Cristhian Javier Valencia Sánchez

Cristhian Valencia came through the academy at Emelec, coming off the bench against Uruguay's Danubio and against Paraguay's Guaraní.

Born in Guayaquil, Valencia spent two seasons on Emelec's books before a move to Paraguay took him to Libertad in Asunción. In his first season with the club he featured in ten matches and scored once, then expanded his workload considerably, playing in twenty-two matches the following year, this time contributing an assist rather than a goal.

There is no record of a call-up to Ecuador's national side, nor of any individual honours or trophies picked up along the way with either Emelec or Libertad. What stands out instead is the trajectory itself: a player who left home for South America's transfer market and found consistent playing time far from where he started.