Renae Nicole Cuéllar Cuéllar (born Renae Nicole Garcia, 24 June 1990) is a 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 last played 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) ** Smal ...

. Born in the United States, she represented the Mexico national team.

Early life

Born in

Bellflower, California Bellflower is a city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was founded in 1906 and municipal corporation, incorporated on September 3, 1957. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, th ...

to Andrés García and Dolores Cuéllar, Renae attended Los Altos High School in

Hacienda Heights, California Hacienda Heights () is an unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated bedroom community, suburban community in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the community had a total population of 54,191, up from 54 ...

where she was a three-year letterwinner and three time all-conference, all-city, all-district, all-region, and Offensive Player of the Year. In 2005, she was named 100th Rookie of the Year. Cuéllar played for the club team CRSC Infinity G U-200000 Premier League and was a member of the Cal South Olympic Development Program State team for five years and Region IV Olympic Development Program for four years. She was also a member of the United States U-14 to U-18 national pool teams.

University

Cuéllar attended the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

and played for the

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...

from 2008 to 2011. As a freshman, she appeared in 19 games for the Wildcats, starting 18 of them as forward. She was named to the All-Pac-10 Freshman team and was selected as honorable mention for the All-Pac-10 Team. She tied for the team lead with five goals and second on the team with assists with two. Cuéllar led the Wildcats in shots on goal with 48, game winning goals with four, and came in second on the team with total points with 12. During her sophomore year, she was responsible for over a third of the team's scoring and nearly a quarter of the team's total attempts at goal. She led the team in points with 12, goals with six, shots at 43 and shots on goal at 21. She was an honorable mention selection to the All-Pac-10 team the same year. As a junior, Cuéllar scored six goals and provided three assists in the first six games of the season, before suffering a season-ending knee injury. In 2012, she transferred to the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

and played for the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the college athletics in the United States , athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to ...

during her senior year. Cuéllar led the Sooners with 26 points from a team-high 12 goals, which ranked as the third-most in a single season in school history. She made OU soccer history by being named the 2012 Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Year and became the first member of the Oklahoma program to earn a spot on the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-Central Region First Team. Cuellar also earned All-Big 12 First Team and Big 12 All-Newcomer Team honors. She was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week twice in 2012, earned national honors when she was named Disney Soccer/NSCAA Player of the Week after scoring game-winning goals against Kansas and TCU.

Playing career

Club

FC Kansas City

In 2013, as part of the

NWSL Player Allocation The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) federation players were players whose salaries for playing in the National Women's Soccer League were paid for by their respective national federations from 2013 to 2021. American federation players were co ...

, Cuéllar joined

FC Kansas City FC Kansas City was an American professional women's soccer club based in Kansas City, Missouri. The team was one of the eight founding clubs of the National Women's Soccer League in 2012, and began play in 2013. They were two-time NWSL champio ...

in the new

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

. On 13 April, Cuéllar scored the first goal in NWSL history versus

Portland Thorns FC Portland Thorns FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team NWSL ...

. Cuellar made 11 appearances with eight starts for the Blues, scoring five goals. She missed two games after spraining her knee and ankle during a match against the

after being tackled by defender,

Rachel Buehler Rachel Marie Buehler Van Hollebeke ( ; ; born August 26, 1985) is an American former soccer player who last played as a defender for the Portland Thorns FC and the United States women's national soccer team. In 2015, Van Hollebeke retired fro ...

. FCKC traded her to Seattle mid-season.

Seattle Reign FC

On 1 July 2013, FCKC traded Cuéllar to the

Seattle Reign FC Seattle Reign FC is an American professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2012, it is one of eight inaugural members of the NWSL. Since June 2024, the Reign ar ...

in exchange for

Teresa Noyola Teresa Noyola Bayardo (born 15 April 1990) is a Mexican footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Oakland Soul. She previously played for the Houston Dash, FC Kansas City, and Seattle Reign FC in the National Women's Soccer League, a ...

, a second round pick in the 2014 NWSL College Draft and rights to unsigned player,

Nikki Krzysik Nicole Marie Phillips (; born 23 May 1987) is an American-born Polish professional footballer who plays as a defender and a midfielder. She has been a member of the Poland national team. She previously played for the Chicago Red Stars and the ...

. She made seven appearances for the Reign, including three starts, tallying a total of 342 minutes on the pitch.

Sundsvalls DFF

After the conclusion of the

2013 NWSL season The 2013 National Women's Soccer League season was the inaugural season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Socc ...

