Cristhian Andrey Mosquera Ibargüen (born 27 June 2004) is a Spanish 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 mainly as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

club

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

Early life

Born in

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in th ...

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous comm ...

to Colombian parents, Mosquera first played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

in his hometown, before joining

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is t ...

team San Blas Cañavate, as his cousin was playing there and they were missing a player for a youth tournament. Having later moved to play in -based team SCD Carolinas, he eventually joined the city main football club,

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team in Alicante, in the autonomous community of Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 3 and plays its home ...

Club career

Mosquera joined

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the S ...

's youth setup in 2016, aged 12. On 22 August 2020, while still in the '' Juvenil A'' squad, he renewed his contract with the club until 2023. He made his senior debut with the reserves on 4 September 2021, starting in a 3–1 Tercera División RFEF home win over CD Castellón B. Having already featured on the bench for a few ''Liga'' fixtures that

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

, he made his first team debut on the 16 January 2022, starting in a 1–0 away win over

CD Atlético Baleares Club Deportivo Atlético Baleares, S.A.D. ( ca, Club Esportiu Atlètic Balears) is a Spanish football team based in Palma, Majorca, in the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. Founded on 1920, it currently plays in Primera División RF ...

, for the season's

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

. Playing every minutes of the game in the center of a 3-men defense, his coach

José Bordalás José "Pepe" Bordalás Jiménez (born 5 March 1964) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a striker, currently a manager. His playing career ended due to injury without a first-team appearance for Hércules, and he made his professional ...

praised him as the best on the field that night. At the age of 17 years, six months and 23 days, he became the eight-youngest player in the club's history, and the youngest centre-back. Set to further renew his contract with the ''Che'' until 2025, Mosquera made his

debut on the 19 January 2022 by starting in a 1–1 draw against

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA Eu ...

, again impressing in the axis of the defense for what was a difficult game against the likes of

Rafa Mir Rafael Mir Vicente (born 18 June 1997) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Sevilla. He has played in La Liga for Valencia, Huesca and Sevilla, as well as in the Segunda División for Las Palmas and Hue ...

. This made him the fourth-youngest footballer to ever play in La Liga with ''Los murciélagos'', surpassing players such as

Ferran Torres Ferran Torres García (born 29 February 2000) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team. Torres began his career at Valencia, where he made his senior debut in 2017 ...

Lee Kang-in Lee Kang-in ( ko, 이강인; born 19 February 2001) is a South Korean professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for La Liga club Mallorca and the South Korea national team. Lee was the Asian Football Confederation's Asian ...

or Yunus Musah. In August 2023, Mosquera was definitely promoted to the main squad of the ''Che''.

International career

Mosquera represented

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

at under-15, under-16 and under-18 levels, winning a friendly tournament with the latter in October 2021, against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

. He also holds a Colombian passport, which makes him eligible to play for ''La Tricolor'' as well as Spain.

Style of play

Mainly playing as a

during his time at Valencia's academy, Mosquera can also play as a full-back on both sides. When he made the switch from

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

as a youngster, he actually played as a winger, where he first showed his athletic abilities. Already a strong physical presence despite his young age, he is described as a quick defender, with good anticipation and ability to play the ball, helping his team move forward.

Miguel Ángel Angulo Miguel Ángel Angulo Valderrey (; born 23 June 1977) is a Spanish former professional footballer, currently manager of Valencia CF Mestalla. Predominantly an attacking midfielder, he was also able to play as a right winger and even as a right-ba ...

– his coach at Mestalla – described the youngster's profile as characterized by his "physical condition and good technical qualities, powerful in the air, and mature for his age".

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mosquera, Cristhian 2004 births Living people Footballers from Alicante Spanish men's footballers Spanish people of Colombian descent Sportspeople of Colombian descent Naturalized citizens of Colombia Colombian men's footballers Spain men's youth international footballers Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda Federación players Tercera Federación players Valencia CF players Valencia CF Mestalla footballers