Bienvenido Morejón Marañón[a] ([bjem.beˈni.ðo maɾaˈɲon]; born May 15, 1986), also known as Bienve, is a professional footballer who plays as a forward or a winger for Thai League 2 club Chanthaburi and the Philippines national team.
.png) Marañón playing for Philippines in 2023 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Bienvenido Morejón Marañón[1] | ||
| Date of birth | May 15, 1986 | ||
| Place of birth | El Puerto de Santa María, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward, winger | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Chanthaburi | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| La Salle | |||
| –2005 | Betis | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2005–2007 | Rayo Sanluqueño | ||
| 2007–2010 | Cádiz B | 86 | (28) |
| 2007–2008 | Cádiz | 3 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | Villarrubia | 37 | (21) |
| 2011–2012 | Móstoles | 14 | (1) |
| 2012 | Villarrubia | 14 | (11) |
| 2012–2013 | La Hoya Lorca | 27 | (14) |
| 2013–2015 | Socuéllamos | 65 | (15) |
| 2015–2022 | Ceres–Negros / United City | 59 | (74) |
| 2022 | Johor Darul Ta'zim II | 9 | (3) |
| 2022–2023 | Villarrubia | 20 | (3) |
| 2023– | Chanthaburi | 31 | (4) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2021– | Philippines | 15 | (4) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 April 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23 November 2023 | |||
Born in Spain, Bienve played in the lower leagues of his birth country. In 2015, moved to the Philippines to sign with United City, then known as Ceres–Negros, playing for several years with the Filipino club. In 2021, he received Filipino citizenship, enabling him to play for the Philippines national team.
Early life edit
Bienve was born in El Puerto de Santa María, Province of Cádiz, Andalusia, and grew up in neighbouring Cádiz. He spent his childhood playing football in the streets, as his parents could not afford to send him to an academy.[2]
Club career edit
Spain edit
Bienve made his senior debut when he was in Spain with local club CD Rayo Sanluqueño in the 2005–06 season. In the third quarter of 2007 he signed with Cádiz CF, being assigned to the reserves in Tercera División.
On December 2, 2007, Bienve appeared in his first game as a professional, coming on as a late substitute in a 3–1 home win against Racing de Ferrol in the Segunda División.[3] He totalled 58 minutes for the first team, who were eventually relegated.
On April 7, 2010, Bienve was released by Cádiz due to indiscipline.[4] He joined fourth-level club Villarrubia CF 14 days later,[5] and scored a career-best 21 goals during the campaign.
Bienve moved to fellow league team CD Móstoles in the 2011 off-season, returning to Villarrubia the following transfer window[6] and subsequently resuming his career in the fourth tier, where he represented La Hoya Lorca CF and UD Socuéllamos.[7] With the latter, he achieved promotion to Segunda División B in 2014.[8][9]
Ceres–Negros / United City edit
On May 14, 2015, Bienve moved abroad for the first time in his career, after agreeing a deal with Filipino United Football League side Ceres FC.[10] He was encouraged by former Cádiz teammate Carli de Murga to play for them as early as 2012.[11] After one month at the club, he was not satisfied with his performance and decided to study Chieffy Caligdong's style of play in a bid to improve himself.[12]
Bienve considered retiring in 2016 due to the death of his father but was encouraged by coach Risto Vidaković to continue playing football.[2] He became the all-time top scorer in the AFC Cup on 11 March 2020, when he scored his 35th goal in the renamed Ceres–Negros's 4–0 win against Bali United FC.[11]
Ceres–Negros was taken over by a new management in July 2020, being renamed United City FC. Bienve was among the players retained.[13] He would leave the club by January 5, 2022.[14]
Johor Darul Ta'zim edit
Marañon joined Johor Darul Ta'zim of the Malaysia Super League by January 20, 2022.[15]
International career edit
Marañón originally was not eligible to play for the Philippine national team prior to receiving Filipino citizenship in 2020 via naturalization. On March 3, 2020, Philippine Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri sponsored a Senate bill proposing to grant Filipino citizenship to Marañón, which would make him eligible for the Philippines national team.[16] In September, bills were filed in the House of Representatives proposing the same.[17] Those were approved on February 16, 2021,[18] while the corresponding Senate bill was approved on March 15.[19] On July 2, Marañón became a Filipino citizen when the bill was signed into law as Republic Act No. 11570 by President Rodrigo Duterte.[20][21]
Marañón was first called up to play for the Philippine national team for the 2020 AFF Championship, which was postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[22] He debuted for the Philippines in a 1–2 loss against hosts Singapore during the tournament's first matchday on December 8, 2021.[23] During the second matchday against Timor-Leste on December 11, Marañón scored his first international goal by scoring the sixth goal of a 7–0 win for the Philippines.[24]
Personal life edit
Marañón is of Basque ethnicity. His Basque grandfather also had links to the Philippines, having fled from Spain to settle in the Western Visayas due to his opposition to Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.[25]
Career statistics edit
Club edit
- As of 7 August 2022
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Ceres–Negros | 2017 | Philippines Football League | 25 | 22 | – | 12 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 30 | |
| 2018 | 11 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 12 | – | 24 | 27 | |||
