César Saúl Huerta Valera (born 3 December 2000), commonly known as "Chino Huerta", is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a winger for Liga MX club UNAM and the Mexico national team.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | César Saúl Huerta Valera | ||
| Date of birth | 3 December 2000 | ||
| Place of birth | Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico | ||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Winger | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | UNAM | ||
| Number | 12 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2015–2018 | Guadalajara | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2018–2022 | Guadalajara | 34 | (1) |
| 2019 | → Zacatepec (loan) | 13 | (4) |
| 2020 | → Morelia (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 2020 | → Mazatlán (loan) | 17 | (3) |
| 2021 | → Tapatío (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2022– | UNAM | 63 | (13) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2016–2017 | Mexico U17 | 9 | (1) |
| 2023– | Mexico | 6 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 May 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16 December 2023 | |||
Club career
Guadalajara
Huerta first joined Guadalajara's youth academy in 2015. Huerta made his Liga MX debut on 10 November 2018 against León, coming on as a substitute in 1–0 win.
He briefly joined second tier club Atlético Zacatepec on loan for the 2018–19 season.
He joined Monarcas Morelia on loan for 2020. He sported squad number 1, a number typically used by goalkeepers. He joined Mazatlán F.C., established in June 2020 after the Monarcas Morelia franchise announced that it would be moving to the city of Mazatlán, Sinaloa.
On 27 July Mazatlán played their first official match, in which they were defeated against Club Puebla with a score of 1–4: in which he scored the club's first official goal. On 11 December it was announced he would be returning to play with Guadalajara for the Guard1anes 2021 tournament.
UNAM
After failing to secure a starting spot at Guadalajara, Huerta made a transfer request, and on 1 June 2022, he joined UNAM on a permanent transfer.
International career
Youth
Huerta was called up by Mario Arteaga to be part of the squad that participated at the 2017 CONCACAF U-17 Championship and subsequently won. He was also called up to participate at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Senior
In August 2023, Huerta received his first call-up to the senior national team by manager Jaime Lozano, for two friendly matches against Australia and Uzbekistan.
Huerta made his senior debut for Mexico on 9 September 2023, in a friendly match against Australia, entering in the second half for Alexis Vega at the 60th minute and later scoring the 2–2 equalizer towards the end of the match in the 83rd minute.
Career statistics
Club
- As of 13 May 2024
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Guadalajara | 2018–19 | Liga MX | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2019–20 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | – | 9 | 0 | ||||
| 2020–21 | 9 | 0 | – | – | – | 9 | 0 | |||||
| 2021–22 | 20 | 1 | – | – | – | 20 | 1 | |||||
| Total | 35 | 1 | 4 | 0 | – | – | 39 | 1 | ||||
| Zacatepec (loan) | 2018–19 | Ascenso MX | 13 | 4 | 4 | 2 | — | – | 17 | 6 | ||
| Morelia (loan) | 2019–20 | Liga MX | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | – | 10 | 0 | ||
| Mazatlán (loan) | 2020–21 | Liga MX | 17 | 3 | — | – | – | 17 | 3 | |||
| Tapatío (loan) | 2020–21 | Liga de Expansión MX | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| UNAM | 2022–23 | Liga MX | 26 | 2 | — | — | — | 26 | 2 | |||
| 2023–24 | 37 | 11 | – | – | 3 | 1 | 40 | 12 | ||||
| Total | 63 | 13 | – | – | 3 | 1 | 66 | 14 | ||||
| Career total | 135 | 21 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 150 | 24 | ||
International
- As of match played 16 December 2023
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico | 2023 | 6 | 1 |
| Total | 6 | 1 | |
International goals
- Scores and results list Mexico's goal tally first.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 9 September 2023 | AT&T Stadium, Arlington, United States | Australia | 2–2 | 2–2 | Friendly |
Honours
Mexico U17
Individual
- Liga MX Player of the Month: September 2023
References
External links
- César Saúl Huerta Varela at Liga MX (archive) (in Spanish)
- César Saúl Huerta Varela at Ascenso MX at the Wayback Machine (archived 30 March 2019) (in Spanish)
- César Huerta at ESPN FC
- César Huerta at FBref.com