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Wuilker Faríñez

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In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Faríñez and the second or maternal family name is Aray.
Wuilker Faríñez
Faríñez with Venezuela in 2019
Personal information
Full name Wuilker Faríñez Aray
Date of birth (1998-02-15) 15 February 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Caracas, Venezuela
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Caracas
Number 1
Youth career
Nueva Esparta
Gramoven
2011–2014 Caracas
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2017 Caracas 76 (0)
2018–2021 Millonarios 73 (0)
2020 → Lens B (loan) 1 (0)
2020–2021 → Lens (loan) 4 (0)
2021–2024 Lens 14 (0)
2024– Caracas 11 (0)
International career‡
2013 Venezuela U15 2 (0)
2015 Venezuela U17 4 (0)
2017 Venezuela U20 16 (1)
2016– Venezuela 40 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 09:20, 30 June 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18:28, 30 January 2022 (UTC)

Wuilker Faríñez Aray (born 15 February 1998) is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Venezuelan Primera División club Caracas FC and the Venezuela national team.[2]

Club career

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Caracas

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Born in Caracas, Faríñez joined Caracas FC's youth setup in 2011.[3] On 12 June 2013, he signed a three-year professional deal with the club, being promoted to the main squad.[4] After Alain Baroja left Caracas FC, Faríñez became the first-choice goalkeeper of the club for the 2015 Torneo Adecuación despite being only 17 years old at the time. On 30 August, he established a new record at the club after playing 689 minutes without conceding a goal.[5]

After great performances during the tournament, he was chosen again as first-choice for 2016 Venezuelan Primera División season. In February 2016, he started for Caracas FC in a 2016 Copa Libertadores first stage match against Huracán, and put in a brilliant performance, only allowing one goal and keeping his team's chances of advancing to the second stage alive.[6] Despite his efforts, Caracas was eliminated from the competition after a last-minute goal by Huracán in the second leg match.

On 14 December, Faríñez was included in the AUFP Venezuela's Team of the Season, as the 2016 Venezuelan Primera División season's best goalkeeper.[7]

Millonarios

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On 12 September 2017, Faríñez signed for Colombian club Millonarios. He joined the club on 1 January 2018.[8] Faríñez made his debut for Millonarios during the first leg of the 2018 Superliga Colombiana, playing for the full ninety minutes in the 0–0 tie against Atlético Nacional.[9] On the second leg he made a crucial save in a 1–2 win that gave him his first career championship.

On 9 March 2019, Fariñez made an excellent triple save against Atlético Nacional. The match ended 1–1, with Fariñez's actions being publicized on several European popular networks, such as Talksport.[10]

Lens

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Faríñez with Lens in 2020

On 24 June 2020, Faríñez was loaned to French club Lens, following their promotion from Ligue 2.[11] After arriving in Lens on 12 July 2020, Faríñez tested positive for COVID-19. The club ordered him to stay in quarantine for 14 days.[12] During his season on loan at the club, he made five appearances for the first team and one appearance for the reserve team of the club. In May 2021, he signed a contract with Lens until 2024.[13]

On 18 January 2024, Faríñez contract with Lens was terminated by mutual consent, six months before it was set to expire.[14]

Return to Caracas

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On 31 January 2024, Faríñez returned to his youth club, Caracas FC, on a one-year deal.[15]

International career

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Youth career

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Faríñez has represented Venezuela at all youth levels, from the under-15 side to the under-20 side. He started the 2013 South American Under-15 Football Championship as the first-choice goalkeeper in the opening match against Colombia and conceded four goals on a 2–4 defeat for Venezuela.[16] Faríñez was an un-used substitute in the next game against Brazil. He returned to the starting line-up for the game against Uruguay in which he conceded four goals again on the third defeat in a row for the Venezuelan team.[17] He ended the tournament playing two games of the possible four and conceding eight goals.

Faríñez was the first-choice goalkeeper of the under-17 side for the 2015 South American Under-17 Football Championship, having a great performance against Brazil saving the team in a lot of occasions and securing a 3–2 come-back victory.[citation needed] He played four games, conceding eight goals that proved crucial as Venezuela was eliminated in the group stage on goal difference.[18]

Faríñez (left to right; second in the top row) with the Venezuela U20 national team before a match against Ecuador at the 2017 South American U-20 Championship

Faríñez started in the opening match of the 2017 South American Youth Football Championship for the under-20 side playing against Uruguay, saving a penalty and keeping a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw.[19] Faríñez started all nine games for Venezuela conceding only six goals, being the less scored goalkeeper of the tournament as they qualified to the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[20]

At the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup, he started all of his team games. Faríñez scored from the penalty spot in a 7–0 group stage win against Vanuatu becoming the first goalkeeper to score in a FIFA U-20 World Cup.[21] Faríñez didn't allow a goal until quarter-finals against United States in extra-time, for a total 506 minutes unbeaten, the second longest consecutive run without conceding a goal at the U-20 World Cup. In the semi-finals against Uruguay, Faríñez made four crucial saves during the game and stopped two shots in the penalty shootout to send Venezuela to their first FIFA tournament final ever.[22] In the World Cup final Faríñez again had a great performance for Venezuela but eventually allowed a goal, the only one in the match as Venezuela lost the final. Faríñez ended the tournament allowing only 3 goals in 7 games tying as the less scored goalkeeper of the tournament.

