Miku (footballer)

Miku

Miku (middle) in action for Getafe in 2012
Personal information
Full name Nicolás Ladislao Fedor Flores
Date of birth (1985-08-19) 19 August 1985
Place of birth Caracas, Venezuela
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position Striker
Youth career
1989–2001 Santo Tomás de Villanueva
2001–2004 Valencia
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2010 Valencia 2 (0)
2004–2005 → Alcoyano (loan) 21 (5)
2005–2006 → Salamanca (loan) 36 (18)
2006 → Ciudad Murcia (loan) 8 (0)
2007 Valencia B 15 (1)
2007–2008 → Gimnàstic (loan) 29 (2)
2008–2009 → Salamanca (loan) 37 (15)
2010–2013 Getafe 92 (26)
2012–2013 → Celtic (loan) 11 (2)
2013–2014 Al-Gharafa 25 (6)
2015–2017 Rayo Vallecano 43 (13)
National team‡
2006– Venezuela 51 (11)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11 June 2017.
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 4 September 2015

Nicolás Ladislao Fedor Flores (born 19 August 1985), commonly known as Miku, is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays as a striker.

He spent most of his career in Spain, having played for a host of clubs and starting with Valencia. In La Liga, he also represented Getafe and Rayo Vallecano, and won a Scottish double while on loan at Celtic in 2013.

Miku represented Venezuela in two Copa América tournaments.

Early years

The son of an Hungarian father and a Venezuelan mother, Miku was born in Caracas and received his nickname after Miklós, the equivalent of his first name in the Hungarian language.[1][2]

Club career

Valencia

Having arrived in Valencia CF's youth system in 2001, Miku turned professional three years later, going on to serve five consecutive loans afterwards, in both the second and third divisions.[3][4]

On 27 August 2009, having returned to the Che after a strong season with UD Salamanca (finishing as joint-fifth in the goal charts), he scored a hat-trick in a UEFA Europa League 4–1 home win against Stabæk Fotball.[5]

Getafe

However, clearly deemed surplus to requirements at Valencia – only third or fourth-choice striker – Miku was sold in January 2010 to Getafe CF, signing a 4½-year deal. He scored on his debut, a 2–1 win at RCD Mallorca in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey, as a second-half substitute.[6]

Benefitting from the absence of first-choice Roberto Soldado due to injury, Miku began appearing regularly as a starter: on 28 March 2010 he netted twice in a 3–1 win at Deportivo de La Coruña,[7] adding another brace three rounds later, in a 3–0 home success against Villarreal CF, also in La Liga.[8]

Miku started the 2011–12 season as first-choice, over veteran Daniel Güiza and Adrián Colunga. He scored three goals in his first two league games, against Levante UD (1–1 home draw)[9] and Real Madrid (2–4 away loss),[10] and ended the campaign with 12 goals, best in the squad.

On 31 August 2012, the last day of the summer transfer window, Miku moved on loan to Celtic.[11] He appeared in only 14 official contests during the season, netting twice, and told Venezuelan media that he regretted his decision to join the Scottish.[12]

Al-Gharafa

On 30 September 2013, Miku joined Qatar Stars League side Al-Gharafa Sports Club for an undisclosed fee.[13][14] He scored five goals in 15 games in his debut campaign, in an eventual ninth-place finish out of 14 teams.

Rayo

Miku returned to Spain on 2 February 2015, signing a two-and-a-half-year deal with Rayo Vallecano.[15] On 12 February 2016, after contributing to a 2–2 away draw against Sporting de Gijón, he became the first Venezuelan to score in four consecutive Spanish top flight matchdays;[16] he was named February's La Liga Player of the Month for this feat.[17]

International career

Miku made his debut with Venezuela on 16 August 2006, in a 0–0 friendly with Honduras. Later, he was an important member of the squads that competed in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, scoring in a 2–0 home triumph against Colombia on 31 March 2009.

On 9 September 2009, Miku netted twice in a 3–1 home victory over Peru; this brought Venezuela closer to its first-ever FIFA World Cup qualification, which eventually did not happen. He represented the nation at the 2011 Copa América, scoring in a 3–3 draw against Paraguay, helping his team to the second place in the group stage[18] and an eventual fourth-place finish.

Four years later, in the next edition of the competition in Chile, Miku netted an 84th-minute goal in a 1–2 defeat to Brazil; a win would have sent his country through, but instead they were eliminated in last place in their group.[19] Later that year, he was among 15 national players who threatened to quit the team after the president of the Venezuelan Football Federation accused them of conspiring to get the manager sacked.[20][21]

International goals

Club statistics

As of 20 December 2014[22]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Alcoyano 2004–05 215——215
Total 215——215
Salamanca 2005–06 3618——3618
Total 3618——3618
Ciudad de Murcia 2006–07 8010—90
Total 8010—90
Valencia B 2006–07 151——151
Total 151——151
Gimnàstic 2007–08 292——292
Total 292——292
Salamanca 2008–09 371521—3916
Total 371521—3916
Valencia 2009–10 20203373
Total 20203373
Getafe 2009–10 16541—206
2010–11 3173170418
2011–12 381220—4012
2012–13 2000—20
2013–14 5200—52
Total 9226927010828
Celtic 2012–13 1121020142
Total 1121020142
Al-Gharafa 2013–14 1550000155
2014–15 1010000101
Total 2560000256
Career Total 2757515312330281

Honours

Celtic

References

  1. ↑ "Nunca paro de correr" ("I never stop running"); El País, 21 October 2009 (in Spanish)
  2. ↑ El crack de Venezuela que se les anima a todos, y también a Chávez (Venezuela star jumps on everyone, including Chávez); Clarín, 14 July 2011 (in Spanish)
  3. ↑ Miku del Valencia B, cedido al Nàstic de Tarragona (Miku from Valencia B, loaned to Nàstic de Tarragona) Archived 5 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine.; Join Futbol, 25 August 2007 (in Spanish)
  4. ↑ Nicolás Ladislao Fedor Flores "Miku" del Valencia CF, cedido al Salamanca (Nicolás Ladislao Fedor Flores "Miku" from Valencia CF, loaned to Salamanca) Archived 5 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine.; Join Futbol, 27 August 2008 (in Spanish)
  5. ↑ Valencia 4–1 Stabaek; ESPN Soccernet, 27 August 2009
  6. ↑ El Getafe asalta el Ono Estadi (Getafe takes over Ono Estadi); Marca, 20 January 2010 (in Spanish)
  7. ↑ Depor's European hopes hammered; ESPN Soccernet, 28 March 2010
  8. ↑ Yellow Submarines are sunk; ESPN Soccernet, 13 April 2010
  9. ↑ Juanlu saves Levante; ESPN Soccernet, 28 August 2011
  10. ↑ Benzema at the double; ESPN Soccernet, 10 September 2011
  11. ↑ Champions sign two more new Bhoys Archived 2 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine.; Celtic FC, 31 August 2012
  12. ↑ Miku: 'I shouldn't have joined Celtic'; Sportsmole, 2 April 2013
  13. ↑ Club unveil Miku; Al-Gharafa SC, 30 September 2013
  14. ↑ Miku swaps Getafe for Al-Gharafa Archived 5 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine.; Yahoo! Sports, 1 October 2013
  15. ↑ "Miku ficha por el Rayo" [Miku signs with Rayo] (in Spanish). Marca. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  16. ↑ "Record man Miku loving life with Rayo Vallecano". Diario AS. 14 February 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  17. ↑ "Miku named Liga BBVA Player of the Month for February". La Liga. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  18. ↑ Nicolás Fedor and Grenddy Perozo seal stunning Venezuela comeback; The Guardian, 14 July 2011
  19. ↑ "Brazil 2–1 Venezuela: Thiago Silva and Firmino seal top spot". Goal.com. 21 June 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  20. ↑ "Venezuela: Salomon Rondon and squad in quit threat to board". BBC Sport. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  21. ↑ "15 futbolistas renuncian a ser convocados con Venezuela" [15 footballers forfeit Venezuela selection] (in Spanish). Marca. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  22. ↑ "N. Fedor". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
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