Germán Mera Cáceres (born March 5, 1990) is a Colombian

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 as a defender for

Atlético Junior Club Deportivo Popular Junior F.C. S.A. (), commonly known as Junior de Barranquilla, by its old name Atlético Junior, or simply as Junior, is a Colombian professional football team based in Barranquilla, that currently plays in the Categoría ...

. Born in the city of

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...

, he has also played for Córdoba, Atlético La Sabana,

Deportivo Pasto Asociación Deportivo Pasto, also known as Deportivo Pasto, is a Colombian professional football team based in the city of Pasto, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Estadio Departamental Libertad. D ...

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, la ...

Bucaramanga Bucaramanga () is the capital and largest city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth-largest economy by GDP in Colombia, has the lowest unemployment rate and has the ninth-largest population in the country, with 68 ...

Deportivo Cali Asociación Deportivo Cali, best known as Deportivo Cali, is a Colombian sports club based in Cali, most notable for its football team, which currently competes in the Categoría Primera A. Deportivo Cali is one of the most successful footba ...

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

, and KV Mechelen. While at Mechelen he scored the winning goal in the 2019 Belgian Cup Final.

Club Brugge KV

After several years as a regular starter at

, Germán Mera decided to try his luck in Europe, where he signed with the Belgian top club Club Brugge KV. However, at Club Brugge, there was a lot of competition and Mera barely played. In half a season, he only made two appearances.

KV Mechelen

Germán Mera joined KV Mechelen on a permanent transfer in January 2018 from Club Brugge, where he struggled to find playing time. Normally a stable mid-table team, KV Mechelen found themselves in the relegation zone at the time of his arrival. Unfortunately, in his first few matches, Mera did not make a good impression, and the team was relegated to the second division. However, in his second season, under new coach

Wouter Vrancken Wouter Vrancken (born 3 February 1979) is a Belgian football manager and a former defensive midfielder. He is the manager of Genk. Playing career Wouter Vrancken started his playing career as a youth at lower division clubs, beginning at FC Oud ...

, Mera became a defensive anchor, helping the team even set a new record for the longest unbeaten defense in the second division (464 minutes). Additionally, Mera's impressive physical abilities made him a deadly threat on set pieces, as he scored several times with his head. At the end of the season, KV Mechelen was promoted back to the first division. That same year, KV Mechelen also won the

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

, an exceptional achievement for a second division team. In the cup final, Mera scored the winning goal, securing his place in the team's history. In the summer of 2019, Mera returned to Colombia, but he left KV Mechelen as a fan favorite. Despite his initial struggles, he became a crucial player in the team's success, and his performances helped inspire the team to their incredible achievements in the 2018-2019 season.

Honours

Deportivo Cali *

Categoría Primera A The Categoría Primera A (), commonly referred to as Liga BetPlay Dimayor (between 2015 and 2019 ''Liga Águila'') due to sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is a Colombian professional league for association football clubs. It is the ...

: 2015-I Mechelen *

: 2018–19 Belgian Cup, 2018–19 Atlético Junior *

Superliga Colombiana The Superliga Colombiana (''Colombian Superleague''), officially known as Superliga BetPlay DIMAYOR due to sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is an official competition contested between the winners of the Apertura and Finalización t ...

2020 Superliga Colombiana The 2020 Superliga Colombiana (known as the Superliga Águila 2020 for sponsorship purposes) was the ninth edition of the Superliga Colombiana. It was contested by the champions of the 2019 Categoría Primera A season from 8 to 11 September 2020. ...

References

1990 births Living people Footballers from Cali Colombian men's footballers Colombian expatriate men's footballers Categoría Primera A players Categoría Primera B players Major League Soccer players Belgian Pro League players Deportivo Cali footballers Atlético de la Sabana footballers Deportivo Pasto footballers Colorado Rapids players Atlético Bucaramanga footballers Club Brugge KV players K.V. Mechelen players Atlético Junior footballers Men's association football defenders Colombian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium {{Colombia-footy-defender-stub