The good gift from University of Sports It is useful to highlight the regularity of some of his players. The Cremes rose in the local tournament following the arrival of Jorge Fossati and even managed to qualify for the group stage of the Copa Sudamericana with a very clear win over Cienciano. Furthermore, the 1-0 win over Gimnasia y Esgrima confirmed that the team is ready to strive for more this season. One of the core values of the campus is Nelson Cabanillas, who has been established on the left wing for some time.
As 2021 began, few fans could have imagined Nelson Cabanillas ending the year as a starting left-back. After Iván Santillán took over the post thanks to a good 2020, the former Real Garcilaso missed the entire following season through injury. In this context, Cabanillas was converted from a winger to a winger and, over time, established himself significantly better than in his original position.
Nelson Cabanillas and his return to university
Nelson Cabanillas was born on December 7, 2001 in Lima, Peru. The 21-year-old soccer player was trained in the smaller leagues of the Universitario. He played at the 2017 South American U17 tournament in Ecuador, where he was a regular substitute in attack for Mauricio Matzuda. In mid-2018, he was close to signing his first professional contract with the U, but an FPF sanction against the club prevented that from happening.
That’s why he joined the reserves at San Luis de Quillota in Chile this season. He did not make his first-team debut with the yellow team, returning to the Universitario for the 2019 season. That year he played 548 minutes in 11 games while still under 20 and did not stand out in a squad that had a complicated fascia . So Cabanillas alternated mainly as a winger or striker.
Nelson Cabanillas was loaned out to San Luis de Quillota when he was under 20. Photo: San Luis de Quillota
Nelson Cabanillas and his consolidation at the university
As previously mentioned, Nelson Cabanillas saw virtually no activity in 2020. He only appeared as a starter in the 1–3 win over Carlos Stein on Day 3 of the Apertura and later only played two more games in the tournament, entering the tournament for the second time. He always did it as a winger and didn’t stand a chance in the side that ended up losing the national final with Sporting Cristal.
Cabanillas’ consolidation only began in Phase 2 of 2021. The first half of the year he changed as a left winger, but the situation changed radically when the U left the back three. Ángel Comizzo, Juan Pajuelo and Gregorio Pérez got him on the wing and he played 90 minutes in all but one of his games like never before in his professional career. It was also during this period that he scored his first goal as a pro in the Day 7 Classic.
Nelson Cabanillas tagged by Luis Garro from Cienciano. Photo: GLR archives
From then on, and at just 21 years old, Nelson Cabanillas became unflappable to all the technicians who attended university. He is occasionally encouraged to take free-kicks and does well despite not scoring another goal since scoring against Alianza Lima. His work on offense is usually more remarkable than on defense, but he has also been able to fulfill the winger’s work all this time.