Wilfredo León Venero (born 31 July 1993) is a Cuban–Polish professional volleyball player. He was a member of the Cuba national team from 2007 to 2012, and is a current member of the Poland national team and Sir Safety Perugia. A silver medallist at the 2010 World Championship, and a two–time NORCECA Champion (2009, 2011).

Considered by many as one of a kind, he led Cuba to the silver medal at the 2010 World Championship held in Italy, alongside Yoandy Leal and Robertlandy Simon. He is considered one of the leaders of the "Generation of Miracle" of Cuban volleyball and by many experts. Wilfredo León is considered one of the best volleyball players worldwide.

Wilfredo Leòn is a duo-nationality professional volleyball player who represented Cuba national for 6 years from 2007 to 2012 but now plays for the Polish national team after receiving a Polish passport in 2015 and started playing for them in 2019 after becoming eligible. He is considered one of the greatest Volleyball players of all time and his record of 138 km/h serve speed is beyond science.

Wilfredo is considered as “Cristiano Ronaldo” of Volleyball for his heroics on the Volleyball court and most notable when he led the Cuban National team to a silver medal in World Championship 2010 is considered the miracle of the century in Volleyball history. Although after leaving Cuba national team, he played in leagues for 7 years but there also he won every individual accolade possible.

Wilfredo Leòn is now considered as the face of Volleyball in the world and despite being 28 only, he has seen everything on the volleyball court and outside of it. He has fought against odds all the time and has proved everyone wrong. In this article, we will take a look at his lifestyle and the earnings he has made through his Volleyball career.

Personal life

Wilfredo León Venero was born in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba on July 31, 1993. He is the son of Wilfredo León Hechavarría and Alina Venero Boza (former volleyball player). He studied at Escuela Nacional del Voleibol Cubano. León Venero lived in Poland for a while with his Polish girlfriend. On June 24, 2016 he married Małgorzata (born Gronkowska). On May 13, 2017 their daughter Natalia was born.

Career

He started to play when he was 7. His first coach was his mother Alina Venero. Wilfredo León Venero debuted in the Cuban national team on May 24, 2008 in Düsseldorf, aged 14 years and 10 months. He won the title of Best Receiver at World League 2009. On July 31, 2009 he won a silver medal in the World U21 Championship 2009 (after losing the final against Brazil). In 2009, the Cuban national team, with Leon, won the title of NORCECA Champion (and three individual awards) and repeated this success in 2011. After losing the final against Brazil, Cuba won a silver medal at the World Championship 2010. He was the youngest captain of the national team (he was 17). In 2012, he won bronze medal of World League - Sofia 2012.

In 2013, León left Cuba to play in a club outside of his homeland, losing the possibility of playing for the Cuban national team. He joined Russian club Zenit Kazan in 2014, where he won multiple CEV Champions League, national leagues and cups. He also played part-time with Qatar club Al Rayyan in 2015 and 2016. In September 2018, León joined Italian team SIR Safety Perugia.

On July 14, 2015 he received Polish citizenship, and five years later he became fully eligible to play for the Polish national volleyball team.

Wilfredo León started Volleyball at a very young age of 7 and since his mother also was a former Cuban Women’s Volleyball player, it helped him in the early phase. He made his debut at the age of 14 years only in 2008. He received the title of Best Receiver at the World League in 2009 which was the first time the World saw glimpses of his brilliance.

He left Cuba in 2013 just after winning the bronze medal at the World League in 2012 and the reason which he stated was a poor public group which kind of led to big controversy in Cuba because of disrespect shown by Wilfredo. He then played club Volleyball and joined Zenit Kazan, Russia in 2014.

He also played part-time in Qatar for Al Rayyan in 2015 and 2016 but now plays for Italian team SIR Safety Perugia. Wilfredo received his Polish Passport in 2015 but became eligible to play for the national team in 2019 only.