Gustavo Leonardo Cuéllar Gallegos (born 14 October 1992) is a Colombian 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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...

club Grêmio and the Colombia national team.

Career

Deportivo Cali

Cuéllar began playing for the

Deportivo Cali Asociación Deportivo Cali, best known as Deportivo Cali, is a Colombian sports club based in Cali, most notable for its football team, which currently competes in the Categoría Primera A. Deportivo Cali is one of the most successful football t ...

youth setup and made his professional debut in 2009. He scored his first professional goal in the first match of the

2013 Categoría Primera A season The 2013 Categoría Primera A season (officially known as the 2013 Liga Postobón season for sponsorship reasons) was the 66th season of Colombia's top-flight football league. Millonarios came in as the defending champions having won the title in ...

Apertura tournament against

Once Caldas Once Caldas S.A., simply known as Once Caldas, is a professional Colombian Association football, football team based in Manizales, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. The club plays its home games at Estadio Palogrande. The club wa ...

. It was the winning goal of a 2-1 victory. Cuéllar formed a key part of the 2013 squad that finished runners-up in 2013 Torneo Finalización, losing in the finals to

Atlético Nacional Atlético Nacional S. A., best known as Atlético Nacional, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín. The club is one of only three clubs to have played in every first division tournament in the country's history, the other ...

Junior (loan)

Cuéllar was loaned to

Atlético Junior Club Deportivo Popular Junior F.C. S.A. (), commonly known as Junior de Barranquilla, by its old name Atlético Junior or simply as Junior, is a Colombian professional football team based in Barranquilla, capital of the department of Atlantic ...

from mid-2014 to mid-2016. Junior were eliminated in the round-robin stage of the 2014 Torneo Finalización. With the arrival of Alexis Mendoza as manager in 2015 Cuéllar established himself as one of the team's best players, participating in nearly 50 matches.

Flamengo

On January 20, 2016

confirmed that Cuéllar would be transferred to

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 ...

ian giants

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

. The transfer fee was reported to be close to R$8 million for 70% of his economic rights. In his first season with the Brazilian club he could not establish himself as a regular starter. Cuéllar played 16

Brazilian Série A Brazilian commonly refers to: * Brazil, a country * Brazilians, its people * Brazilian Portuguese, its dialect Brazilian may also refer to: * "The Brazilian", a 1986 instrumental music piece by Genesis * Brazilian Café, Baghdad, Iraq (1937) * Bra ...

matches, only four as a starter, and managed to play a total 33 matches throughout the season. During the beginning of the 2017 Brazilian Série A season rumors in the Brazilian media linked Cuéllar with Vitória on a possible loan. Despite the interest from other clubs, Cuéllar started to receive more chances in the first team, including playing as a starter. Flamengo won the 2017 Campeonato Carioca with 6 appearances by Cuéllar. On June 28, 2017 in a

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil () is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and it is the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de Portugal, ...

match against Santos at Ilha do Urubu, Cuéllar scored his first goal for Flamengo in a 2-0 victory. Only after Flamengo signed compatriot

Reinaldo Rueda Reinaldo Rueda Rivera (born 16 April 1957) is a Colombian football coach who currently serves as a manager for the Honduras national team. When he was the coach of the Colombia U-20 team, they finished 3rd at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Cham ...

as head coach did Cuéllar manage to take a starting position in the midfield. He played a total of 51 matches in the season scoring two goals, including 25

matches. On June 8, 2018 Cuéllar extended his contract with Flamengo until June 2022, this new contract raised his release clause from

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

50m to

70m. Cuéllar continued to be a star player for Flamengo in central midfield, helping to capture the 2019 Campeonato Carioca. He continued to be a transfer target for some European clubs. In August 2019, Cuéllar was suspended from club activities indefinitely for refusing to travel with the team for the following league match, citing family matters. He was reintegrated into the squad ahead of Flamengo's

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

quarter-final match against Internacional, which would be his final match for the club.

Al-Hilal

O August 30, 2019, Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal announced the signing of Cuéllar from Flamengo. The fee was reported to be

7.5m.

Al-Shabab

On 4 July 2023, Cuéllar joined Al-Shabab on a three-year deal.

International career

Gustavo played for Colombia U17 in the

2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the thirteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup held in Nigeria from 24 October to 15 November 2009. Switzerland national under-17 football team, Switzerland won the tournament, beating the host team and holde ...

, he appeared in all seven matches and scored two goals, both against

Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

in a 2–2 draw, as the team finished the tournament in fourth place. He also represented Colombia U20 in the

2011 South American U-20 Championship The 2011 South American Youth Football Championship, South American Youth Championship (, ) was a football competition for U-20 national teams in the South America (CONMEBOL). The tournament was held in Peru from 16 January to 12 February. The to ...

, he had five appearances and the team finished the tournament in the sixth place. On September 8, 2015 Gustavo debuted for

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

as a starter in a 1–1 draw against

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

in Harrison, United States. In May 2018 he was named in

's preliminary 35 man squad for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. However, he did not make the final cut to 23. On May 30, 2019, Cuéllar was named by manager

Carlos Queiroz Carlos Manuel Brito Leal de Queiroz (; born 1 March 1953) is a Portuguese football manager. He has served as the manager of his native Portugal's national team, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Iran, Colombia, Egypt and Qatar, leading ...

to the 23-man squad for the

2019 Copa América The 2019 Copa América was the 46th edition of the Copa América, the international men's association football championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. It was held in Brazil and took place between 14 June and 7 Ju ...

in Brazil. He made one appearance in the group stage, appearing in the starting lineup and scoring the winning goal against

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Colombia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Cuéllar goal.''

Honours

Deportivo Cali *

Copa Colombia The Copa Colombia (); officially known as Copa BetPlay Dimayor is an annual football tournament in Colombia. It is contested by the 36 professional clubs affiliated to the División Mayor del Fútbol Profesional Colombiano (DIMAYOR) and is the ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Junior *Copa Colombia:

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Flamengo *

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro State Championship), also commonly known as the Cariocão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Br ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Al-Hilal *

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Saudi Pro League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

: 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22 *

King Cup The King Cup (sometimes spelled King's Cup) (), officially known as The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Cup (), is the Saudi Arabian football knockout cup competition. The King's Cup is the second-oldest knockout competition in Saudi Arabian ...

: 2019–20 *

Saudi Super Cup The Saudi Super Cup () is the annual super cup tournament in Saudi Arabian football. Founded in 2013 as a two-team competition, the Super Cup has been contested by four teams since 2022: the winners and runners-up of the King's Cup and the Sa ...

Individual *Campeonato Carioca Team of the Year:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cuellar, Gustavo Living people 1992 births Colombian men's footballers Colombian expatriate men's footballers Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Colombia men's international footballers Colombia men's under-20 international footballers 21st-century Colombian sportsmen Categoría Primera A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Saudi Pro League players Deportivo Cali footballers Atlético Junior footballers CR Flamengo footballers Al Hilal SFC players Al Shabab FC (Riyadh) players 2019 Copa América players 2021 Copa América players Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Barranquilla AFC Champions League Elite–winning players