Juan Cuadrado is a Colombian footballer who plays in Italy for Juventus as well as the Colombian national team. He has played for many other clubs in the past including Chelsea FC and Fiorentina as a midfielder. Thanks to his contributions to his club and country, he was included in Colombia’s preliminary squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Here are things to know about him.
Juan Cuadrado Biography
It was as Juan Guillermo Cuadrado Bello that the star footballer was born on May 26, 1988 in the Colombian fishing village of Necocli. It was however in Tumaco that he was raised by his father Guillermo Cuadrado who was a truck driver and his mother, Marcela Bello Guerrero who was a governess.
Unfortunately for the footballer, his father was murdered before he was even five years old, he was only brought up by his mother who hid him under the bed when armed robbers came to their house and killed his father. Consequently, he faced such poverty that he had to work with his mother in a factory to make ends meet.
He started playing football since childhood. Due to his pace, his first position was as a striker, but that would change as he progressed in his career as a midfielder and wing-back.
Girlfriend
A rather contented footballer, Juan has not publicly dated with more than just one girlfriend who is now his wife, Melissa Botero. The two met when the former Chelsea star was an ACF Fiorentina player in 2014.
Although they have kept much of their relationship under wraps except for the photos they share on social media, the couple are known to have tied the knot in 2016. Their first child, a daughter, was born in 2015. Her name is Lucia.
Today, his mother, wife and daughter are the three most important women in the life of the very religious midfielder.
Club football career
Cuadrado began his career in club football with the Atlético Urabá youth club. He played there for a while before moving to Independiente Medellín where he finished his youth career and he was promoted to the club’s senior team in 2008.
In 2009, he had already left for Italy to play for Udinese. After a short loan spell at Lecce he moved to Fiorentina in 2012. 85 games, 20 goals and 3 years later he found himself heading to England to play for Chelsea FC in the English Premier League. Chelsea, however, were not to be the final destination for him as after just 13 games which saw him win the Premier League and the Football League Cup, he was sent on loan to Juventus.
With Juve, where he would have a successful career, Cuadrado had two loan spells before the club decided to make him permanent by signing him from Chelsea. Having stayed at the club since 2015, he has won 3 Serie A titles and 3 Coppa Italia.
International career
There aren’t too many players to start playing directly for their country’s senior teams without playing at lower levels. This is where the midfielder started after being asked to wear the senior team shirt in 2010.
With the Colombian national team, Juan Cuadrado played in a number of top competitions including the 2011 Copa América and the 2014 FIFA World Cup where he finished as the decisive opening goal with Toni Kroos.
He was also invited to the 2015 Copa América as well as the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier. He was always consistent for the team and that was one of the things that earned him a place on the the country’s preliminary list for the World Cup in Russia.
By the time he received the invite, he had already appeared in 67 games for Colombia, scoring 7 goals in the process.
Height, weight and body measurements
Also referred to as a Vespa, Juan Cuadrado is definitely on the slim side and he is medium in height. The player’s greatest strengths are his pace and skill, which of course also contributes to his athletic build.
He has a height of 5 feet 10 inches (179 cm) and a body weight of 146 pounds (66 kg). For his general body measurements, this has not been provided. Nevertheless, he is a very fit player.