Andy Baquero Last updated August 31, 2025 Early life In his youth, Baquero did karate and later baseball, before switching to football at age nine. [ 3] [ 4]
Club career Baquero began his professional career at 18 with La Habana , where he played six seasons across two stints, while also having brief tenures with Villa Clara and Pinar del Río . [ 5] [ 6]
In 2019, he was granted permission to leave Cuba and go to the Dominican Republic, where he went on trial with Atlántico FC , before signing with Delfines del Este of the Liga Dominicana de Fútbol for a half season, [ 7] scoring three goals and adding two assists in nine appearances. [ 8] He had previously received an offer from A.D. Chalatenango of the Primera División de Fútbol de El Salvador on a ten-month contract, however, it was rejected by the Football Association of Cuba , due to concerns about the intermediary who sent the offer. [ 9] In total, he had 4 contract offers that were rejected. [ 10]
After his defection from Cuba to Canada, he began to work in construction, [ 11] but also began to train with Vaughan Azzurri of League1 Ontario and was set to join them for their 2020 season, however, the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . [ 7] [ 12] Ahead of the 2021 season, he went on trial with Canadian Premier League side Valour FC . [ 13] In June 2021, Baquero signed with the club. [ 14] [ 15] [ 16] In his first season, he made 23 appearances for the side, playing the fourth-most minutes on the team. [ 17] In January 2022, he re-signed with the club. [ 18] [ 19] Although the club had held a club option on his contract for 2022, they agreed to a new contract to retain him for 2023 as well. [ 20]
In 2024, he began playing with Vaughan Azzurri in League1 Ontario . [ 21]
In 2025, he joined Scarborough SC in the Canadian Soccer League . [ 22] [ 23]
International career Baquero has played in the 2011 CONCACAF U-17 Championship , 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship , 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup , and the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games . In June 2015, he scored a goal in a friendly hosted in Cuba against the North American Soccer League club team New York Cosmos . [ 24] [ 25]
In 2016, he was recruited to join the Cuba national futsal team . [ 26]
On 7 September 2019, following a match in Toronto, Canada , in the 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League against Canada , Baquero defected from Cuba along with teammate Alejandro Portal and settled in Canada. [ 27] [ 28] As a result of his defection, he would be banned from representing the national team and from returning to Cuba (where the rest of his family was) for eight years until 2027. [ 5] In November 2023, he was able to reunite with his mother, whom he had been unable to see due to his defection, when she came to Canada. [ 29] [ 30]
Personal life Baquero is also a musician, releasing music under his stage name AB2 . [ 31] [ 32] In 2020, he was nominated by the Latin Awards Canada for the Breakthrough Artist of the Year in Canada. [ 33] At the 2022 Latin Awards Canada, his song "Garantizo" was nominated in the Best Urban Pop Fusion Song and Best Music Video categories (winning the Best Urban Pop Fusion Song honour). [ 34]
Baquero is a Canadian permanent resident. [ 35]
Career statistics International goals Scores and results list Cuba's goal tally first. [ 36]
References ↑ López, José Luis (3 December 2015). "Andy, un «vaquero» de contención" [ Andy, a containment "cowboy"] . Juventud Rebelde (in Spanish). ↑ Bernacki, Joseph (13 July 2021). " 'A really handy player to have': Versatile defender Baquero making huge contribution to Valour FC's success" . Winnipeg Free Press . ↑ Grenier Rodriguez, Eduardo (26 June 2019). "Andy Baquero: futbolista, músico… ¿y loco?" [ Andy Baquero: soccer player, musician... and crazy?] . Medium (in Spanish). ↑ Medina Bonilla, Darien (13 June 2020). "Andy Baquero, y el sueño es ser profesional" [ Andy Baquero, and the dream is to be a professional] . DeporCuba (in Spanish). 1 2 " 'Soccer changed my life': Andy Baquero and a Cuban soccer dream" . OneSoccer . 20 June 2022. ↑ Jacques, John (26 June 2021). "Valour FC Signs Cuban International Andy Baquero" . Northern Tribune . 1 2 Bomek, Cody (20 June 2021). "Andy Baquero's dream comes true as he joins Eikon Sports Group" . Eikon Sports . ↑ Tait, Ed (26 June 2021). " "Despite all his professional experience he came in with a hunger to prove himself" " . Valour FC . ↑ Ramírez Tápanes, Alexander (2 August 2019). "Fútbol cubano: contratos frustrados por la inoperancia" [ Cuban soccer: contracts frustrated by ineffectiveness] . OnCuba News (in Spanish). ↑ "Andy Baquero: yo tenía el sueño de ser jugador profesional y en Cuba no iba a poder lograrlo" [ Andy Baquero: I had the dream of being a professional player and in Cuba I was not going to be able to achieve it] . Sport Blog (in Spanish). 