Carlos Sánchez Moreno

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Sánchez and the second or maternal family name is Moreno.

Carlos Sánchez

200px Sánchez playing for Valenciennes in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Carlos Alberto Sánchez Moreno
Date of birth	(1986-02-06) 6 February 1986
Place of birth	Quibdó, Colombia
Height
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	Aston Villa
Number	24
Youth career
2003–2005	Danubio
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005–2007	River Plate Montevideo	40	(1)
2007–2013	Valenciennes	178	(10)
2013–2014	Elche	30	(0)
2014–	Aston Villa	43	(1)
International career‡
2007–	Colombia	62	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11:39, 27 December 2015 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12 November 2015

Carlos Alberto Sánchez Moreno (born 6 February 1986) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Aston Villa. He is nicknamed La Roca (The Rock), due to his strength on the pitch.

He began his career at River Plate Montevideo before moving to Valenciennes in 2007, where he made 178 Ligue 1 appearances and scored ten goals across six seasons. After one campaign in La Liga with Elche, he joined Aston Villa in 2014.

A full international since 2007, Sánchez has earned over 50 caps for Colombia. He was part of their squads which reached the quarter-finals of the 2011 Copa América and the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Uruguay

Born in Quibdó, Chocó, Sánchez moved to a football school in Medellín and then onto Uruguayan club Danubio, where he signed his first professional contract in 2003 and was a teammate of Edinson Cavani. However, he was released two years later, making no first-team appearances.

In the summer of 2005, Sánchez joined fellow league team River Plate Montevideo. He featured in 40 matches during his two-year spell, scoring once.

Valenciennes

In July 2007 Sánchez was bought by a group of investors and was assigned to Rangers de Talca, subsequently moving abroad for the first time in his career, by agreeing to a five-year deal with French Ligue 1 side Valenciennes. He made his debut on 4 August, starting in a 3–1 home win against Toulouse.

Sánchez featured regularly for the side in his debut campaign, and was an ever-present figure during the following seasons. In March 2010, he damaged his anterior cruciate ligament, being sidelined nearly a year.

After making 148 appearances for the club, scoring 8 goals in the league, Sánchez left the club in the summer of 2012 when his contract expired. After long negotiations with Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United, he failed to reach an agreement with any club, and subsequently rejoined his former club Valenciennes on 25 August 2012.

Elche

On 16 August 2013, Sánchez signed a three-year deal with Elche CF, freshly promoted to La Liga, for a €3.7 million fee. He made his debut on the 24th, starting in a 1–1 home draw against Real Sociedad.

Aston Villa

On 15 August 2014 Aston Villa announced the signing of Sánchez on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee reported at around £4.7 million. His first Villa appearance came eight days later when he replaced Charles N'Zogbia as a substitute in the 62nd minute of a goalless draw with Newcastle United at Villa Park. He made his first start for the club in their 0–3 home defeat against Arsenal on 20 September, after illness had ruled out some of his teammates. On 11 April 2015, he was sent off for two yellow cards as the team won 1–0 away to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane, causing him to miss their victory over Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-final eight days later. Sánchez scored his first goal for Villa on 25 April, an 85th-minute deflected volleyed equaliser away to title holders Manchester City, but Fernandinho later netted a winner for City. He made a 19-minute substitute appearance in the 2015 FA Cup Final on 30 May at Wembley Stadium in place of Ashley Westwood, in an eventual 0–4 loss to Arsenal.

International career

Sánchez made his international debut against Panama on 9 May 2007. He was then included in the 34-man provisional squad for the Copa América 2007, but later dropped for the final list. He was in the first team for all of Colombia's matches for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification including the 2–1 victory over Argentina on November 20, 2007 in Bogotá. At the 2011 Copa América, he started three of Colombia's four matches as they reached the quarter-finals, coming into the team at the expense of Gustavo Bolívar after the opening game. He played in all five of Colombia's matches in the FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil in 2014, playing a defensive role which allowed James Rodríguez and Juan Cuadrado to be attacking midfielders.

Sánchez was included in Colombia's squad for the 2015 Copa América, where he was credited with "dominating" Neymar during his man of the match performance in the 1–0 group stage defeat of Brazil in Santiago.

Personal life

Sánchez is married to Noelia, whom he met in Montevideo.

Career statistics

As of match played 25 April 2015

Club	Season	League			Cup		League Cup		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
River Plate Montevideo	2005–06	Uruguayan Primera División	14	0	—		—		14	0
	2006–07	Uruguayan Primera División	26	1	—		—		26	1
	Total		40	1	—		—		40	1
Valenciennes	2007–08	Ligue 1	34	0	0	0	0	0	34	0
	2008–09	Ligue 1	37	1	0	0	0	0	37	0
	2009–10	Ligue 1	28	5	0	0	1	0	29	0
	2010–11	Ligue 1	28	2	1	0	1	0	30	2
	2011–12	Ligue 1	21	2	2	0	0	0	23	2
	2012–13	Ligue 1	30	0	0	0	1	0	31	0
	Total		178	10	3	0	3	0	184	10
Elche	2013–14	La Liga	30	0	1	0	—		31	0
	Total		30	0	1	0	—		31	0
Aston Villa	2014–15	Premier League	28	1	3	0	1	0	32	1
	2015–16	Premier League	12	0	3	0	0	0	15	0
	Total		31	1	6	0	1	0	38	1
Career total			278	15	7	0	4	0	290	15

International statistics

As of 24 May 2016

Team	Year	Apps	Goals
Colombia
	2007	7	0
	2008	8	0
	2011	9	0
	2012	8	0
	2013	10	0
	2014	10	0
	2015	10	0
	2016	0	0
Total		62	0

External links

• BDFutbol profile
• Carlos Sánchez Moreno at Soccerway
• Carlos Sánchez – French League Stats at LFP.fr (French)