Alejandro Miguel Portal Oliva (born 21 October 1995) is a

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

n 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 ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for the

Simcoe County Rovers Simcoe County Rovers Football Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Barrie, Ontario, that plays in the League1 Ontario men's and women's divisions. History The club was founded in 2021, by former Canadian national team p ...

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1O) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league began play in 2014 and is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association as a pro-am league in the Canadian ...

Early life

Portal was born in the town of

Quivicán Quivicán is a town and municipality in Mayabeque Province of Cuba. It is located in the south west of the province, bordering the Gulf of Batabanó. The name is of Taino origin (spelled '' Quibicán''). It was founded in 1700. Geography The mun ...

, located south of

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

Club career

Portal began his career with second-division Torneo de Ascenso side Mayabeque in 2013. In 2015, he moved up to the Campeonato Nacional with

Isla de La Juventud Isla de la Juventud (; en, Isle of Youth) is the second-largest Cuban island (after Cuba's mainland) and the seventh-largest island in the West Indies (after mainland Cuba itself, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and Andros Islan ...

, making 27 appearances and scoring four goals over two seasons. In 2017, he joined

Cienfuegos Cienfuegos (), capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about from Havana and has a population of 150,000. Since the late 1960s, Cienfuegos has become one of Cuba's main industrial centers, especia ...

, making nineteen appearances over two seasons. He spent 2018 and 2019 with

Pinar del Río Pinar del Río is the capital city of Pinar del Río Province, Cuba. With a population of 139,336 (2004) in a municipality of 190,332, it is the 10th-largest city in Cuba. Inhabitants of the area are called ''Pinareños''. History Pinar del R ...

and

La Habana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, respectively. In 2020, he began training with

side

Vaughan Azzurri Vaughan Azzurri is a Canadian semi-professional soccer team based in Vaughan, Ontario, that currently competes in the League1 Ontario men's and women's divisions. The semi-professional team was founded in 2014 by the Vaughan Soccer Club, which ...

and made his debut as a substitute against

Darby Darby may refer to: Places United States * Darby, Idaho, an unincorporated community * Darby, Montana, a town * Darby, North Carolina, an unincorporated community * Darby Township, Madison County, Ohio * Darby Township, Pickaway County, Ohio ...

on 20 August 2021. On 9 September 2021, Portal signed his first professional contract with

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's Association football, soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary nationa ...

side

HFX Wanderers HFX Wanderers Football Club, commonly known as HFX Wanderers, and spoken as Halifax Wanderers, is a Canadian professional soccer club in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League at the top of the Canadian soccer l ...

. He made his debut on 18 September against

York United FC York United Football Club (formerly known as York9 FC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at York University's York Lions Stadium. Histo ...

. He departed the club at the end of the season. In 2022, he returned to playing for

. In February 2023, he signed with the

International career

Portal made his debut for the Cuba national team in a 2015 friendly against

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean Sea, Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to ...

. He returned to the team four years later for a friendly against

Bermuda ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , ...

in 2019. He was later selected for the

2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 15th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was primarily hosted in th ...

squad, where he appeared in all three matches for Cuba. After Cuba's 6–0 loss to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

during

CONCACAF Nations League qualifying The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; types ...

in September, he defected into Canada.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Portal, Alejandro Living people 1995 births Cuban men's footballers Cuba men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders FC Mayabeque players FC Isla de La Juventud players FC Cienfuegos players FC Pinar del Río players FC Ciudad de La Habana players HFX Wanderers FC players League1 Ontario players 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players People from Quivicán Cuba men's under-20 international footballers Defecting Cuban footballers Vaughan Azzurri players Simcoe County Rovers FC players