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 Cuéllar in 2012 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Carlos Javier Cuéllar Jiménez | ||
| Date of birth | (1981-08-23)23 August 1981 (age 44) | ||
| Place of birth | Madrid, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Centre-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Inter Argibay | |||
| Santa Ana | |||
| Pegaso | |||
| → San Federico (loan) | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2000–2003 | Numancia | 62 | (4) |
| 2000–2001 | →Calahorra (loan) | 27 | (1) |
| 2003–2007 | Osasuna | 71 | (2) |
| 2007–2008 | Rangers | 36 | (4) |
| 2008–2012 | Aston Villa | 94 | (2) |
| 2012–2014 | Sunderland | 30 | (1) |
| 2014–2015 | Norwich City | 8 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | Almería | 18 | (0) |
| 2016–2017 | Maccabi Petah Tikva | 30 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | Ironi Kiryat Shmona | 31 | (1) |
| 2018 | Beitar Jerusalem | 0 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | Bnei Yehuda | 23 | (1) |
| Total | 430 | (16) | |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Carlos Javier Cuéllar Jiménez (Spanish pronunciation:[ˈkaɾlosˈkweʎaɾ]; born 23 August 1981) is a Spanish former professionalfootballer. Mainly acentral defender, he could also operate as aright-back.
Born inMadrid, Cuéllar represented Internacional de Argibay,DAV Santa Ana,CD Pegaso and AD San Federico as a youth.[2] In 2000, after a short trial atAtlético Madrid, he was signed byCD Numancia, being immediately loaned toCD Calahorra inSegunda División B.
Cuéllar returned to theSoria after his loan expired, and made his professional debut on 23 September 2001, starting and beingbooked in a 1–2 away loss againstXerez CD in theSegunda División championship.[3] He scored his first professional goal on 12 May of the following year, netting the last in a 4–0 home routing ofRacing de Ferrol.[4]
On 29 August 2003 Cuéllar signed a three-year deal withCA Osasuna inLa Liga.[5] He made his debut in the competition on 19 October, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 home win againstReal Murcia.[6]
Cuéllar spent his first two seasons as a backup toCésar Cruchaga andJosetxo, but still renewed his contract with the club on 1 December 2005.[7] He became an important part of theJavier Aguirre side that reached theCopa del Rey final in2005 and finished fourth in the league inthe following season, thus qualifying for theUEFA Champions League.
As Osasuna "dropped" to theUEFA Cup Cuéllar, by then not an automatic first-choice in the league, played seven times inEuropean competition, as theNavarrese reached the semifinals. He scored twice, notably in the 3–0 win at theBayArena againstBayer 04 Leverkusen in April 2007, which was the fastest goal of the tournament that season.[8]
Scottish clubRangers made two offers for Cuéllar in June 2007 that were rejected by Osasuna, but the eventual transfer was completed on 5 July, for a fee of £2.37 million.[9] He signed a four-year contract, worth a reported £15,000 per week, and made his competitive Rangers debut againstFK Zeta on 31 July 2007, in a 2–0 victory.[10] After impressing early in the season, Cuéllar was awarded theScottish Premier League Player of the Month award for August 2007. He scored his first Rangers goal on 1 September 2007, during a 4–0 victory overGretna.[11]
Cuéllar continued to play well for Rangers, but he wassent off during a criticalOld Firm match for handling a goal-boundShunsuke Nakamura shot. The resultantpenalty kick was saved byAllan McGregor, but Celtic went on to win the match and the league title. As personal reward for what was an outstanding season, Cuéllar collected theScottish Premier League Player of the Year award[12] and was named theScottish Football Writers Associations Player of the Year.[13] At the event, he was quoted as saying "I want to stay at Rangers for life."[14] Following the departure ofThomas Buffel during the summer, Cuéllar was handed the number 4 shirt for the2008–09 season, but never wore it as he was injured for the first game againstFalkirk and transferred toAston Villa just days later. He made a total of 65 appearances for Rangers, a club record for a single season, and scored 5 goals.
On 12 August 2008, EnglishPremier League sideAston Villa signed Cuéllar in a deal worth £7.8 million on a four-year contract. Villa's offer had triggered a release-clause in Cuéllar's Rangers contract.[15] He was given the squad number 24, which he also wore at his previous club.[16] His move to Aston Villa 'surprised' and 'disappointed' managerWalter Smith.[17]
Cuéllar made his official first team début on 18 September in the 3–1UEFA Cup first round victory againstPFC Litex Lovech in Bulgaria. He made his first league appearance for Aston Villa in the West Midlands Derby match againstWest Bromwich Albion on 21 September. Cuéllar came on as a late substitute in a match which Aston Villa won 2–1. His first league start came againstPortsmouth on 19 October 2008, where he however operated as aright back. Most of Cuéllar's league appearances during his first season were in that position, due to the good form in the central partnership ofCurtis Davies andMartin Laursen.
