Cristian Higuita

Cristian Higuita (born 12 January 1994) is a Colombian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Atlético Junior in Categoría Primera A.

Cristian Higuita
Personal information
Full name Cristian Andrés Higuita Beltrán
Date of birth (1994-01-12) 12 January 1994
Place of birth Cali, Colombia
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Atlético Junior
Number 13
Youth career
Deportivo Cali
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2014 Deportivo Cali 8 (2)
2015–2019 Orlando City 103 (6)
2016 → Orlando City B (loan) 1 (0)
2020– Atlético Junior 6 (0)
International career
2011 Colombia U17 8 (0)
2013 Colombia U20 1 (0)
2016 Colombia Olympic 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 4 October 2020

Club career

Deportivo Cali

Higuita made his debut with Deportivo Cali in 2009. A year later, he played a minor part in Cali's campaign winning the 2010 Copa Colombia. In 2011, he made his debut for Cali in Categoría Primera A and during the 2014 season helped the club capture the 2014 Superliga Colombiana.

Orlando City

In January 2015 it was reported that Orlando City SC would be signing Higuita along with his Deportivo Cali teammate Carlos Rivas.[1] He started the team's first ever MLS game, a 1–1 draw at home to fellow new expansion side New York City on 8 March.[2] On 1 August 2015, Higuita scored his first goal for the team in a 5–2 win at home to Columbus Crew.[3] Higuita finished the 2015 season with 4.3 tackles per game and a passing success rate of 87.1 percent.[4]

On 6 August 2016, in order to regain match fitness, Higuita was loaned to Orlando City B for their match against Toronto FC II.[5] In September 2016, Higuita was ranked #21 on the MLSSoccer.com ranking of the top 24 players under 24 years of age.[6] Higuita was one of Orlando City's protected players for the 2016 MLS Expansion Draft.[7]

Prior to the beginning of the 2019 season, Higuita was presented with a commemorative plaque in honor of his 100 appearances with Orlando City across MLS, US Open Cup and international friendlies (namely against Ponte Preta, Flamengo and Stoke City). Higuita's contract expired at the end of the 2019 season. He departed as the club's leading appearance maker with 108 across all competitions.[8]

Atlético Junior

On 17 December 2019, Higuita returned to Colombia to sign with Atlético Junior.[9]

International career

Higuita was called up to represent the Colombia U20s at the 2013 South American Youth Football Championship.[10] Higuita made one appearance in the tournament, coming on as a half-time substitute in a 2–1 group stage defeat to Chile.[11] Colombia went on to win the tournament.

Higuita was named in Colombia's provisional squad for Copa América Centenario in 2016 but was cut from the final squad.[12]

Personal

Higuita holds a U.S. green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.[13]

Career statistics

Club
As of 4 October 2020
Club Season League Cup Continental Playoffs Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Deportivo Cali 2012 Primera A 2000—1030
2014 620040—102
Total 82004010132
Orlando City 2015 MLS 26120——281
2016 21100——211
2017 26000——260
2018 21410——224
2019 9020——110
Total 10365000001086
Orlando City B 2016 USL 10—10
Atlético Junior 2020 Primera A 600000—60
Career totals 11785040101278

Honors

Club
Deportivo Cali

National Team
Colombia

References
  1. Tenorio, Paul. "Orlando City set to sign Carlos Rivas, Cristian Higuita from Deportivo Cali".
  2. "Orlando City & NYCFC Battle To 1-1 Draw In Front Of 62K". 8 March 2015.
  3. "Match Recap: Orlando City Dominates Columbus Crew SC 5-2". 1 August 2015.
  4. "Standout Statistics From Orlando City's First MLS Season". 6 November 2015.
  5. "OCB Earns Last Minute 2-1 Victory Over TFCII". 6 August 2016.
  6. "Cristian Higuita, 24 Under 24". 19 September 2016.
  7. "Orlando City Protects 11 Players From 2016 MLS Expansion Draft". 12 December 2016.
  8. "Orlando City SC Announces 2019 End-of-Season Roster Decisions". Orlando City SC. 21 November 2019.
  9. "Ahora sí: Cristián Higuita es nuevo jugador de Junior". El Heraldo (in Spanish).
  10. "Squad for South American Youth Championship announced" (PDF). 9 January 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2013.
  11. "Chile U20 vs. Colombia U20 - Match Summary - January 13, 2013". ESPN.com.
  12. "Falcao left out of Colombia's Copa America squad". goal.com. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  13. "Orlando City Soccer Club". www.facebook.com.
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