Senior team

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Faríñez playing for Venezuela in 2019

Despite his young age, Farínez was called up by the Venezuela national football team's coach Noel Sanvicente to play in the 2015 Copa América, being recognized for his great talent by the press and signaled as the future goalkeeper of the national team and becoming the youngest player of that tournament.[23] Despite being called for the national team continuously he never made his debut under Sanvicente's era.

He earned his first cap on 20 May 2016 in an unofficial game against Galicia, also being the first game of the team under the lead of new coach Rafael Dudamel, Farínez allowed one goal and the game ended in a 1–1 draw. He made his official debut for the national team on 24 May 2016 when Venezuela faced Panama, he didn't allow goals and became the youngest player in the national team's history to keep a clean sheet.[24] He made the final list for the Copa América Centenario.

He played his first official match for the senior team in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification game against Peru on 23 March 2017, becoming the youngest goalkeeper to play for Venezuela in a World Cup qualification. The game ended in a 2–2 draw with Faríñez delivering a stellar performance. After the match, coach and former national team goalie Rafael Dudamel, said ¨Venezuela has a goalkeeper for the next 20 years¨,[25] with the press acknowledging that Faríñez ¨shined¨.[26] On his second World Cup qualification game against Chile Faríñez again had a great performance despite allowing 3 goals, he saved the team in several opportunities and stopped a penalty kick from Alexis, becoming the youngest goalkeeper to do so for the national team.[27]

After the international break, he kept a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw against Colombia on 31 August 2017. On 6 September, he put in a solid performance as Venezuela drew 1–1 with Argentina. Later on, in early October, he would go on to keep 2 more clean sheets in a 0–0 draw against Uruguay and a 1–0 win against Paraguay, the latter of which was his first competitive international win. Despite this Venezuela failed to qualify for the World Cup

During 2018, he would go on to play 3 international friendly matches. The first of which would be a last gasp loss to Colombia 2–1 at the Hard Rock Stadium, located in Miami Gardens, just north of Miami. They later on beat the United Arab Emirates 2–0 and drew against Iran 1–1. During March 2019, Venezuela played their first matches of 2019. The first one was against Argentina. Fariñez put in an extremely solid performance as Venezuela beat Argentina 3–1, on Lionel Messi's first match back from his second international retirement.[28] The second match was unofficial, as Venezuela played against Catalonia's national team. Only 4 nations in the world recognize Catalonia, one of which is Venezuela, which led to Venezuela playing the match. Venezuela lost 2–1 to Catalonia during that match.[29]

2019 Copa América

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Faríñez was the starting goalkeeper for the 2019 Copa América. He kept two clean-sheets in 0–0 draws against Peru and Brazil.[30] In the third group match game against Bolivia the team received their first goal, ending a 262 minutes run without conceding a goal, the game ended in a 1–3 win. Venezuela finished as second of the group behind Brazil and faced Argentina at the quarter-final, they lost the game 0–2 being knocked out of the tournament.[31]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 30 June 2023[32]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental[a] Other[b] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Caracas 2014–15 Venezuelan Primera División 0 0 1 0 0 0 — 1 0
2015 Venezuelan Primera División 20 0 3 0 0 0 — 23 0
2016 Venezuelan Primera División 32 0 1 0 2 0 — 35 0
2017 Venezuelan Primera División 24 0 1 0 1 0 — 26 0
Total 76 0 6 0 3 0 — 85 0
Millonarios 2018 Categoría Primera A 33 0 3 0 10 0 2 0 48 0
2019 Categoría Primera A 34 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 35 0
2020 Categoría Primera A 6 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 8 0
Total 73 0 4 0 12 0 2 0 91 0
Lens B (loan) 2020–21 Championnat National 2 1 0 — — — 1 0
Lens (loan) 2020–21 Ligue 1 3 0 2 0 — — 5 0
Lens 2021–22 Ligue 1 13 0 2 0 — — 15 0
Career total 166 0 14 0 15 0 2 0 197 0
  1. ^ Includes Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana.
  2. ^ Includes Superliga Colombiana.

