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Alexander Mejía

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Not to be confused with Alex Mejia.
Alexander Mejía
Mejía with Colombia at the 2014 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Alexander Mejía Sabalza[1]
Date of birth (1988-07-11) 11 July 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth Barranquilla, Atlántico, Colombia
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Unión Magdalena
Number 13
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2012 Deportes Quindío 101 (4)
2011 → Once Caldas (loan) 37 (0)
2012–2014 Atlético Nacional 88 (0)
2015–2016 Monterrey 14 (0)
2015–2016 → Atlético Nacional (loan) 40 (0)
2016–2018 León 63 (0)
2019–2021 Libertad 65 (0)
2021–2022 Santa Fe 11 (0)
2022–2023 Atlético Nacional 13 (1)
2023– Unión Magdalena 7 (0)
International career‡
2012–2022 Colombia 27 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 6 July 2021
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:08, 27 January 2022 (UTC)

Alexander Mejía Sabalza (born 11 July 1988) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Unión Magdalena.[3] He is described by FIFA's official website as "a linchpin noted for his ability to tidy up mistakes, rob possession and track down and pressurise opponents".[4]

Club career

Colombia

Mejía made his professional debut for Deportes Quindío in 2005, where he played for seven years, including a loan spell at Once Caldas.[4] In 2012, he joined Atlético Nacional and won both the Copa Colombia and the Superliga Colombiana in his first season.[4] In the following seasons, Mejía helped Nacional to three consecutive Colombian league titles, becoming team captain after the departure of Macnelly Torres.[4]

Mexico

Mejía finished his loan at Nacional in June 2016. He was then transferred to León in the Liga MX for the Apertura 2016.[5] However, as a part of the deal, he was able to stay with Nacional until after the Medellín club had finished its campaign in the Copa Libertadores.[6]

International career

In 2012, Mejía made his debut for the Colombia national team in a FIFA World Cup qualifier against Peru.[4] He went on to become a regular member of the squad in the remainder of the campaign, making five appearances overall.[4]

2014 World Cup

On 9 June 2014, he was named in Colombia's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and played in four of the five matches Colombia had.[7] On 14 June, Mejía appeared as a sixty-ninth-minute substitute in Colombia's opening match of the tournament, a 3–0 victory over Greece in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.[8] Mejía also appeared in the following match against Ivory Coast on 19 June 2014, coming on as a substitute in the seventy-ninth minute, and seeing out a 2–1 victory in Brazil's capital, Brasília.[9] In Colombia's third – and last – game of the Group Stage, they played against Japan. Mejía started at a defensive midfielder role alongside Fredy Guarín, playing the entire eighty-minute game. Colombia won 1–4.[10] Mejía's last game of the 2014 World Cup came against Uruguay in the Round of 16 in the Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro on 28 June. Colombia won 2–0,[11] and progressed to the Quarter-finals, playing against the hosts, Brazil, losing 2–1.[12]

Season statistics

Domestic club statistics
Club Season League Cup[a] Continental[b] Other[c] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Atlético Nacional 2012 Categoría Primera A 27 0 11 0 8 0 2 0 48 0
2013 36 0 4 0 8 0 — 48 0
2014 19 0 2 0 10 0 2 0 33 0
Atlético Nacional (loan) 2015 23 0 1 0 0 0 — 24 0
2016 17 0 1 0 12 0 1 0 31 0
Total 122 0 19 0 38 0 5 0 184 0
Monterrey 2014–15 Liga MX 14 0 3 0 — 17 0
León 2016–17 Liga MX 23 0 3 1 — 26 1
2017–18 25 0 4 0 29 0
2018–19 10 0 5 0 15 0
Total 74 0 12 1 — 86 1
Career total 196 0 31 1 38 0 5 0 270 1
  1. ^ Appearances in the Copa Colombia and Copa MX
  2. ^ Includes appearances in the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana
  3. ^ Appearances only in the Superliga Colombiana

Honours

Club

Atlético Nacional

References

  1. ^ "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil: List of players: Colombia" (PDF). FIFA. 14 July 2014. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 January 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  2. ^ "Alexander Mejía" (in Spanish). Atlético Nacional. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  3. ^ Alexander Mejía es nuevo jugador de Libertad de Paraguay, goal.com, 29 December 2018
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Alexander MEJIA". FIFA. Archived from the original on June 20, 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  5. ^ "Alexander Mejía regresa a México con León". Univision Deportes (in Spanish). 9 June 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  6. ^ "Oficial: Atlético Nacional cede a Davinson Sánchez al Ajax, pero jugará Copa Libertadores". HSB Noticias (in Spanish). 21 June 2016. Archived from the original on 23 June 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  7. ^ "World Cup 2014: Radamel Falcao out of Colombia squad". BBC Sport. 9 June 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  8. ^ Whalley, Mike (14 June 2014). "Colombia 3–0 Greece". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  9. ^ Sanghera, Mandeep (19 June 2014). "World Cup: Colombia 2–1 Ivory Coast". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  10. ^ Fanning, Evan (24 June 2014). "Japan v Colombia, World Cup 2014: as it happened". The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  11. ^ McNulty, Phil (28 June 2014). "Colombia 2–0 Uruguay". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  12. ^ Rich, Tim (4 July 2014). "Brazil vs Colombia match report World Cup 2014: Thiago Silva and David Luiz score to set up semi-final against Germany". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2018-10-06. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
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