José Miguel Cubero Loría (born 14 February 1987) is a Costa Rican footballer who plays for Liga Deportiva Alajuelense and for the Costa Rica national football team as a holding midfielder.[1]
![]() Cubero singing the Costa Rican national anthem before a match against Mexico at the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup | |||
Personal information | |||
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Full name | José Miguel Cubero Loría | ||
Date of birth | (1987-02-14) 14 February 1987 (age 35) | ||
Place of birth | Sarchí, Alajuela, Costa Rica | ||
Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Alajuelense | ||
Number | 33 | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2006–2014 | Herediano | 134 | (16) |
2009 | → Puntarenas (loan) | 17 | (0) |
2014–2016 | Blackpool | 19 | (0) |
2016–2017 | Herediano | 58 | (4) |
2017 | Alcoyano | 7 | (0) |
2018– | Alajuelense | 124 | (9) |
National team‡ | |||
2010– | Costa Rica | 53 | (2) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 October 2021 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 26 March 2022 |
Cubero was born in Sarchí. He made his professional debut for Herediano on 26 March 2006 against Santacruceña and had a spell on loan at Puntarenas in 2009. He signed a three-year contract extension with Herediano in April 2013.[2]
On 31 July 2014, Cubero signed for Championship side Blackpool on a one-year contract with the option of a further twelve months.[3] He made his Blackpool debut on 27 September in a 3–1 home defeat to Norwich City. In August 2015 it was claimed that Blackpool had snubbed an offer for Cubero from MLS club Seattle Sounders and that they had activated a 12-month extension to his contract.[4]
On 31 July 2017, he signed a contract with CD Alcoyano.[5]
He participated in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Canada.[6]
Cubero made his senior debut for Costa Rica in an August 2010 friendly match against Paraguay.[7] He has represented his country in 9 FIFA World Cup qualification matches[6] and played at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the 2011 Copa Centroamericana[8] as well as at the 2011 Copa América[9] and was a non-playing squad member at the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup.[10]
Cubero played 53 matches with Costa Rica, scoring two goals.[11] One of those occurred during a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match against El Salvador, which resulted in a crucial victory for the Costa Ricans; Cubero considers it the most important goal of his career.[12][13]
After Costa Rica defeated Greece to advance to the 2014 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals, Cubero was spotted crying profusely, while Waylon Francis tried to celebrate with him by yelling "¡Llore conmigo, papi!" ("Cry with me, daddy!"), a phrase now famous in Costa Rica.[14]
Liga Deportiva Alajuelense – current squad | |
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Costa Rica squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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