| 2019 | 20 | 30 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 10 | – | 31 | 40 | |||
| 2020 | 5 | 7 | – | 6 | 6 | – | 11 | 13 | ||||
| 2021 | – | – | 5 | 1 | – | 5 | 1 | |||||
| Johor Darul Ta'zim | 2022 | Malaysia Super League | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 11 | 3 | |
| Career total | 70 | 77 | 5 | 0 | 44 | 37 | 1 | 0 | 120 | 114 | ||
International edit
- Scores and results list the Philippines' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Marañón goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 December 2021 | National Stadium, Kallang, Singapore |  East Timor |
6–0 | 7–0 | 2020 AFF Championship |
| 2 | 18 December 2021 | Bishan Stadium, Bishan, Singapore |  Myanmar |
1–0 | 3–2 | 2020 AFF Championship |
| 3 | 2–0 | |||||
| 4 | 3–0 |
Honours edit
Ceres–Negros / United City
Individual
Notes edit
References edit
- ^ "FINAL REGISTRATION OF PLAYERS" (PDF). Asean Football. p. 1. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
- ^ a b Rivera, Louie Greg A. (November 15, 2020). "In Maranon, a Filipino at heart even with papers still pending". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
- ^ "El Cádiz supera al Racing de Ferrol" [Cádiz overcome Racing de Ferrol]. Marca (in Spanish). December 2, 2007. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
- ^ Jiménez, R. (April 7, 2010). "El Cádiz B aparta al barreño Tiri" [Cádiz B oust barreño Tiri] (in Spanish). Europa Sur. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
- ^ ""El fútbol no se termina en Cádiz"" [Football does not end at Cádiz] (in Spanish). La Voz Digital. April 21, 2010. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
- ^ "Vuelven al Villarrubia Bienve y Wuy" [Bienve and Wuy return to Villarrubia] (in Spanish). Villarrubia CF. January 28, 2012. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
- ^ De la Cruz, C. (July 8, 2013). "El Socuéllamos contará con Bienve la próxima campaña" [Socuéllamos will count with Bienve for the following season]. La Tribuna de Ciudad Real (in Spanish). Retrieved October 8, 2014.
- ^ "Socuéllamos festeja el histórico ascenso del Yugo Unión Deportiva a Segunda B" [Socuéllamos celebrates Yugo Unión Deportiva's historic promotion to Segunda B]. La Comarca de Puertollano (in Spanish). June 23, 2014. Archived from the original on October 18, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
- ^ Fernández, Raúl (September 10, 2014). ""Tengo unas ganas locas de jugar"" [I want to play like crazy] (in Spanish). Lanza. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
- ^ "Bienve deja el Socuéllamos" [Bienve leaves Socuéllamos]. La Tribuna de Ciudad Real (in Spanish). May 14, 2015. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
- ^ a b Tan, Gabriel (April 19, 2020). "Bienvenido Maranon is powering Ceres-Negros FC's evolution into Asian football power". ESPN. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
- ^ Del Rosario, Paolo (March 1, 2021). "Bienvenido Marañon credits Chieffy Caligdong for improvement even if they never met". ESPN. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
- ^ Terrado, Reuben (August 2, 2020). "Prolific Spanish striker Marañon signs with United City FC". Sports Interactive Network. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
- ^ Terrado, Jonas (January 5, 2022). "United City confirms departure of striker Bienvenido Marañon". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
- ^ del Carmen, Lorenzo (January 20, 2022). "De Murga, Marañon reunite in JDT". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
- ^ Stewart Saldajeno, Ivan (March 16, 2020). "Senate bills seek to naturalize footballers Mendy, Marañon". Philippine News Agency. Archived from the original on September 10, 2020. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
- ^ Luci-Atienza, Charissa (September 6, 2020). "Bills granting Filipino citizenship to football player Bienvenido Marañón Morejón filed". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
- ^ "House OKs bills granting Filipino citizenship to Kouame, Marañon". CNN Philippines. February 16, 2021. Archived from the original on February 16, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
- ^ Dioquino, Delfin (March 15, 2021). "Senate approves PH citizenship of Kouame, Marañon". Rappler. Archived from the original on March 18, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
- ^ Lopez, Virgil (July 7, 2021). "Duterte signs law granting Filipino citizenship to football player Bienvenido Marañon". GMA News. Archived from the original on July 12, 2021. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
- ^ Del Carmen, Lorenzo (July 7, 2021). "Bienvenido Marañon becomes a Filipino citizen". Tiebreaker Times. Archived from the original on July 11, 2021. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
- ^ Naredo, Camille (December 6, 2021). "Football: Marañon 'at home' with Azkals, reports coach". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
- ^ Lozada, Bong (December 9, 2021). "'Best feeling ever': Bienve Marañon relishes first game with PH Azkals". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
- ^ Ganesan, Deepanraj (December 11, 2021). "Suzuki Cup: Philippines thump Timor-Leste 7–0 in Group A clash". The Straits Times. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
- ^ Casayuran, Mario (March 9, 2021). "Senators warn against naturalization for convenience amid Andray Blatche's 'disappearance'". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
- ^ Tupas, Cedelf (November 16, 2019). "Ceres-Negros caps unbeaten season with Copa triumph". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
- ^ Morales, Luisa (November 11, 2020). "PFL champs United City FC sweep individual awards". The Philippine Star. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2020.