Alberto Abdiel Quintero Medina (born 18 December 1987) is a Panamanian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays for Peruvian club Cienciano and the Panama national team as a winger.

Club career

Early years and Spain

Nicknamed ''Negrito'', Quintero was born in Panama City. After beginning in his country with

Chorrillo F.C. Club Deportivo Universitario (formerly Chorrillo F.C.) is a Panamanian football team playing in the Liga Panameña de Fútbol, the highest level of football in Panama. It is based in Penonomé, Coclé Province, and is the first panamanian team ...

he moved to Spain in the summer of 2008, playing amateur football with

Torrellano CF Torrellano Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Torrellano (es), Elche, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1983 it was dissolved 26 years later, and held home matches at ''Estadio Municipal de Torrellano'', with a capacity of ...

in Elche. After a sole season Quintero joined FC Cartagena, three levels above his previous and just returned to the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

. He struggled tremendously while adjusting to his new team, namely in an incident at Real Betis on 27 September 2009 (0–0 draw) where he was subjected to constant racist abuse by the opposing fans. His debut in the competition took place on 5 September, coming on as a late substitute in a 2–0 home win against Rayo Vallecano. In 2011, after one season in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

with

Ontinyent CF Ontinyent Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Ontinyent, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1947 it held home games at ''Estadio El Clariano'', with a capacity of 5,000 seats. On 28 March 2019, due to economic pr ...

, Quintero returned to his country and Chorrillo.

Mexico

Following a successful campaign for Panama at the

2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 12th CONCACAF Gold Cup competition and the 22nd CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's fifty years of existence. The United States was the host nation. The competition began on 7 July 2013 at the ...

, Quintero caught the attention of C.F. Pachuca, who was due to sign him in August 2013. Nothing came of it, but he moved to another club in Mexico,

Ascenso MX Ascenso MX was the second tier of professional football in Mexico of the Mexican football league system. The champion of the competition was promoted to Liga MX (top-flight tier). The bottom team was relegated to Liga Premier (the third tier). ...

Lobos BUAP Club de Fútbol Lobos de la Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla were a Mexican football club based in Puebla, Mexico. The club represented the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. The club's history goes back to the early 1930s ...

. After spells at

C.F. Mérida Venados Fútbol Club is a Mexican Association football, football club based in Mérida, Yucatán. The team are currently playing in the Liga de Expansión MX, the second tier of the Mexican football league system. For the 2010–11 Liga de Asce ...

and

Mineros de Zacatecas Club Deportivo Mineros de Zacatecas is a Mexican football club from Zacatecas that compete in the Mexican Liga de Expansión MX. They are currently managed by Omar Alexis Moreno. History In December 2012, Grupo Pachuca purchased the Estudiant ...

, Quintero returned to BUAP in January 2015. Eleven months later, he was loaned to

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

, scoring two of his three goals on 12 May in the 3–1 home victory over Houston Dynamo FC. Quintero joined Peruvian Primera División side

Club Universitario de Deportes Club Universitario de Deportes, popularly known as Universitario or simply as La "U", is a Peruvian football club located in Lima. The club was founded in 1924 under the name Federación Universitaria by students of the National University of S ...

on 30 January 2017. He scored a career-best 13 goals in his first season.

International career

Quintero was part of the Panama squad that participated in the

2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 16th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup (formerly called the FIFA World Youth Championship), hosted by Canada from 30 June to 22 July 2007. Argentina defeated the Czech Republic in the title game by the score ...

in Canada. He made his

full Full may refer to: * People with the surname Full, including: ** Mr. Full (given name unknown), acting Governor of German Cameroon, 1913 to 1914 * A property in the mathematical field of topology; see Full set * A property of functors in the mathe ...

debut that same year, in a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

against

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

. Quintero represented his country in 14

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

matches, and was selected for the

, helping the ''Canaleros'' to finish second in the United States. He was also picked for the following edition, scoring in the group stage opener against

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

(1–1). In May 2018, Quintero was named in Panama's final 23-man squad for the upcoming edition of the FIFA World Cup in Russia. On 6 June, however, he suffered a fractured foot in a

with Norway after a collision with

Bjørn Johnsen Bjorn (English, Dutch), Björn (Swedish, Icelandic, Dutch, and German), Bjørn (Danish, Faroese and Norwegian), Beorn (Old English) or, rarely, Bjôrn, Biorn, or Latinized Biornus, Brum (Portuguese), is a Scandinavian male given name, or less oft ...

, thus being ruled out of the tournament and replaced by

Ricardo Ávila Ricardo Guardia Ávila (born 4 February 1997) is a Panamanian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Veraguas C.D., and the Panama national team. Club career Born in Panama City, Ávila started his career at Chorrillo in 2014, making 39 app ...

. On 5 September 2019, Quintero played his 100th match against Bermuda.

International goals

''Panama score listed first, score column indicates score after each Quintero goal.''

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Quintero, Alberto 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Panama City Panamanian footballers Association football wingers Liga Panameña de Fútbol players Unión Deportivo Universitario players Segunda División players Segunda División B players FC Cartagena footballers Ontinyent CF players Categoría Primera A players Independiente Medellín footballers Lobos BUAP footballers C.F. Mérida footballers Major League Soccer players San Jose Earthquakes players Peruvian Primera División players Club Universitario de Deportes footballers Cienciano footballers Panama international footballers 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2013 Copa Centroamericana players 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2014 Copa Centroamericana players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Copa América Centenario players 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Panamanian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Colombia Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in Peru Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in Colombia Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in Peru FIFA Century Club