Alex Eduardo Valera Sandoval (born 16 May 1996), better known as Alex Valera, is a Peruvian 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

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 ...

for Peruvian Liga 1 club

Universitario de Deportes Club Universitario de Deportes is a Peruvian sports club based in Lima, which has Association football, soccer as its main activity. It also has women's football, volleyball and basketball sections. The football team, popularly known as Universi ...

and the Peru national team.

Club career

Valera began his career in 2016 in

Molinos El Pirata Pirata Fútbol Club is a Peruvian professional soccer club based in José Leonardo Ortiz District in the city of Chiclayo, Lambayeque Region. The team currently competes in the Liga 2. History The club was founded on November 15, 2015 in the Jos� ...

. After Pirata was eliminated from the

2017 Copa Perú The 2017 Peru Cup season (), the largest amateur tournament of Peruvian football, started in February. This edition has featured a change, with the elimination of the Regional Stage and the inclusion of participants from all the Regions of Peru ...

, he was signed by Carlos Stein. He returned to

Pirata Pirata may refer to: * ''Pirata'' (Litfiba album), 1989 * Pirata (Jão album), 2021 * Pirata (footballer) (born 1987), a Portuguese footballer * ''Pirata'' (graphic novel), a graphic novel by Pol Medina, Jr * ''Pirata'' (spider), a genus of wolf ...

for the

2018 Copa Perú The 2018 Peru Cup season (), the largest amateur tournament of Peruvian football, started in February. This edition has featured a change, with the elimination of the Regional Stage and the inclusion of participants from all the Regions of Peru ...

, where he scored seven goals and played a key role in the squad that won the title and promotion to professional football. However, Valera did not stay in the team because its board preferred to sign forwards with more experience. In 2019, he joined

Deportivo Garcilaso Club Deportivo Garcilaso, most commonly known as Deportivo Garcilaso, or El Garci, is a Peruvian professional football (soccer), football club, based in the city of Cusco. Founded in 1957, the club competes in the Peruvian Primera División, afte ...

for the

2019 Copa Perú The 2019 Copa Perú, Peru Cup season (), the largest amateur tournament of Peruvian Association football, football, started in February. This edition has featured a change, with the elimination of the Regional Stage and the inclusion of participa ...

, on request by manager

Juan Carlos Bazalar Juan Carlos Bazalar Cruzado (born 23 February 1968) is a Peruvian football manager and former player who played as a defensive midfielder. Club career Bazalar developed as part of the youth system of Universitario de Deportes, and played his f ...

, reaching the tournament's quarterfinals where Garcilaso was eliminated by

Deportivo Llacuabamba Club Social Cultural Deportivo Llacuabamba is a Peruvian football club, based in the Department of La Libertad, Pataz, La Libertad. The club was founded in 2011 and currently play in the Liga 2 tournament. History In 2019 Copa Perú, the club ...

. Shortly after, Valera was signed by

for the final group stage of the Copa Perú, where the team finished second, thereby proceeding to the 2019 promotion play-offs, where the team also finished second, behind

Atlético Grau Club Atlético Grau, more commonly known as Atlético Grau or simply, Grau, is a Peruvian professional football club based in the city of Piura. The club was founded in 1919 and currently plays in the Peruvian Primera División, the top tier of P ...

, and was promoted to the

2020 Liga 1 The 2020 Liga 1, also known as Shopee Liga 1 for sponsorship reasons, was the 4th season of Liga 1 under its current name and the 11th season of the top-flight Indonesian professional league for association football clubs since its establishment ...

. He was renewed by Llacuabamba for the 2020 season and became one of the club's top scorers that year. The club ended up being relegated to the Liga 2 with three games still left to play after a 6–0 defeat against

FBC Melgar Foot Ball Club Melgar, known simply as FBC Melgar or Melgar, is a Peru, Peruvian professional Association football, football club based in Arequipa. It is one of Peru's oldest football teams, founded in 1915 under the name Juventud Melgar by a ...

. On December 4, 2020, Valera reached a deal with Peruvian club

and joined their squad on a 1 year contract. He had been approached by other teams, including

Alianza Lima Club Alianza Lima, more commonly known as simply Alianza Lima, is a Peru, Peruvian professional sports club based in La Victoria District, Lima, La Victoria District of Lima, Peru. The club was founded under the name of Sport Alianza on February ...

, but decided to join Universitario for the opportunity to play the

2021 Copa Libertadores The 2021 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores was the 62nd edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores (also referred to as the ''Copa Libertadores''), South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. Starting from this season, teams must ...