, Cuéllar signed with Swedish side, Sundsvalls DFF. She made her debut for the club on 22 August in a match against

IF Limhamn Bunkeflo IF Limhamn Bunkeflo may refer to * IF Limhamn Bunkeflo (men's) *IF Limhamn Bunkeflo (women's) IF Limhamn Bunkeflo 07, commonly known as LB07, is a football club based in Malmö, Sweden. It is the biggest football club from the Scania region. T ...

. She scored her first goal for the squad on 30 August during the team's 1–5 defeat to

Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word (Latin script: ), meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbr ...

Washington Spirit

In October 2013, Seattle Reign FC traded Cuéllar to the

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the USL W-League (1995� ...

Kiryat Gat

Cuéllar gave birth to her son Romeo in April 2017. She resumed soccer training with men's club

Las Vegas Lights FC Las Vegas Lights FC is an American professional soccer team based in Las Vegas, Nevada, that plays in the USL Championship. The team made its debut in 2018 and plays its home games at Cashman Field. The team employs neon imagery in its crest a ...

, where her husband Carlos Alvarez was on the roster. In August 2018 she agreed a contract with Israeli

Ligat Nashim Ligat Nashim (, lit. ''Women's League'') is the Israeli Women's association football, women's football league. It has been run by the Israel Football Association since 1998. Format The league is divided into two divisions, with the top divisio ...

club

Kiryat Gat Kiryat Gat () also spelled Qiryat Gat, is a city in the Southern District of Israel. It lies south of Tel Aviv, north of Beersheba, and west southwest of Jerusalem. In it had a population of . The city hosts one of the most advanced semicondu ...

Stjarnan

In March 2019, she signed with

Stjarnan Ungmennafélagið Stjarnan (, ), commonly known as Stjarnan (), is an Icelandic multi-sports club specialising in handball, football, basketball, volleyball and gymnastics located in Garðabær. Basketball Men's basketball As of the 2017–2 ...

of the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild kvenna.

Club Tijuana

In July 2019, Cuellar signed with Tijuana Xolos in

Liga MX Femenil Liga MX Femenil, also known as Liga BBVA MX Femenil for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in Mexico. Supervised by the Mexican Football Federation, Federación Mexicana d ...

International

Cuéllar represented

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

at the

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament, organized by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), for national teams of women under the age of 20. The tournament is held biennially. ...

in Germany in 2010. She scored a goal in Mexico's 3–3 draw against Japan and netted the game winner in the 62nd minute in a 1–0 victory over England. Cuéllar was an alternate for the

Mexico women's national football team The Mexico women's national football team (Spanish: ''Selección Nacional de México Femenil'') represents Mexico in international Women's association football, women's football. The team is governed by the Mexican Football Federation and compe ...

at the

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for List of women's national association football teams, women's national association football, football teams. It was held from 26 June to ...

in Germany. Cuéllar was named to the

roster for the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the f ...

in Canada. Cuéllar played in all three matches for Mexico. When Mexico embarrassingly failed to qualify for the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football, football championship contested by 24 List of women's national association football teams, women's ...

in France, Cuéllar criticized the team's management for not selecting her, alleging that she'd been left out due to her recent childbirth.

Personal life

Cuéllar is married to former footballer Carlos Alvarez. They have a son, Romeo, who was born in April 2017.

References

External links

* * *
Renae Cuéllar
at

Renae Cuéllar
at

*
Renae Cuéllar
at Club Tijuana Femenil
Profile
at

Mexican Football Federation The Mexican Football Federation (), abbreviated as FMF is the official governing body of football in Mexico. It administers the men's and women's national teams with all its youth teams, the national teams of futsal and beach soccer, Liga MX wit ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cuellar, Renae 1990 births Living people Mexican women's footballers Women's association football forwards Mexico women's international footballers 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players WK League players 2. Frauen-Bundesliga players BV Cloppenburg players F.C. Kiryat Gat (women) players Renae Cuéllar Stjarnan women's football players Liga MX Femenil players Club Tijuana (women) footballers Mexican expatriate women's footballers Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden Mexican expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Expatriate women's footballers in South Korea Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Germany Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Israel Expatriate women's footballers in Israel Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Iceland Expatriate women's footballers in Iceland American women's soccer players Soccer players from Los Angeles County, California Sportspeople from Bellflower, California American sportspeople of Mexican descent Arizona Wildcats women's soccer players Oklahoma Sooners women's soccer players National Women's Soccer League players FC Kansas City players Seattle Reign FC players Washington Spirit players American expatriate women's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Sweden American expatriate sportspeople in South Korea American expatriate women's soccer players in Germany American expatriate sportspeople in Israel American expatriate sportspeople in Iceland Sundsvalls DFF players Elitettan players Expatriate women's footballers in Germany 21st-century American sportswomen 21st-century Mexican sportswomen