Piero Martín Hincapié Reyna (born 9 January 2002) is an Ecuadorian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or left-back for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and the Ecuador national team.[3]

Piero Hincapié
Hincapié with Bayer Leverkusen in 2022
Personal information
Full name Piero Martín Hincapié Reyna[1]
Date of birth (2002-01-09) 9 January 2002 (age 22)
Place of birth Esmeraldas, Ecuador
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre-back, left-back
Team information
Current team
Bayer Leverkusen
Number 3
Youth career
Escuela Refinería
2009–2010 Emelec Esmeraldas
2010–2012 Barcelona Esmeraldas
2012–2013 Norte América
2013–2016 Deportivo Azogues
2016–2019 Independiente del Valle
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2020 Independiente del Valle 3 (0)
2020–2021 Talleres 14 (0)
2021– Bayer Leverkusen 87 (4)
International career
2019 Ecuador U17 11 (0)
2021– Ecuador 39 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:50, 22 September 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10 September 2024

Club career

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Hincapié began playing football at the age of seven, initially for local clubs Escuela Refinería, Emelec and Barcelona.[4][5] Aged ten, the defender moved to Guayaquil with Norte América.[5] After a spell with Deportivo Azogues, he joined Independiente del Valle in November 2016.[6] Hincapié was promoted into their first-team in August 2019 for a Serie A match with Mushuc Runa.[3] He was selected to start and played the full duration of a narrow home defeat.[3] In the subsequent 2020 campaign, shortly after winning the U-20 Copa Libertadores, Hincapié made appearances off the bench against Universidad Católica and Macará.[3]

On 20 August 2020, Hincapié switched Ecuador for Argentina after agreeing a five-year contract with Primera División side Talleres; who paid $1,000,000 for 50% of his pass.[7][8]

In August 2021, Hincapié signed for the German Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen.[9] He made his debut on 16 August, coming into the Europa League group stage match against Ferencváros as Leverkusen won 2–1.[10] He scored his first goal for the club on 30 September, scoring the opening goal against Celtic in a 4–0 victory in the Europa League.[11] In 2024, Hincapié was part of the Leverkusen team that won the club’s first ever Bundesliga title.

International career

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Hincapié appeared for the Ecuador U15s in 2017.[4] In 2019, Hincapié represented his country as captain at U17 level.[3][5] He played seven times at the South American U-17 Championship in Peru, before featuring four times at the subsequent FIFA U-17 World Cup in Brazil.[3][5]

On 13 June 2021, Hincapié debuted for the Ecuador senior squad in a 2021 Copa América match against Colombia, playing the full match as Ecuador lost 1–0.[12]

On 14 November 2022, Hincapié was named in Ecuador's 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[13] He played 90 minutes in the group stage win against Qatar,[14] the draw against the Netherlands,[15] and defeat against Senegal.[16]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 22 September 2024[3]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Independiente del Valle 2019 Ecuadorian Serie A 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2020 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Total 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Talleres 2021 Argentine Primera División 14 0 2 0 6[b] 0 22 0
Bayer Leverkusen 2021–22 Bundesliga 27 1 0 0 6[c] 1 33 2
2022–23 30 1 0 0 13[d] 0 43 1
2023–24 26 1 5 0 12[c] 0 43 1
2024–25 4 1 0 0 1[e] 0 1[f] 0 6 1
Total 87 4 5 0 32 1 1 0 125 5
Career total 104 4 7 0 38 1 1 0 150 5
  1. ^ Includes Copa Argentina, DFB-Pokal
  2. ^ Appearances in Copa Sudamericana
  3. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ Eight appearances in UEFA Europa League, five appearances in UEFA Champions League
  5. ^ Appearance in UEFA Champions League
  6. ^ Appearance in DFL-Supercup

International

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As of match played 10 September 2024[17]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Ecuador 2021 12 1
2022 12 0
2023 6 0
2024 9 2
Total 39 3

Scores and results list Ecuador's goal tally first.

List of international goals scored by Piero Hincapié
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 11 November 2021 Estadio Rodrigo Paz Delgado, Quito, Ecuador   Venezuela 1–0 1–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 16 June 2024 Pratt & Whitney Stadium, East Hartford, United States   Honduras 2–1 2–1 Friendly
3 26 June 2024 Allegiant Stadium, Paradise, United States   Jamaica 1–0 3–1 2024 Copa América

Honours

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Independiente del Valle[3]

Bayer Leverkusen

Individual

References

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  1. ^ "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ – Squad list: Ecuador (ECU)" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 10. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Piero Hincapie". Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Ecuador - P. Hincapié". Soccerway. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  4. ^ a b "El crecimiento futbolístico de quien sueña jugar en Europa". La Hora. 21 August 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d "Piero Hincapié, el admirador de Puyol que asombra en Ecuador". Marca. 11 December 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  6. ^ "Piero Hincapié, de Independiente del Valle al primer equipo del Talleres de Córdoba argentino". El Universo. 21 August 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  7. ^ "Piero Hincapié es nuevo refuerzo de Talleres". Talleres. 20 August 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  8. ^ "Talleres presentó por Zoom a Piero Hincapié: "Estoy ansioso por jugar"". Mundo D. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  9. ^ "Bayer Leverkusen sign Ecuador teenager Piero Hincapie". bundesliga.com - the official Bundesliga website. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  10. ^ UEFA.com. "Leverkusen-Ferencváros | UEFA Europa League". UEFA.com. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  11. ^ "Ruthless Leverkusen punish sloppy Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  12. ^ "Piero Hincapié: Mi debut con la Selección fue una locura. No me imaginaba que iba a salir de inicio, para mí supuso un "shock"" [Piero Hincapié: My debut with the National Team was crazy. I didn't imagine it was going to start, for me it was "shocking".]. El Universo (in Spanish). 17 February 2022. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  13. ^ "Ecuador, el último en entregar la lista de los 26 jugadores convocados para la Copa del Mundo de Qatar 2022" [Ecuador, the last to deliver the list of the 26 players summoned for the Qatar World Cup 2022]. ESPN Deportes (in Spanish). 14 November 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  14. ^ "Enner Valencia double gives South Americans win". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  15. ^ "Enner Valencia goal earns draw for South Americans". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  16. ^ "Ismaila Sarr & Kalidou Koulibaly put Africans into last 16". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  17. ^ Piero Hincapié at National-Football-Teams.com  
  18. ^ "Bayer Leverkusen are 2023/24 Bundesliga champions!". Bundesliga. 15 April 2024. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  19. ^ "Bayer Leverkusen battle back to beat VfB Stuttgart on penalties in Supercup". Bundesliga. 17 August 2024. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  20. ^ "Atalanta 3-0 Leverkusen: Lookman treble brings UEFA Europa League glory to Bergamo". UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. 22 May 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  21. ^ "IFFHS Men's World Youth (U20) Team 2022". IFFHS. 12 January 2023.
  22. ^ "The CONMEBOL Copa América 2024™ Best XI". Copa América. 31 July 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
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