International

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As of 30 January 2022
National
Team 		Year Friendlies World Cup Qualifiers Copa América Total
Pld GA Pld GA Pld GA Pld GA
Venezuela 2016 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2017 1 0 6 0 0 0 7 0
2018 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
2019 7 0 0 0 4 0 11 0
2020 0 0 4 0 0 0 4 0
2021 0 0 6 0 3 0 9 0
2022 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Career Totals 12 0 17 0 7 0 36 0

Honours

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Millonarios
Venezuela U20

Individual

Records

References

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  1. ^ "WUILKER FARÍÑEZ". Millonarios (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  2. ^ "Wuilker Faríñez". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Wuilker Fariñez: Una Copa América y un coqueteo con los grandes" [Wuilker Fariñez: A Copa América and a spell with the biggest ones] (in Spanish). La Pizarra Del DT. 22 June 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  4. ^ "El Caracas FC apuesta al futuro con Wuilker Fariñez" [Caracas FC bets on the future with Wuilker Fariñez] (in Spanish). Caracas' official website. 12 June 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  5. ^ "Wuilker Faríñez rompió récord de imbatibilidad". liderendeportes.com. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  6. ^ "Fariñez mantuvo con vida a Caracas en la Libertadores". liderendeportes.com. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  7. ^ "Jugadores fueron premiados en la Primera Gala de la AUFP Venezuela". balonazos.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  8. ^ "Comunicado de prensa Wuilker Faríñez". millonarios.com.co. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  9. ^ "Dimayor". dimayor.com.co (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  10. ^ "Venezuelan goalkeeper makes incredible triple save". talkSPORT. 11 March 2019. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  11. ^ "Le gardien vénézuélien Wuilker Farinez prêté au RC Lens (officiel)". L'Équipe (in French). 24 June 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  12. ^ "Coronavirus : Wuilker Farinez testé positif à son arrivée à Lens". L’Équipe (in French). 15 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  13. ^ "RC Lens: Wuilker Farinez signe pour trois ans". France Bleu (in French). 24 May 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  14. ^ "MERCI WUILKER !" [THANKS WUILKER!] (in French). Lens. 18 January 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  15. ^ "WUILKER FARÍÑEZ: "ES UNA ALEGRÍA INMENSA VOLVER"" [WUILKER FARÍÑEZ: IT'S AN IMMENSE JOY TO COME BACK] (in Spanish). Caracas FC. 31 January 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  16. ^ "Colombia superó a Venezuela; Brasil y Uruguay empataron sin goles". conmebol.com. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  17. ^ "Sub 15: Uruguay derrotó a Venezuela (4 - 2)". conmebol.com. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  18. ^ "Venezuela se despidió del Suramericano sub17". panorama.com.ve. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  19. ^ "Wuilker Fariñez le salvó los papeles a una combativa vinotinto sub 20". meridiano.com.ve. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  20. ^ "Wuilker Fariñez, portero menos goleado del Sudamericano". analitica.com. 12 February 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  21. ^ "A progressing pair and a few firsts". fifa.com. Archived from the original on 23 May 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  22. ^ "Venezuela indebted to unflappable Farinez". fifa.com. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  23. ^ "Conoce a Wuilker Fariñez, el jugador más joven de la Copa América". desdelaplaza.com. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  24. ^ "El récord que rompió Wuilker Fariñez tras amistoso contra Panamá". ovaciondeportes.com. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  25. ^ "Dudamel elogió a Wuilker Faríñez: "Tenemos portero para 20 años"". panorama.com.ve. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  26. ^ "Uno por uno de Venezuela: Faríñez brilla, Otero deja huella". futbol.as.com. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  27. ^ "Notitarde de hoy | Notitarde sucesos | Notitarde Valencia |". notitarde.com. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  28. ^ "Lionel Messi's return for Argentina ends in 3-1 defeat against Venezuela". 22 March 2019. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  29. ^ "Gerard Pique plays for Catalonia in friendly against Venezuela". 25 March 2019. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  30. ^ "Venezuela, Peru play to scoreless draw in Copa America". 16 June 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  31. ^ "Argentina set up a tantalising Copa America semi-final against hosts Brazil after easing past Venezuela 2-0". 28 June 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  32. ^ "Wuilker Fariñez". Soccerway. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  33. ^ "Jugadores fueron premiados en la Primera Gala de la AUFP Venezuela". balonazos.com. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  34. ^ "La AUFPV realizó la II Gala del Futbolista Profesional 2017". balonazos.com. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  35. ^ "TOP 10 ATAJADAS COPA AMERICA BRASIL 2019". Copa América. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  36. ^ "Wuilker Faríñez rompió récord de imbatibilidad". liderendeportes.com. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  37. ^ "El récord que rompió Wuilker Fariñez tras amistoso contra Panamá". ovaciondeportes.com. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  38. ^ "Faríñez no se cansa de hacer historia". ovaciondeportes.com. 29 March 2017. Archived from the original on 2 September 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  39. ^ "Faríñez no se cansa de hacer historia". ovaciondeportes.com. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  40. ^ "A progressing pair and a few firsts". fifa.com. Archived from the original on 23 May 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  41. ^ "El tigre goleador y la final de la Vinotinto". es.fifa.com. Archived from the original on 14 June 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
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