath (born August 7, 1991) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake. He was drafted No. 5 overall in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft by the Philadelphia Union. ...

. In 2019, Mezquida made 32 MLS appearances while adding four goals and six assists - all career highs. In 2020, Mezquida made 17 appearances, 16 of them as a substitute, including in Colorado's first-round playoff loss at

Minnesota United FC Minnesota United Football Club, often shortened to MNUFC, is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the W ...

. Mezquida made his 150th career MLS regular season appearance on November 8 at

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

. On 28 June 2022, Mezquida was transferred to

Greek Super League The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

club

Volos Volos (; ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the capital of the Magnesia (regional unit), Magnesia regional unit of the Thessaly Region. Volos ...

International career

Mezquida excelled whilst playing for Uruguay at U-15 level, scoring ten goals in 12 appearances, and was the top goal scorer at the 2007

South American Under-15 Football Championship The South American U-15 Championship (; ), branded as CONMEBOL Sub 15, is a South American association football competition held every two years contested by male players under the age of 15 and is organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body for foot ...

, helping them finish as runners-up. He also played for the U-17 team at the international level.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

Whitecaps FC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mezquida, Nicolas 1992 births Footballers from Paysandú Living people Men's association football midfielders Uruguayan men's footballers Uruguay men's youth international footballers Peñarol players SK Brann players Lillestrøm SK players Centro Atlético Fénix players Rampla Juniors players Boston River players Vancouver Whitecaps FC players Whitecaps FC 2 players Colorado Rapids players Colorado Rapids 2 players Volos F.C. players Deportivo Maldonado players Ethnikos Achna FC players Vancouver FC players Uruguayan Primera División players Eliteserien players Uruguayan Segunda División players Major League Soccer players USL Championship players MLS Next Pro players Super League Greece players Cypriot First Division players Canadian Premier League players Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus