Gabriel Nicolás Mezquida Sero (born 21 January 1992) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Vancouver FC on the Canadian Premier League.
Club career Mezquida began his career in the youth academy of Peñarol in 2006, before being promoted to the first team in the 2008 season. On 22 January 2009, at the age of 17, he signed a pre-contract with Schalke 04 worth a reported €2 million with the intent of joining the club at the end of the year.Schalke Sign Striker Nicolás Mezquida However, he changed his mind and decided to remain with Peñarol in South America. During his time with Peñarol, he had two loan spells with Norwegian clubs Brann and Lillestrøm. He joined Fénix in 2012, scoring one goal in 14 matches for the club. He was loaned out to Rampla Juniors in 2013 and scored seven goals in 24 matches for the club.
In September 2013, after leaving Fenix, Mezquida went on trial with Celtic of the Scottish Premiership but was ultimately not signed, potentially because of work permit eligibility issues, since he had not featured for the senior national side of Uruguay.
On 5 February 2014 Vancouver Whitecaps FC of Major League Soccer announced that they had signed Mezquida along with fellow Uruguayan Sebastián Fernández on a transfer from Boston River of the Uruguayan Segunda División where he had been playing since leaving Fenix. Mezquida went on to play five seasons for Vancouver, making 103 regular and postseason appearances, scoring 14 goals and adding four assists.
On 9 December 2018, Mezquida was traded along with $100,000 in TAM to the Colorado Rapids in exchange for Zac MacMath. In 2019, Mezquida made 32 MLS appearances while adding four goals and six assists - all career highs. In 2020, Mezquida made 17 appearances, 16 of them as a substitute, including in Colorado's first-round playoff loss at Minnesota United FC. Mezquida made his 150th career MLS regular season appearance on 8 November at Houston Dynamo.
On 28 June 2022, Mezquida was transferred to the Super League Greece club Volos.
International career Mezquida excelled whilst playing for Uruguay at U-15 level, scoring ten goals in 12 appearances, and was the top goal scorer at the 2007 South American Under-15 Football Championship, helping them finish as runners-up. He also played for the U-17 team at the international level.
Career statistics Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeaguePlayoffsNational cupContinentalTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsBrann (loan)2011Eliteserien10—00—10Lillestrøm (loan)201130———30Fénix2011–12Uruguayan Primera División80———802012–1361———61Total141000000141Rampla Juniors (loan)2013–14Uruguayan Segunda División102———102Vancouver Whitecaps2014MLS142—20—16220151810020202212016284—324035620172022221—2452018213—30—243Total10112221236012117Colorado Rapids2019MLS324—11—335202017110——1812021221———221202290001110111Total806102210848Career total20921321457023328
References
External links Whitecaps FC profile