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Héctor Villalba

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Héctor Villalba
Tito Villalba after signing the Golden Spike for Atlanta United on 10 September 2017
Personal information
Full name Héctor Daniel Villalba[1]
Date of birth (1994-07-26) 26 July 1994 (age 30)
Place of birth Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[2]
Position(s) Winger, Forward
Team information
Current team
 Libertad
Number 23
Youth career
2004–2012 San Lorenzo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2016 San Lorenzo 89 (15)
2016–2020 Atlanta United 82 (21)
2016 → Tijuana (loan) 1 (0)
2020– Libertad 91 (25)
International career‡
2018– Paraguay 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 7 April 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 31 May 2019

Héctor Daniel "Tito" Villalba (born 26 July 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Primera División team Club Libertad. Born in Argentina, he represents Paraguay internationally.

Club career

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Villalba was born on 26 July 1994 and lived almost to maturity in the Villa 1–11–14. He arrived in San Lorenzo when he was 10, and was chosen after a test in which 500 boys were selected to start a path to professionalism. He confessed to being a fan of San Lorenzo, and went through all the lower levels at the club.

On 18 August 2012, he made his debut in the Primera Division Argentina, against Estudiantes de La Plata, when he entered in the 37th minute of the second half replacing Luis Aguiar, with Ricardo Caruso Lombardi as team manager.

Tito Villalba signing the Golden Spike on 10 September 2017-09-10

On 22 July 2016, Villaba signed as a young Designated Player with Major League Soccer side Atlanta United.[3] He joined Liga MX side Tijuana on loan on 28 July 2016, but struggled to make many appearances for the club due to injury.[4]

On 31 January 2020, Villaba was transferred to Paraguayan Primera División side Club Libertad for an undisclosed fee.[5]

International career

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Born in Argentina, Héctor is also eligible to represent the Paraguay national team because his father was born there. On 5 September 2018, he made the one-time switch to Paraguay in hopes of making the squad for the 2019 Copa América and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[6]

On 25 September 2018, Villalba was called up to Paraguay along with fellow club teammate Miguel Almirón for a national team camp despite not scheduling any friendlies.[7] He made his competitive debut with Paraguay on 20 November as a substitute in the second half of the friendly match against South Africa.[8]

Personal life

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Villalba can speak Guarani, an indigenous language spoken in Paraguay.[9]

In January 2018, Villalba earned a U.S. green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.[10]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played on 7 October 2023[11]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Continental[c] Other[d] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
San Lorenzo 2012–13 Argentine Primera División 9 2 3 0 — — — 12 2
2013–14 34 4 1 0 — 2 0 — 37 4
2014 15 3 0 0 — 13 1 1 0 29 4
2015 27 6 2 0 — 5 0 1 0 35 6
2016 4 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 — 8 0
Total 89 15 6 0 2 0 22 1 2 0 121 16
Tijuana (loan) 2016–17 Liga MX 1 0 2 0 — — — 3 0
Atlanta United 2017 Major League Soccer 34 13 0 0 — — 1 0 35 13
2018 28 7 1 0 — — 5 1 34 8
2019 20 1 1 0 — 4 0 2 0 27 1
Total 82 21 2 0 — 4 0 8 1 96 22
Libertad 2020 Paraguayan Primera División 20 3 — — 6 0 — 26 3
2021 20 5 — — 14 2 — 34 7
2022 22 4 — — 3 1 — 25 5
2023 29 13 — — 10 0 — 39 13
Total 91 25 — — 33 3 — 124 28
Career total 263 61 10 0 2 0 59 4 10 1 344 66
  1. ^ Includes Copa Argentina, Copa MX, and U.S. Open Cup.
  2. ^ Includes Torneos de Verano.
  3. ^ Includes Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, and CONCACAF Champions League.
  4. ^ Includes FIFA Club World Cup, Supercopa Argentina, Recopa Sudamericana, MLS Cup Playoffs, and Trofeo Luigi Berlusconi.

International

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As of 20 November 2018
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Paraguay 2018 1 0
Total 1 0

Honours

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San Lorenzo

Atlanta United

Libertad

Individual

References

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  1. ^ "FIFA Club World Cup Morocco 2014: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 15 December 2014. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 July 2015.
  2. ^ "Hector Villalba | Atlanta United FC". Atlanta United. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  3. ^ "Atlanta United sign Argentine winger Hector Villalba as Young DP | MLSsoccer.com".
  4. ^ Usry, Rob (4 August 2016). "Hector Villalba joins Club Tijuana on loan deal".
  5. ^ "Atlanta United transfers Tito Villalba to Club Libertad | Atlanta United FC".
  6. ^ "Héctor Villalba es paraguayo". ABC Color (in European Spanish). 4 September 2018. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  7. ^ "Tito Villalba called up to Paraguay". DirtySouthSoccer. 25 September 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  8. ^ "South Africa v Paraguay game report". ESPN. 20 November 2018.
  9. ^ King, Andrew (14 June 2018). "Atlanta's Hector Villalba confirms effort to switch eligibility to Paraguay". Major League Soccer. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  10. ^ Roberson, Doug (22 January 2018). "Atlanta United secures green card for Villalba". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  11. ^ Héctor Villalba at Soccerway. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  12. ^ "Atlanta's Hector Villalba wins 2017 AT&T Goal of the Year". Major League Soccer. 15 November 2017. Archived from the original on 16 November 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
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