Cuéllar performed for Villa at the2009 Peace Cup inhis homeland. He went on to score the winning penalty in thefinal whereJuventus went down 4–3 in a shootout to Villa.[18]
He scored his first goal for Villa againstBolton Wanderers on 7 November 2009 atVilla Park.[19] His second goal for the Villa came againstManchester United on 10 February 2010, opening the scoring with a header which was 1–1.[20] In the third round of a FA Cup, Cuéllar scored a header in a 3–1 win overBlackburn Rovers on 2 January 2010.
Aston Villa accepted an offer from Cuéllar's old clubRangers in the summer of 2011 but the player was injured and the move broke down. In February 2012, Cuéllar announced that he would be willing to play anywhere on the pitch if it was good for the team. He then started againstManchester City at left back ahead ofStephen Warnock in aPremier League match.
On 6 May 2012, following a 1–1 draw withTottenham Hotspur that confirmed Aston Villa's Premier League survival, Cuéllar announced via his official Twitter and Facebook pages that he would leave the club at the end of his contract in the summer of 2012. Cuéllar called his final home game "one of the saddest days".[21][22] After his release, Cuéllar said he was keen to stay at England despite an option to move back to Spain.[23]
On 2 July 2012,Sunderland confirmed the free signing of Carlos Cuéllar on a two-year contract following his departure from Aston Villa, signed by his former Villa managerMartin O'Neill.[24][25] He made his debut on 18 August in a goalless draw againstArsenal[26] and scored his first goal for the club on 18 November in a 3–1 victory atFulham.[27]
At the end of the 2013–14 season, he was released by the club.[28]
Cuéllar signed a one-year deal withChampionship sideNorwich City on 20 August 2014.[29] He made his debut six days later in Norwich'sLeague Cup match againstCrawley Town. Cuéllar conceded an own goal in the 55th minute, but Norwich won the match 3–1.[30] Cuéllar was released by Norwich a few days after the club secured promotion back to the Premier League, having made 10 appearances for the Canaries.
On 10 August 2015, Cuéllar signed a one-year deal withUD Almería in the second level, mainly as a replacement toLevante UD-boundÁngel Trujillo.[31]
On 12 August 2016, Cuéllar signed a short-term deal withMaccabi Petah Tikva for an undisclosed fee.
On 22 May 2017, Cuéllar signed a one-year deal withIroni Kiryat Shmona.
On 15 May 2018, Cuéllar joinedBeitar Jerusalem, with his teammateItamar Nitzan.[32] He was released from the team on 16 August 2018.[33]
On 7 September 2018, Cuéllar signed withBnei Yehuda. He left the club in the summer 2019 and announced his retirement on 17 October 2019.[34][35]
In December 2015, Cuéllar became avegan for health reasons. He made this decision after watching the documentaryForks Over Knives.[36]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Calahorra | 2000–01[37] | Segunda División B | 27 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 6[a] | 0 | 33 | 1 | ||
| Numancia | 2001–02[37] | Segunda División | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 24 | 1 | |||
| 2002–03[37] | Segunda División | 39 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 42 | 3 | ||||
| Total | 62 | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 66 | 4 | |||||
| Osasuna | 2003–04[37] | La Liga | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 8 | 0 | |||
| 2004–05[37] | La Liga | 14 | 0 | 7 | 1 | — | — | — | 21 | 1 | ||||
| 2005–06[37] | La Liga | 29 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 2[b] | 0 | — | 31 | 1 | |||
| 2006–07[37] | La Liga | 23 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | 9[c] | 2 | — | 35 | 3 | |||
| Total | 71 | 2 | 13 | 1 | — | 11 | 2 | — | 95 | 5 | ||||
| Rangers | 2007–08[38] | Scottish Premier League | 36 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 19[d] | 0 | — | 65 | 5 | |
| 2008–09[39] | Scottish Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| Aston Villa | 2008–09[39] | Premier League | 28 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6[b] | 0 | — | 37 | 0 | |
| 2009–10[40] | Premier League | 36 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 2[e] | 0 | — | 48 | 3 | ||
| 2010–11[41] | Premier League | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 16 | 0 | ||
| 2011–12[42] | Premier League | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 0 | |||
| Total | 94 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | 120 | 3 | |||
| Sunderland | 2012–13[43] | Premier League | 26 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 1 | ||
| 2013–14[44] | Premier League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 | |||
| Total | 30 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 33 | 1 | ||||
| Norwich City | 2014–15[45] | Championship | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 0 | ||
| Almería | 2015–16[37] | Segunda División | 18 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 20 | 0 | |||
| Maccabi Petah Tikva | 2016–17[46] | Israeli League | 30 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 32 | 0 | |||
| Ironi Kiryat Shmona | 2017–18[46] | Israeli League | 31 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 1 | — | — | 41 | 2 | ||
| Beitar Jerusalem | 2018–19[46] | Israeli League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| Bnei Yehuda | 2018–19[46] | Israeli League | 23 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 26 | 1 | |||
| Career total | 430 | 16 | 45 | 2 | 22 | 2 | 40 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 543 | 22 | ||
Osasuna
Rangers
Aston Villa
Bnei Yehuda
Individual