18 April 2020. [ dead link ] ↑ Morales Marquez, Henry (9 June 2023). "Andy Baquero: "Me fugué del Hotel con la camiseta del juego, la billetera y el teléfono" " [ Andy Baquero: “I escaped from the hotel with the game jersey, wallet and phone”] . All in 1 Desportes (in Spanish). ↑ Ramírez, Alexander (26 June 2021). "Andy Baquero regresa al fútbol profesional y firma con el Valour FC" [ Andy Baquero returns to professional football and signs with Valour FC] . Playoff Magazine (in Spanish). ↑ Jacques, John (21 June 2021). "Cuban International Andy Baquero Set For CPL" . Northern Tribune . ↑ "Valour FC signs midfielder Andy Baquero" . Valour FC . 26 June 2021. ↑ O'Connor-Clarke, Charlie (26 June 2021). "Valour FC signs Cuban midfielder Andy Baquero" . Canadian Premier League . ↑ "Andy Baquero firma con el Valour FC" [ Andy Baquero signs with Valour FC] . Futbol de Cuba (in Spanish). 26 June 2021. ↑ O'Connor-Clarke, Charlie (24 January 2022). "Andy Baquero and Federico Peña return to Valour FC" . Canadian Premier League . ↑ "Valour FC re-sign fullbacks Federico Peña and Andy Baquero" . Valour FC . 24 January 2022. ↑ Jacques, John (24 January 2022). "Valour Re-Signs Full-Backs Pena And Baquero" . Northern Tribune . ↑ Tait, Ed (24 January 2022). " "They are two guys from the get-go that we knew we wanted back." - Peña, Baquero return for 2022" . Valour FC . ↑ "Andy Baquero L1O Stats" . League1 Ontario . ↑ "2025 Scarborough SC roster" . Canadian Soccer League . Retrieved 10 August 2025 . ↑ Stanchev, Stancho (14 August 2025). "К. Димитров-Брежанеца вдигна „Скарбъро" на крака с пет поредни победи в Канадската футболна лига" [ K. Dimitrov-Brezhanetsa lifted Scarborough to its feet with five consecutive victories in the Canadian Football League] . Вестник СТРУМА (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 27 August 2025 . ↑ Flores Aldana, Omar (9 July 2015). "Andy Baquero, Cuba cambia su paradigma" [ Andy Baquero, Cuba changes its paradigm] . Excélsior (in Spanish). ↑ "El defensa de la selección cubana de fútbol quiere jugar en el extranjero" [ The defender of the Cuban soccer team wants to play abroad] . Radio y Televisión Martí (in Spanish). 9 July 2015. ↑ Castellanos, Yosel M. (5 October 2016). "Andy Baquero Ruiz: A passion for soccer" . Granma . ↑ Ebro, Jorge; González, Pedro J. (11 September 2019). "Tres cubanos más escapan en torneo de CONCACAF y ya suman cinco los que abandonan el equipo" [ Three more Cubans escape in the CONCACAF tournament and there are already five who leave the team] . El Nuevo Herald (in Spanish). ↑ Jacques, John (24 April 2024). "Former Cuba Internationals Set To Face Toronto FC In Stadium Where 'New Life' Began" . Northern Tribune . ↑ Hernandez, Jose Adrian (20 November 2023). "4 años después: Futbolista cubano Andy Baquero abrazó a su madre en Canadá" [ 4 years later: Cuban soccer player Andy Baquero hugged his mother in Canada] . Swing Completo (in Spanish). ↑ Orozco, Mateo (21 November 2023). "Futbolista cubano, Andy Baquero, se reencuentra con su madre después de cuatro años" [ Cuban soccer player, Andy Baquero, reunites with his mother after four years] . Cubanos por el mundo (in Spanish). ↑ Gil, Gian Franco (30 September 2020). "Andy Baquero, un futbolista y cantante que sueña ser jugador profesional" [ Andy Baquero, a soccer player and singer who dreams of being a professional player] . Playoff Magazine (in Spanish). ↑ Contreras, Michel (15 April 2021). "Futbolista cubano Andy Baquero en El Francotirador: "A mí me obligaron a irme" " [ Cuban soccer player Andy Baquero in El Francotirador: "They forced me to leave"] . CiberCuba (in Spanish). ↑ "Futbolista cubano Andy Baquero, ¡nominado al Latin Awards Canadá!" [ Cuban soccer player Andy Baquero, nominated for the Latin Awards Canada!] . Playoff Magazine (in Spanish). 1 December 2020. ↑ González Betancourt, Brenda (23 April 2024). "Lo que le han enseñado el fútbol y el rap al cubano Andy Baquero" [ What soccer and rap have taught Cuban Andy Baquero] . Diario de Cuba (in Spanish). ↑ Jacques, John (26 June 2021). "Valour FC Signs Cuban International Andy Baquero" . Northern Tribune . Retrieved 23 August 2025 . ↑ "Baquero, Andy" . national-football-teams.com . National Football Teams. Retrieved 31 August 2018 . This page is based on this
Wikipedia article Text is available under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.