Antonio Valencia

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Antonio Valencia
Personal information
Full name Luis Antonio Valencia Mosquera
Date of birth August 4, 1985 (1985-08-04) (age 22)
Place of birth    Nueva Loja, Sucumbios, Ecuador
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Left or right winger
Club information
Current club Wigan Athletic
Number 16
Youth clubs
1999-2001 Caribe Junior
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
2001–2004
2005–2008
2005–2006
2006–2007
2007–2008
2008–		 CD El Nacional
Villarreal
→ Recreativo (loan)
→ Wigan Athletic (loan)
→ Wigan Athletic (loan)
Wigan Athletic		 84 (20)
02 0(0)
14 0(1)
22 0(1)
15 0(0)
16 0(3)   
National team2
2005– Ecuador 29 0(4)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 23:21, 27 May 2008 (UTC).
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 16 March 2008.
* Appearances (Goals)

Luis Antonio Valencia Mosquera (born August 4, 1985 in Nueva Loja, Sucumbios, Ecuador) is an Ecuadorian football winger, who currently plays for English side Wigan Athletic, and the Ecuadorian National Team.

Contents

[edit] Career

[edit] Club career

Valencia started his career at CD El Nacional, and earned a transfer to Spanish, La Liga club Villarreal in 2005 after his fine debut for his national side against Paraguay. However, he was loaned to Recreativo de Huelva as he attempted to adjust to European football, helping them climb La Liga during the 2005–06 season.

On 1 August 2006 it was reported in the British Press that Valencia could be coming to the Premier League, and suggested Blackburn Rovers[1] and Wigan Athletic as potential suitors. On 3 August 2006, Valencia joined Wigan on a year long loan deal. Wigan manager Paul Jewell had this to say about his new signing: "Antonio is something new for Wigan. As with most South Americans, he has skill in abundance and combines it with electric pace and a very high work rate. He has played in Europe for a season, and I'm convinced he has the attributes to make a success of the Premiership. He is something different and I feel he is going to bring an exciting new dimension to our squad."[2] On 19 August 2006 Valencia made his debut for Wigan, starting on the right wing in a 2–1 loss to Newcastle United. On 21 October 2006 Valencia scored his first goal for Wigan, scoring against Manchester City to seal a 4–0 victory.

In summer of 2007 new Wigan manager Chris Hutchings announced that Valencia had been signed on for another year. On 18 January 2008 he joined permanently for an undisclosed fee, signing a three and a half year contract.[3][4] Valencia scored only his second Premier League goal 15 months after his first on 23 February 2008, against current bottom club Derby County.[5] On 3 May 2008 Valencia doubled his Wigan total scoring both the goals in a 2-0 win for Wigan over Aston Villa.

[edit] International career

Valencia's first international cap was in a qualifier against Paraguay. Ecuador won 5–2, with Valencia scoring 2 goals. He started in Ecuador's warm-up friendlies and played in Ecuador's World Cup campaign, which included wins against Poland and Costa Rica, where Valencia provided a cross leading to Carlos Tenorio's 8th minute goal.

As a reward to his fine display, Valencia was chosen as a nominee for FIFA's ideal 11 team, which recognises the top stars for every position in the World Cup. He was also shortlisted as one of the six potential candidates for the Gillette Best Young Player award.[6] A point of controversy has been that in the opening stages of the knockout rounds of Germany 06, Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo led the poll in votes, but soon after the England vs Portugal quarterfinal match which Portugal won, Valencia began to dominate the poll standings. This is largely due to a email campaign by the English to vote for Valencia, who quickly surpassed Ronaldo in terms of votes.[7] Although it was Lukas Podolski who was selected for the award, Valencia received the most votes in the official poll. Despite this incident, this sealed Valencia's status as a rising star for both club and country.

On 27 June 2007 he scored against Chile during Copa America 2007.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Sunday's gossip column (July 23, 2006)", BBC Sport, 2006-07-23. Retrieved on 2007-10-02. 
  2. ^ "Wigan snap up Ecuador's Valencia", BBC Sport, 2006-08-03. Retrieved on 2007-04-01. 
  3. ^ "Wigan finalise swoop for Valencia", BBC Sport, 2008-01-18. Retrieved on 2008-01-18. 
  4. ^ "Wigan complete permanent capture of Valencia", ESPNsoccernet, 2008-01-18. Retrieved on 2008-01-18. 
  5. ^ "Wigan Athletic 2 Derby County 0: Valencia gives Wigan reason to believe", 2008-02-24. Retrieved on 2008-03-21. 
  6. ^ "Six Gillette Best Young Player nominees chosen", 2006-07-04. Retrieved on 2008-03-21. 
  7. ^ "Supporters 'hijack' Ronaldo vote", BBC Sport, 2006-07-06. Retrieved on 2008-04-25. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Wigan Athletic F.C. – current squad

1 Kirkland • 2 Taylor • 3 Edman • 5 Palacios • 6 Sibierski • 8 Kilbane • 9 Heskey • 10 Koumas • 11 Brown • 12 Pollitt • 14 King • 15 Aghahowa • 16 Valencia • 17 Boyce • 18 Scharner • 19 Bramble • 20 Olembé • 21 Cywka • 23 Bent • 24 Skoko • 25 Melchiot • 26 Bouaouzan • 27 Kupisz • 28 Moore • 29 Montrose • 30 Saunders • 31 Figueroa • 32 Hagen • Manager: Bruce
v • d • e
Ecuador squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup
1 Villafuerte • 2 Guagua • 3 Hurtado • 4 de la Cruz • 5 Perlaza • 6 Urrutia • 7 Lara • 8 Méndez • 9 Borja • 10 Kaviedes • 11 Delgado • 12 Mora • 13 Ambrosi • 14 Castillo • 15 Ayoví • 16 Valencia • 17 Espinoza • 18 Reasco • 19 Saritama • 20 E. Tenorio • 21 C. Tenorio • 22 Lanza • 23 Benítez • Coach: Suárez
 Flag of Ecuador


Persondata
NAME Luis Antonio Valencia Mosquera
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Antonio Valencia
SHORT DESCRIPTION footballer
DATE OF BIRTH 4 August 1985
PLACE OF BIRTH Nueva Loja, Sucumbios, Ecuador
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH