Daniel Villalva

Daniel Villalva
Personal information
Full nameDaniel Alberto Villalva Barrios
Date of birth6 July 1992
Place of birthCaá Catí, Corrientes, Argentina
Height1.55 m (5 ft 1 in) [1]
Playing positionForward
Club information
Current team
Veracruz
Number9
Youth career
2005–2009River Plate
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2009–2014River Plate59(6)
2013→ Argentinos Juniors (loan)14(1)
2014–Veracruz26(6)
National team‡
2009Argentina U178(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 28 February 2015.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12:43, 15 December 2010 (UTC)
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Villalva and the second or maternal family name is Barrios.

Daniel Alberto "Keko" Villalva Barrios[2] (born 6 July 1992) is an Argentine footballer who plays as a forward for Mexican side Veracruz. In 2009, he became the youngest player ever to play for River Plate.[3]

Career

Early years

Daniel Alberto Villalva, named after River Plate legend Daniel Alberto Passarella,[4] was born on 6 July 1992 in Caá Catí, in the province of Corrientes, Argentina. At the age of 10, he joined the Talleres de Córdoba youth system after a trial, but he suffered an accident on his left foot and was released.[4] Months later, he recovered and began to play football again in his native province of Corrientes, and after several trials in teams including Rosario Central, Boca Juniors and San Lorenzo, all of them showing interest in keeping him, he finally joined River Plate in 2005 as a personal wish, since he has always supported Los Millonarios.[4]

River Plate

On 8 February 2009, he made his debut against Colón replacing Mauro Rosales in the 71st minute and becoming the youngest River Plate player to feature in a league match at the age of 16 years, 7 months and 2 days.[3] He scored his first senior goal in a 4-3 victory against Chacarita Juniors on 30 August 2009.[5] Subsequently, he went to play a more important role in the team, but prior to the 2010–11 season, he suffered a vertebral injury that kept him away from playing until River Plate's relegation.[6] Afterwards, during River Plate's campaign in the second tier, he started to play again after recovering from his injury, which put his career on the line again.

Veracruz

In the summer of 2014, Villalva moved from River to Mexico for Veracruz. He agreed a three-year contract to the Liga MX outfit on 22 June 2014.[7]

International career

Daniel Villalva played for Argentina for the first time in the South American Under-15 Football Championship held in Brazil in 2007.[4] He then was called up by the under-17 national team and took part in the 2009 South American Championship, where he scored 3 goals in 5 appearances, and the 2009 World Cup.

References

  1. ↑ Plantel Profesional
  2. ↑ "Daniel Villalva". argentinosjuniors.com.ar. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "El "pibe récord" de River eligió mal día para debutar" (in Spanish). InfoBae. 9 February 2009. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Daniel "Keko" Villalba: "Sueño jugar en primera"" (in Spanish). Nordestealdia.com. 27 December 2008. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
  5. ↑ "Ariel Ortega selló el partidazo de River con su impronta de ídolo" (in Spanish). InfoBae. 31 August 2009. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
  6. ↑ "Una fisura a la esperanza" (in Spanish). Diario Olé. 14 July 2010. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
  7. ↑ "El 'Keko' ya es escualo". LaDoce.com.mx (in Spanish). Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz. 22 June 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2014.

External links

Statistics on Mexico's Liga MX