. That year, Valera played his first game with Universitario on matchday 1, in a 1–1 tie against

, and scored his first goal on matchday 2, in a 3–1 defeat against

Academia Cantolao Academia Deportiva Cantolao is a Peruvian football club based in the city of Callao, Peru. However, the club is mostly known for its youth academy. Their football academy is considered one of the best in Peru. Academia Cantolao has educated many pl ...

. After an injury to

Enzo Gutiérrez Enzo Hernán Gutiérrez Lencinas (, born 28 May 1986) is an Argentine footballer who plays as a forward for Chilean club Santiago Wanderers. Club career Early career Gutiérrez was born at Charata, Argentina. He began his career at capital clu ...

, he became part of the starting XI in both the Liga 1 and the Copa Libertadores, in an attacking partnership with Alberto Quintero. In May, Valera scored a brace in a Libertadores group stage match: a 3–2 home victory against

Independiente del Valle Club de Alto Rendimiento Especializado Independiente del Valle, known simply as Independiente del Valle, is a professional football club based in Sangolquí Ecuador that currently plays in the Ecuadorian Serie A. Founded in 1958, the club plays ...

. The next season, he played the

2022 Copa Libertadores The 2022 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores was the 63rd edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores (also referred to as the ''Copa Libertadores''), South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. On 14 May 2020, CONMEBOL announced th ...

qualifying stages with Universitario. On 1 August 2022, Valera joined Saudi Arabian club

Al-Fateh ''Al-Fateh'' (, "The Conqueror") was an online children's magazine in Arabic. It began publication in September 2002, and its 108th issue was released in mid-September 2007. The magazine featured stories, poems, riddles, and puzzles. Criticism ...

on a three-year deal, despite the Peruvian transfer window having already closed. Barely five months later, during which he only played six games, and arguing a lack of payment, he left Al-Fateh and returned to Universitario in January 2023, signing for two seasons. That year, Valera won his first national title after Universitario defeated Alianza Lima in the 2023 Liga 1 finals. In January 2024,

Shimizu S-Pulse is a Japanese professional association football, football club located in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka (city), Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture. S-Pulse is going to compete in the J1 League for the 2025 Season, after winning promotio ...

of the

J2 League The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Yasud ...

made an offer for him, which was finally rejected after Universitario's directive offered Valera an improved salary. At the end of the season, Valera obtained his second consecutive national championship as Universitario won the 2024 Liga 1, with him as the team's goalscorer for the fourth consecutive year.

International career

Valera was called up to the

Peru national football team The Peru national football team (), nicknamed ''La Bicolor'', represents Peru in men's international football. The national team has been organised, since 1927, by the Federación Peruana de Fútbol (). It has been a member of FIFA since 1924 ...

for the

2021 Copa América The 2021 Copa América was the 47th edition of the Copa América, the international men's association football, football championship organised by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. The tournament took place in Brazil from 13 June to ...

and made his senior international debut on June 17, 2021, coming off the bench in a 4–0 defeat against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. He played a total of 2 matches during the tournament. Peru reached the fifth place in the CONMEBOL qualifiers, which granted them the right to play the intercontinental playoff against Asia's representative

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Valera was substituted in the 116th minute of the game, which was dragged into the penalty shootout; during the penalty shootout, he missed the final shot in the sudden death and, thus, Peru lost 4–5 on penalties to Australia and failed to qualify for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

Beach football career

Valera also used to be a

beach football Beach soccer, also known as beach football, sand football or sand soccer, is a variant of association football played on a beach or some form of sand between two teams of five players each. Association football has long been played informally on ...

player, representing the Peru national beach football team in the 2018 Copa América of Beach Football, scoring four goals.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

International

:''Scores and results list Peru's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Valera goal.''

International goals

Honours

Club

;

Peruvian Primera División The Peru First Division (; known simply as ''First Division'', and Liga 1 Te Apuesto for sponsorship reasons), officially known as Liga 1, is the top flight of association football in Peru. It has been referred to as Torneo Descentralizado since ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Valera, Alex 1996 births Living people People from the Department of Lambayeque Peruvian men's footballers 21st-century Peruvian sportsmen Men's association football forwards Club Universitario de Deportes footballers Al Fateh SC players Peruvian Primera División players Saudi Pro League players Peru men's international footballers 2021 Copa América players Peruvian expatriate men's footballers Peruvian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Deportivo Garcilaso players Deportivo Llacuabamba footballers