Mikel Villanueva

Mikel Villanueva Álvarez (born 14 April 1993) is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Primeira Liga club Vitória Guimarães and the Venezuela national team.

Mikel Villanueva
Villanueva with Venezuela in 2019
Personal information
Full name Mikel Villanueva Álvarez
Date of birth (1993-04-14) 14 April 1993
Place of birth San Cristóbal, Venezuela
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Vitória Guimarães
Number 3
Youth career
Deportivo Táchira
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2014 Deportivo Táchira 5 (0)
2014–2016 ACD Lara 20 (4)
2015–2016 → Málaga B (loan) 31 (3)
2016–2020 Málaga 31 (1)
2017–2018 → Cádiz (loan) 13 (0)
2018 → Reus (loan) 12 (0)
2019 → Gimnàstic (loan) 17 (0)
2020–2022 Santa Clara 50 (1)
2022– Vitória Guimarães 33 (1)
International career‡
2016– Venezuela 31 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:12, 13 October 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16:12, 13 October 2023 (UTC)
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Villanueva and the second or maternal family name is Álvarez.

He spent several years at Málaga, where he made 15 La Liga appearances and was mainly loaned to Segunda División clubs. He also played in the Portuguese Primeira Liga for Santa Clara and Vitória Guimarães.

A full international for Venezuela since 2016, Villanueva represented the nation at three Copa América tournaments.

Club career

Early career

Born in San Cristóbal, Táchira, Villanueva was a Deportivo Táchira youth graduate. On 3 March 2013 he made his professional debut, starting in a 0–1 away loss against Estudiantes de Mérida.

After being rarely used, Villanueva moved to fellow Primera División team ACD Lara in 2014. He scored his first professional goal on 25 January 2015, netting the game's only in an away win against Carabobo FC.[1]

On 22 February 2015, Villanueva scored a brace in a 3–1 home win against Trujillanos FC. He finished the campaign with 20 appearances and four goals.

Málaga

On 4 July 2015 Villanueva joined Málaga CF, being assigned to the reserves in Tercera División.[2] On 3 May 2016, he was bought outright by the club, signing a permanent three-year deal and being promoted to the main squad in La Liga.[3]

Villanueva made his debut in the main category of Spanish football on 16 October 2016, starting in a 1–1 away draw against Deportivo Alavés.[4] The following 10 August he renewed his contract until 2020, and was immediately loaned to Segunda División club Cádiz CF for one year.[5]

On 24 July 2018, Villanueva joined fellow second division side CF Reus Deportiu, on a season-long loan.[6] On 28 December, he was one of the five players who left the club due to unpaid wages.[7]

On 9 January 2019, Villanueva moved to Gimnàstic de Tarragona still in the second tier, on loan until June.[8] Back at his parent club, he scored his only goal in Spanish football on 20 October to open a 2–0 win at Deportivo de La Coruña.[9]

Santa Clara

On 31 August 2020, Villanueva signed a two-year deal at C.D. Santa Clara in the Portuguese Primeira Liga.[10] He missed only five games in his first season as the club from the Azores came sixth, and scored a fourth-minute opener in a 5–1 home win over C.D. Nacional on 11 April.

Villanueva took part in the first continental campaign of his career in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League. On 29 July 2021, he scored in a 2–0 home win (5–0 aggregate) over KF Shkupi of North Macedonia in the second leg of the second qualifying round.[11]

Vitória Guimarães

On 27 June 2022, at the end of his Santa Clara contract, Villanueva moved to Vitória de Guimarães in the same league on a three-year deal.[12]

International career

On 20 January 2016, Villanueva was called up to the Venezuela national team for a friendly against Costa Rica.[13] He made his full international debut on 2 February, starting in the 1–0 win in Barinas.

Villanueva scored his first international goal on 24 March 2016 in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, netting the second in a 2–2 away draw against Peru following an assist from Málaga teammate Juanpi.[14] He was named in the Vinotinto's squad for the year's Copa América Centenario in the United States, but did not play.[15]

Villanueva was called up for the 2019 Copa América in Brazil.[16] He played the first two group games as the team reached the quarter-finals, goalless draws against Peru and the hosts, but was then ruled out with fever.[17]

At the 2021 Copa América, in the same country as before, Venezuela were the one team eliminated from five in Group B. Villanueva played only in the last game, a 1–0 loss to Peru at the Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha.[18]

International goals
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result CompetitionRef.
1.24 March 2016Estadio Nacional de Lima, Lima, Peru Peru2–12–22018 World Cup qualification
2.23 March 2017Estadio Monumental de Maturín, Maturín, Venezuela Peru1–02–22018 FIFA World Cup qualification

References
  1. "El Carabobo FC no pudo con el verde Lara" [Carabobo FC could not handle green Lara] (in Spanish). La Vinotinto. 25 January 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  2. "El Málaga ficha al venezolano Mikel Villanueva para el filial" [Málaga signs Venezuelan Mikel Villanueva to the reserves] (in Spanish). La Opinión de Málaga. 4 July 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  3. "Málaga CF executes option to buy clause on Mikel Villanueva". Málaga CF. 3 May 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  4. "Empate a todo en Mendizorroza" [Full draw at the Mendizorroza] (in Spanish). Marca. 16 October 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  5. "Mikel jugará cedido en el Cádiz CF" [Mikel will play on loan at Cádiz CF] (in Spanish). Málaga CF. 10 August 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  6. "Mikel Villanueva refuerza la defensa del Reus" [Mikel Villanueva bolsters the defense of Reus] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 24 July 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  7. "El principio del fin: cinco jugadores del Reus ya han quedado libres" [The beginning of the end: five Reus players are already free] (in Spanish). Marca. 28 December 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  8. "Villanueva arriba cedit pel Málaga CF" [Villanueva arrives on loan from Málaga CF] (in Catalan). Gimnàstic Tarragona. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  9. "Mikel Villanueva anotó en victoria del Málaga" [Mikel Villanueva scored in Málaga's victory] (in Spanish). Solovenex. 20 October 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  10. "Mikel Villanueva é reforço do Santa Clara" [Mikel Villanueva is Santa Clara addition] (in Portuguese). Record. 31 August 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  11. "Mikel Villanueva marca el primero de la temporada y en copas europeas" [Mikel Villanueva scores his first of the season and in European cups] (in Spanish). Diario Meridiano. 29 July 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  12. "Oficial: Mikel Villanueva é reforço do V. Guimarães até 2025" [Official: Mikel Villanueva is V. Guimarães addition until 2025] (in Portuguese). Record. 27 June 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  13. "Mikel Villanueva called-up to Venezuela's first team". Málaga CF. 20 January 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  14. "Report: Peru 2 Venezuela 2". BeIN Sports. 25 March 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  15. "Copa América Centenario: Venezuela confirma su lista definitiva de 23 jugadores" [Copa América Centenario: Venezuela confirm their final list of 23 players] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 22 May 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  16. "Venezuela: La Vinotinto más ilusionante de la historia" [Venezuela: The most exciting Vinotinto of all time] (in Spanish). Marca. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  17. "Venezuela beats Bolivia 3–1 and advances in Copa America". USA Today. 22 June 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  18. "0–1. Perú se fortalece y termina con la campaña venezolana en la Copa América" [0–1. Peru strengthen and end the Venezuelan campaign in the Copa América] (in Spanish). Swissinfo. 27 June 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
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