Mikel Villanueva Álvarez (born 14 April 1993) is a Venezuelan 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

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

club

Vitória Guimarães Vitoria or Vitória may refer to: People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

and the Venezuela national team. He spent several years at

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

, where he made 15

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

appearances and was mainly loaned to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

clubs. He also played in the Portuguese

for Santa Clara and

. A full international for

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

since 2016, Villanueva represented the nation at three

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

tournaments.

Club career

Early career

Born in

San Cristóbal, Táchira San Cristóbal () is the capital city of the Venezuelan state of Táchira. It is located in a mountainous region of Western Venezuela. The city is situated above sea level in the northern Andes overlooking the Torbes River, from the Colombian ...

, Villanueva was a

Deportivo Táchira ''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to: * Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club * Déportivo, a French rock band * Deportivo (Mexicable) Mexicable is an aerial lift line in Ecatepec de ...

youth graduate. On 3 March 2013 he made his professional debut, starting in a 0–1 away loss against

Estudiantes de Mérida Estudiantes (in English: ''students'') is the name of different sports clubs in the Spanish-speaking world: Argentina * Estudiantes de La Plata, sports club based in La Plata, Buenos Aires Province * Estudiantes de Buenos Aires, football club based ...

. 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 Carabobo FC is a Venezuelan professional football team playing at the top level, the Venezuelan Primera División. It is based in Valencia. History Stadium Their home stadium is Estadio Misael Delgado. Titles *Primera División Venezolana ** ...

. On 22 February 2015, Villanueva scored a brace in a 3–1 home win against

Trujillanos FC Trujillanos Fútbol Club is a Venezuelan football team playing at the top level, the Primera División Venezolana. It is based in Valera. Their home stadium is Estadio Luis Loreto Lira. At the end of the 2006–2007 season Trujillanos finish ...

. He finished the campaign with 20 appearances and four goals.

Málaga

On 4 July 2015 Villanueva joined

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

, being assigned to the reserves in

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

. 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

. 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 Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

. The following 10 August he renewed his contract until 2020, and was immediately loaned to

club

Cádiz CF Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia. Founded in 1910, the club competes in Segunda División, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of 20,724. Salvadoran ...

for one year. On 24 July 2018, Villanueva joined fellow second division side

CF Reus Deportiu Club de Futbol Reus Deportiu, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Reus, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1909, it last competed in the Segunda Division (while its B team competed in the Tercera Division) before ...

, on a

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 axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

-long loan. On 28 December, he was one of the five players who left the club due to unpaid wages. On 9 January 2019, Villanueva moved to

Gimnàstic de Tarragona Club Gimnàstic de Tarragona, commonly known as Gimnàstic Tarragona or sometimes just Nàstic, is a Spanish sports club based in Tarragona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Its football team plays in . The club was founded in 1886 an ...

still in the second tier, on loan until June. 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 Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

Santa Clara

On 31 August 2020, Villanueva signed a two-year deal at C.D. Santa Clara in the Portuguese

. He missed only five games in his first season as the club from the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

came sixth, and scored a fourth-minute opener in a 5–1 home win over

C.D. Nacional Clube Desportivo Nacional (), commonly known as Nacional da Madeira and sometimes just Nacional, is a Portuguese football club based in Funchal, on the island of Madeira. Founded on 8 December 1910, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal , P ...

on 11 April. Villanueva took part in the first continental campaign of his career in the 2021–22

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

. On 29 July 2021, he scored in a 2–0 home win (5–0 aggregate) over

KF Shkupi FC Shkupi (, ) is a professional association football, football football team, club based in Municipality of Čair, Čair, Skopje, North Macedonia. The club plays in the Macedonian First Football League, which is the top tier of football in Nort ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

in the second leg of the

second qualifying round The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

Vitória Guimarães

On 27 June 2022, at the end of his Santa Clara contract, Villanueva moved to

Vitória de Guimarães Vitoria or Vitória may refer to: People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

in the same league on a three-year deal.

International career

On 20 January 2016, Villanueva was called up to the Venezuela national team for a friendly against

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

. 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 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 ...

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

, netting the second in a 2–2 away 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 ...

following an assist from Málaga teammate

Juanpi Juan Pablo Añor Acosta (born 24 January 1994), commonly known as Juanpi, is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Greek Super League club Volos. He played 146 games and scored 11 goals for Málaga in Spa ...

. He was named in the ''Vinotinto''s squad for the year's

Copa América Centenario The Copa América Centenario (, , ; literally ''Centennial America Cup'') was an international men's soccer tournament that was hosted by the United States in 2016. The competition was a celebration of the centennial of CONMEBOL and the Copa Am� ...

in the United States, but did not play. Villanueva was called up 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 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. At 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 ...

, in the same country as before, Venezuela were the one team eliminated from five in

Group B Group B was a set of regulations for Grand tourer, grand touring (GT) cars used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World S ...

. Villanueva played only in the last game, a 1–0 loss to Peru at the

Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha Arena BRB Mané Garrincha, formerly Estádio Nacional de Brasília Mané Garrincha, also known as ''Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha'', ''Estádio Nacional de Brasília'', or simply ''Mané Garrincha'', is a football stadium and multipurpose a ...

International goals

, - , 1. , , 24 March 2016 , ,

Estadio Nacional de Lima The National Stadium of Peru (, ) is a multi-purpose stadium in Lima, Peru. Its current capacity is 50,086 seats as stated by the Peruvian Football Federation without the lodges for some thousands more. The stadium was first inaugurated on 27 Oct ...

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, , , , 2–1 , , 2–2 , ,

2018 World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 ...

, , , - , 2. , , 23 March 2017 , ,

Estadio Monumental de Maturín The Estadio Monumental de Maturín (Monumental Stadium of Maturin) is the largest stadium in Venezuela by seating capacity, with 52,000 spectators. It was one of the venues of the 2007 Copa America. It is also the home stadium of the Monagas Spo ...

Maturín Maturín () is a city in Venezuela, the capital of the Venezuelan state of Monagas and a centre for instrumental exploration and development of the petroleum industry in Venezuela. The metropolitan area of Maturín has a population of 401,384 inha ...

, , , , 1–0 , , 2–2 , , 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification , ,

Honours

Venezuela *

Kirin Cup The is an association football tournament organised in Japan by the Kirin Brewery Company. The host, Japan national football team, Japan, is a participant in every edition. The tournament was founded in 1978 then known as Japan Cup (Internatio ...

: 2019

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Villanueva, Mikel 1993 births Living people Footballers from San Cristóbal, Táchira Venezuelan men's footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football central defenders Venezuelan Primera División players Deportivo Táchira F.C. players Asociación Civil Deportivo Lara players La Liga players Tercera División players Primeira Liga players Atlético Malagueño players Málaga CF players Cádiz CF players CF Reus Deportiu players Gimnàstic de Tarragona footballers C.D. Santa Clara players Vitória S.C. players Venezuela men's international footballers Venezuelan expatriate men's footballers Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Venezuelan people of Basque descent Copa América Centenario players 2019 Copa América players 2021 Copa América players Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Portugal