Antonio Valencia

This article is about the Ecuadorian footballer. For the Bolivian footballer, see Antonio Valencia (Bolivian footballer). For the Colombian composer and pianist, see Antonio Maria Valencia.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Valencia and the second or maternal family name is Mosquera.
Antonio Valencia
Valencia in 2022
Personal information
Full name Luis Antonio Valencia Mosquera[1]
Date of birth (1985-08-04) 4 August 1985 (age 39)[2]
Place of birth Lago Agrio, Ecuador
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[3][4]
Position(s) Right winger, right-back
Youth career
1999–2001 Caribe Junior
2001–2003 El Nacional
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2005 El Nacional 88 (12)
2005–2008 Villarreal 2 (0)
2005–2006 → Recreativo (loan) 12 (0)
2006–2008 → Wigan Athletic (loan) 37 (1)
2008–2009 Wigan Athletic 47 (6)
2009–2019 Manchester United 241 (17)
2019–2020 LDU Quito 20 (1)
2020–2021 Querétaro 15 (1)
Total 467 (38)
International career
2004–2019 Ecuador 99 (11)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Luis Antonio Valencia Mosquera, known as Antonio Valencia (Spanish pronunciation: [anˈtonjo βaˈlensja];[A] born 4 August 1985), is an Ecuadorian former professional footballer who played primarily as a right-sided player throughout his career, initially as a right winger, before developing into a right-back. He is regarded as one of the best Ecuadorian footballers of all time.

After progressing through the youth system at El Nacional, Valencia became a first team regular and made over 80 appearances for the club. He won the Ecuadorian Serie A with them before signing for La Liga side Villarreal in 2005. He only made two league appearances for the Spanish side in between loan spells at Recreativo for the 2005–06 season and later English Premier League club Wigan Athletic from 2006 to 2008. Wigan Athletic later signed Valencia on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee in January 2008.

His performances for Wigan Athletic soon attracted attention from several high-profile clubs, and he signed for Manchester United in June 2009. His time there established him as one of the greatest Ecuadorian players of all time, as Valencia was voted into the PFA Team of the Year in his debut season, and went on to win two Premier League titles, an FA Cup, two League Cups, three FA Community Shields and the UEFA Europa League, captaining the club in his final season. After ten years with United, Valencia returned to Ecuador in July 2019, signing with LDU Quito, with whom he won the inaugural Copa Ecuador in his first season. He announced his retirement in May 2021.[5]

Valencia made his Ecuador debut in 2004 and has represented his country at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the 2007 Copa América, the 2011 Copa América, the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the Copa América Centenario and the 2019 Copa América. Valencia won 99 caps and scored 11 goals for his country.[6]

  1. ^ "Squads for 2016/17 Premier League confirmed". PremierLeague.com. Premier League. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  2. ^ "Antonio Valencia". wiganlatics.co.uk. Wigan Athletic FC. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
  3. ^ Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2009). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2009–2010. Headline. p. 556. ISBN 978-0-7553-1948-0.
  4. ^ Hugman, Barry J. (2009). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 418. ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Roberto Mamrud (28 August 2019). "Luis Antonio Valencia - International Appearances". RSSSF.


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