Marvin Ávila Jr

Marvin Alexander Ávila Veliz Junior (born 17 March 2008) is a Guatemalan professional footballer who plays as a right winger for Liga Nacional club Antigua and the Guatemala U-20 national team.

Early years
Marvin Ávila Jr was born on 17 March 2008 in Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción. He is the son of the marriage between Marvin Ávila and Yuri Véliz. His father nicknamed "Titiman" is a soccer player and one of the best players in his country. Likewise, he is the grandson of Cándido Macabi Véliz, a Liga National player in the 1970s and 1980s in Juventud Retalteca, Antigua and Izabal. His family, originally from Izabal, is based in Livingston, a town located near the waterway in the Puerto Barrios departmental capital.

From the first moments he played ball, he was inclined to practice offensive football. His first contact with the world of soccer occurred in 2014, being part of El Bosque team in his neighborhood. At the age of nine he started in the Azucareros youth academy, progressively training at the Cartogua Academy until reaching the second team of Santa Lucía. After his training, he played a game in the first team on 8 April 2023.

Antigua GFC
His debut generated high expectations in the club, it occurred on 31 January 2024, at the age of 15, for a National League match, an opportunity in which his team Antigua faced Municipal, one of the best teams from the country. Ávila was a substitute and at halftime the team's coach, Dwight Pezzarossi, introduced him with shirt number 19, as a replacement for Kevin Macareño León at the beginning of the second half. In reference to that afternoon, Ávila said: "that day I touched the sky with my hands." In his first plays that he participated, he assisted Romário Luiz da Silva, for the discount. After the game he received respect from fans, as well as press reviews:"“Ávila is a skilled, talented player who likes to face and score. He is an option that the coach is considering for the U-20 category of Guatemala”"In the next match against Deportivo Zacapa, Ávila entered the starting line-up, scoring his first goal for a 1–0 victory. The goalkeeper was Álvaro García Zaroba.

2023–2024: success at youth level
Yahir García called up Ávila for the 2023 Uncaf U-15 Tournament held in Costa Rica. Ávila was already the undisputed figure of the Santa Lucía reserve and of Guatemalan football, so his performance in the championship was excellent. He scored six goals during the group stage, where Guatemala came out first against Belize, Panama and Honduras. In the final, they beat Costa Rica 3 to 0, with a goal from Ibañez, and two from Ávila, crowning Guatemala as champion of the tournament, he received the award as top scorer, with eight goals. He was part of the team. who played in the Concacaf U-15 Championship where they reached the quarterfinal stage, was once again the top scorer for his country with four goals.

After playing the tournament, the coach of the Guatemalan U-20 delegation, Marvin Cabrera, called them up for the 2024 Uncaf U-19 Tournament. The team managed to have a good campaign, beating Cuba, Belize and Costa Rica in the group stage. They would be crowned champions of the Central American tournament in a penalty shootout against the Panama.

Style of play
He is a versatile playmaker who generally played in a free, attacking role in front of the midfielders or as a second striker in a double forward.

Considered a promising young player, he is considered a diminutive, dynamic, intelligent, hard-working and agile winger with a low center of gravity as well as impressive passing and awareness. Additionally, he is known for his eye for the final ball and his ability to provide assists to his teammates, making him an effective playmaker. Although he is also capable of scoring goals himself, media outlets cited initially his shots and goals as areas of increase during his first games with the Guatemalan youth teams.

Guatemala U15

 * UNCAF Tournament: 2023

Guatemala U16

 * UNCAF Tournament: 2024

Guatemala U20

 * UNCAF Tournament: 2024