| Stiven Plaza | |
| Fullname: | Stiven Ricardo Plaza Castillo[1] |
| Birth Date: | 11 March 1999 |
| Birth Place: | Eloy Alfaro, Ecuador |
| Height: | 1.88m |
| Position: | Forward |
| Currentclub: | Venados (on loan from Mazatlán) |
| Clubnumber: | 11 |
| Youthyears1: | 2011–2016 |
| Youthclubs1: | Norte América |
| Youthyears2: | 2014 |
| Youthclubs2: | → Deportivo Azogues (loan) |
| Youthyears3: | 2015 |
| Youthclubs3: | → Deportivo Azogues (loan) |
| Youthyears4: | 2016 |
| Youthclubs4: | Aucas |
| Youthyears5: | 2017–2018 |
| Youthclubs5: | Independiente del Valle |
| Years1: | 2018 |
| Clubs1: | Alianza Cotopaxi |
| Caps1: | 0 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 2018 |
| Clubs2: | Independiente del Valle |
| Caps2: | 22 |
| Goals2: | 7 |
| Years3: | 2019–2022 |
| Clubs3: | Valladolid |
| Caps3: | 2 |
| Goals3: | 0 |
| Years4: | 2019–2020 |
| Clubs4: | Valladolid B |
| Caps4: | 11 |
| Goals4: | 1 |
| Years5: | 2020–2021 |
| Clubs5: | → Trabzonspor (loan) |
| Caps5: | 2 |
| Goals5: | 0 |
| Years6: | 2021–2022 |
| Clubs6: | → Independiente del Valle (loan) |
| Caps6: | 8 |
| Goals6: | 0 |
| Years7: | 2022 |
| Clubs7: | New York Red Bulls II |
| Caps7: | 7 |
| Goals7: | 1 |
| Years8: | 2023 |
| Clubs8: | S.D. Aucas |
| Caps8: | 2 |
| Goals8: | 0 |
| Years9: | 2023 |
| Clubs9: | Guayaquil City |
| Caps9: | 7 |
| Goals9: | 0 |
| Years10: | 2024- |
| Clubs10: | Mazatlán |
| Caps10: | 2 |
| Goals10: | 0 |
| Years11: | 2024- |
| Clubs11: | → Venados (loan) |
| Caps11: | 0 |
| Goals11: | 0 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2019 |
| Nationalteam1: | Ecuador U20 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 2 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 0 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2018 |
| Nationalteam2: | Ecuador |
| Nationalcaps2: | 2 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 0 |
| Club-Update: | 29 May 2024 |
| Nationalteam-Update: | 14 June 2019 |
Stiven Ricardo Plaza Castillo (born Esmeraldas, Ecuador, 11 March 1999) is an Ecuadorean professional footballer who plays as a forward for Mexican side Mazatlán F.C..
Born in Eloy Alfaro Canton, Plaza started his career with Norte América in 2011, as a left winger. In 2017, after stints at Deportivo Azogues and Aucas, he joined Independiente del Valle and was a regular starter in the club's under-18 squad.[2]
Converted to a forward by Juan Carlos León, Plaza made his senior debut during the 2018 season with Alianza Cotopaxi, the club's reserve team.[2] After scoring 7 goals in 3 games in the 2018 U-20 Copa Libertadores, he was reportedly being watched by scouts of the Premier League sides Manchester City and Manchester United.[3]
Plaza made his professional – and Serie A – debut on 11 June 2018, coming on as a late substitute in a 1–1 away draw against Universidad Católica.[4] He scored his first goal on 12 August, netting his team's third in a 3–1 home win against Emelec.[5]
On 23 October 2018, Plaza scored a brace in a 2–0 away defeat of Técnico Universitario.[6]
On 10 December 2018, Spain's Real Valladolid confirmed a pre-contract with Plaza to join the club once the transfer window opened on 1 January 2019.[7] Then, Plaza made his debut with Valladolid on 16 February 2019, in a 1–0 away loss against Barcelona. On 25 August 2019, Plaza scored his first goal in Europe, helping Real Valladolid Promesas to a 4–1 victory over CD Izarra in a Segunda División B match.[8]
On 17 August 2020, Plaza was loaned to Turkish side Trabzonspor for two seasons.[9] On 26 September 2020, Plaza made his debut with Trabzonspor in 3–1 victory over Yeni Malatyaspor.[10] He appeared in only three official matches with the club.
After struggling to fulfill his promise, Valladolid loaned Plaza to his former club Independiente del Valle during February 2021.[11]
On 30 August 2022, Valladolid announced the transfer of Plaza to New York Red Bulls.[12] He was initially assigned to New York Red Bulls II.[13] He made his debut for New York Red Bulls II on 31 August 2022, coming on late in the match in a 3–3 draw versus Hartford Athletic.[14] On 10 October 2022, Plaza scored his first goal for New York in a 2–1 loss to Memphis 901 FC.[15]
He joined Guayaquil City in July 2023 after a brief spell with SD Aucas. If was his fifth club in four years.[16]
On 4 October 2018, Plaza was called up by Ecuador manager Hernán Darío Gómez for friendlies against Qatar and Oman.[17] He made his full international debut eight days later, starting in a 4–3 loss against the former at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha.[18]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Alianza Cotopaxi | 2018[19] | Segunda Categoría | 0 | 0 | — | — | 7[20] | 8 | 7 | 8 | |||
| Independiente del Valle | 2018 | Serie A | 22 | 7 | — | — | — | 22 | 7 | ||||
| Real Valladolid | 2018–19 | La Liga | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Real Valladolid Promesas | 2019–20 | Segunda División B | 11 | 1 | — | — | — | 11 | 1 | ||||
| Trabzonspor (loan) | 2020–21 | Süper Lig | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| Independiente del Valle (loan) | 2021 | Serie A | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | ||||
| Independiente del Valle (loan) | 2022 | Serie A | 3 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |||
| New York Red Bulls II | 2022 | USL Championship | 6 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 1 | |||
| Career total | 51 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 60 | 17 | |||
| Ecuador national team | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals | |
| 2018 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 2 | 0 | |
Ecuador U20
Individual