Luis Ricardo Mejía Cajar (born 16 March 1991) 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 ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Unión Española Club Unión Española S.A.D.P. is a professional association football, football club based in the Independencia, Chile, Independencia neighborhood, commune of Santiago, Chile. They currently participate in the Chilean Primera Division, Primera D ...

Club career

Nicknamed ''Manotas'', Mejia made his professional debut playing with Tauro in 2007. In 2008, he was transferred to

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

an side

Centro Atlético Fénix Centro Atlético Fénix is a Uruguayan sports club from Montevideo. The football team currently plays in Primera División. Fénix is one of the most popular and traditional teams of Uruguay's 2nd Division, along with Racing Club de Montev ...

, but finally made his team debut on 21 August 2010 on a match against

Tacuarembó Tacuarembó ( Guarani: ''Takuarembo'', literally: "Bamboo shoot") is the capital city of the Tacuarembó Department in north-central Uruguay. Location and geography The city is located on Km. 390 of Route 5, south-southwest of Rivera, the c ...

, being rewarded as the man of the match. His outstanding performances called the interest of various team of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. In January 2011, he was loaned 6 months to

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

but was never able to win a place in the first team, so he had to cope with playing in the reserve team. In his return to Fénix, he gain the ownership in the first team.

International career

Mejía was part of the Panama U-20 squad that participated in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He was the youngest goalkeeper in the world cup and the revelation. He was also part of the Panama U-20 squad that participated in the 2011 CONCACAF U-20 Championship where his outstanding performances led them to qualify to the Youth World Cup in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. His senior international debut for

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

came on 8 June 2009 against

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

, in a

Friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

. He was part of the Panama U-23 squad that participated in the 2012 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament which they could not qualify to the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. In 2011, he was called up by

Julio Dely Valdés Julio César Dely Valdés (born March 12, 1967) is a Panamanian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is a twin brother of Jorge Dely Valdés and younger brother of Armando Dely Valdés. Club career Born in Colón, Dely ...

to play the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mejia, Luis 1991 births Living people Footballers from Panama City Men's association football goalkeepers Panamanian men's footballers Panamanian expatriate men's footballers Panama men's international footballers Uruguayan Primera División players Chilean Primera División players Tauro F.C. players Toulouse FC players Centro Atlético Fénix players Club Nacional de Football players Unión Española footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Chile Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Uruguay Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in Chile Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in France Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in Uruguay 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup players