Joel Apezteguía Hijuelos (born 17 December 1983) is a Cuban professional footballer who plays as a forward for Sammarinese team Tre Fiori.
![]() Apezteguía playing for Tre Fiori in 2019 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Joel Apezteguía Hijuelos | ||
Date of birth | (1983-12-17) 17 December 1983 (age 38) | ||
Place of birth | Plaza de la Revolución, Cuba | ||
Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
Position(s) | Striker | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Tre Fiori | ||
Number | 11 | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
0000–2008 | Industriales | 10 | (19) |
2008–2009 | Manresa | ||
2009–2010 | Nistru Otaci | 2 | (0) |
2010–2011 | Manresa | 32 | (15) |
2011–2012 | CF Ripollet | 20 | (10) |
2013–2014 | Teuta Durrës | 15 | (4) |
2014–2015 | Tre Fiori | 1 | (0) |
2014–2015 | Utiel | 9 | (4) |
2016 | Fano | 3 | (0) |
2016–2017 | Gassino | 20 | (31) |
2017 | Chisola | 2 | (0) |
2017–2018 | Ancona | 20 | (21) |
2018– | Tre Fiori | 40 | (25) |
National team‡ | |||
2021– | Cuba | 2 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 7 March 2021 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 27 March 2021 |
Apezteguía had spells in the Spanish lower leagues and played in Moldova for Nistru Otaci.
He scored four goals in an Albanian Superliga game on 2 February 2014 against KS Lushnja which ended in a 6–2 win and lifted Teuta to second place. He added another three goals to his final tally in Albania in Cup games[1][2]
With CD Utiel he scored 7 goals. These were scored against Villareal and Osasuna.
Apezteguía made his debut in the Europa League against KÍ Klaksvík, making history as the first Cuban to play in the Champions League.[3]
He made his debut for Cuba national football team on 24 March 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against Guatemala.[4]
Tre Fiori