Cristian Higuita (born 12 January 1994) is a Colombian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Atlético Junior in Categoría Primera A.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Cristian Andrés Higuita Beltrán | ||
| Date of birth | 12 January 1994 | ||
| Place of birth | Cali, Colombia | ||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 8+1⁄2 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Atlético Junior | ||
| Number | 13 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Deportivo Cali | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2011–2014 | Deportivo Cali | 8 | (2) |
| 2015–2019 | Orlando City | 103 | (6) |
| 2016 | → Orlando City B (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2020– | Atlético Junior | 6 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 2011 | Colombia U17 | 8 | (0) |
| 2013 | Colombia U20 | 1 | (0) |
| 2016 | Colombia Olympic | 1 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 4 October 2020 | |||
Club career
editDeportivo Cali
editHiguita made his debut with Deportivo Cali in 2009. A year later, he played a minor part in Cali's campaign winning the 2010 Copa Colombia. In 2011, he made his debut for Cali in Categoría Primera A and during the 2014 season helped the club capture the 2014 Superliga Colombiana.
Orlando City
editIn January 2015 it was reported that Orlando City SC would be signing Higuita along with his Deportivo Cali teammate Carlos Rivas.[1] He started the team's first ever MLS game, a 1–1 draw at home to fellow new expansion side New York City on 8 March.[2] On 1 August 2015, Higuita scored his first goal for the team in a 5–2 win at home to Columbus Crew.[3] Higuita finished the 2015 season with 4.3 tackles per game and a passing success rate of 87.1 percent.[4]
On 6 August 2016, in order to regain match fitness, Higuita was loaned to Orlando City B for their match against Toronto FC II.[5] In September 2016, Higuita was ranked #21 on the MLSSoccer.com ranking of the top 24 players under 24 years of age.[6] Higuita was one of Orlando City's protected players for the 2016 MLS Expansion Draft.[7]
Prior to the beginning of the 2019 season, Higuita was presented with a commemorative plaque in honor of his 100 appearances with Orlando City across MLS, US Open Cup and international friendlies (namely against Ponte Preta, Flamengo and Stoke City). Higuita's contract expired at the end of the 2019 season. He departed as the club's leading appearance maker with 108 across all competitions.[8]
Atlético Junior
editOn 17 December 2019, Higuita returned to Colombia to sign with Atlético Junior.[9]
International career
editHiguita was called up to represent the Colombia U20s at the 2013 South American Youth Football Championship.[10] Higuita made one appearance in the tournament, coming on as a half-time substitute in a 2–1 group stage defeat to Chile.[11] Colombia went on to win the tournament.
Higuita was named in Colombia's provisional squad for Copa América Centenario in 2016 but was cut from the final squad.[12]
Personal
editHiguita holds a U.S. green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.[13]
Career statistics
editClub
edit- As of 4 October 2020
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Playoffs | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Deportivo Cali | 2012 | Primera A | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2014 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 10 | 2 | |||
| Total | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 2 | ||
| Orlando City | 2015 | MLS | 26 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 1 | ||
| 2016 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 1 | ||||
| 2017 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 0 | ||||
| 2018 | 21 | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 22 | 4 | ||||
| 2019 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 103 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 108 | 6 | ||
| Orlando City B | 2016 | USL | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Atlético Junior | 2020 | Primera A | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | |
| Career totals | 117 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 127 | 8 | ||
Honors
editClub
edit- Deportivo Cali
National Team
edit- Colombia
References
edit- ^ Tenorio, Paul. "Orlando City set to sign Carlos Rivas, Cristian Higuita from Deportivo Cali".
- ^ "Orlando City & NYCFC Battle To 1-1 Draw In Front Of 62K". 8 March 2015.
- ^ "Match Recap: Orlando City Dominates Columbus Crew SC 5-2". 1 August 2015.
- ^ "Standout Statistics From Orlando City's First MLS Season". 6 November 2015.
- ^ "OCB Earns Last Minute 2-1 Victory Over TFCII". 6 August 2016.
- ^ "Cristian Higuita, 24 Under 24". 19 September 2016.
- ^ "Orlando City Protects 11 Players From 2016 MLS Expansion Draft". 12 December 2016.
- ^ "Orlando City SC Announces 2019 End-of-Season Roster Decisions". Orlando City SC. 21 November 2019.
- ^ "Ahora sí: Cristián Higuita es nuevo jugador de Junior". El Heraldo (in Spanish).
- ^ "Squad for South American Youth Championship announced" (PDF). 9 January 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2013.
- ^ "Chile U20 vs. Colombia U20 - Match Summary - January 13, 2013". ESPN.com.
- ^ "Falcao left out of Colombia's Copa America squad". goal.com. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
- ^ "Orlando City Soccer Club". www.facebook.com.