Marcelo Fabián Espina Barrano (born April 28, 1967 in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the RÃo de la Plata, on South ...
) is a retired
Argentine football midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
. He played for a number of clubs in Argentina and Chile and represented the
Argentina national football team. In the present, he is a soccer match analyst at
ESPN South America .
Club career
Espina began his career at
Platense in the
Primera Division Argentina
Primera may refer to
* Nissan Primera, a car
* Primera Air, a former airline
* Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues
* Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas
* Alà Primera
Alà Rafael Primera Rosel ...
in 1986. In 1989, he moved to
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
where he played for
Irapuato
Irapuato is a Mexican city (and municipality) located at the foot of the Arandas Hill (in Spanish: ''Cerro de Arandas''), in the central region of the state of Guanajuato. It lies between the Silao River and the Guanajuato River, a tributary of ...
and then
Atlante F.C.
Atlante Fútbol Club, is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. Founded in 1916, Atlante were original members of the Mexican Primera División when it began in 1943.
Atlante has won three national league championships, t ...
In 1992, he returned to Argentina to play for
Lanús
Lanús () is the capital of Lanús Partido, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It lies just south of the capital city Buenos Aires, in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area. The city has a population of 212,152 (), and the Partido de Lanà ...
, but after only one season he returned to Platense.
In 1995, he joined Colo-Colo in Chile, in his first spell at the club he was part of 3 title winning teams. In 1999, he left Colo-Colo to play for
Racing Santander
Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Span ...
of
La Liga
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...
in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. After 2 seasons with Racing, Espina returned to Colo-Colo where he retired in 2004.
International career
Espina represented the
Argentina national football team on 15 occasions between 1994 and 1996 scoring 1 goal. He also captained national team in 1995. He is best remembered for being the first player after
Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the F ...
's retirement from the National Team to wear the #10 shirt, during the tenure of coach
Daniel Passarella
Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...
, although ostensibly with less skill or success.
Managerial career
After retiring as a player he had spells as manager of
Colo-Colo
Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo () is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano they play in the Chilean Primera División, from which they have never been relegated. The team has pla ...
and
Everton in
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
. In 2010, he joined
Platense of the regionalised 3rd division of Argentine football.
Personal life
Espina naturalized
Chilean by residence.
His son, Santiago, was born in Chile and played football at professional level for
Platense,
San Lorenzo and
Deportes Copiapó
Club de Deportes Copiapó — or simply Deportes Copiapó — is a Chilean football club based in Copiapó, Atacama Region. Founded in 1999 after Regional Atacama's folding, it currently plays in the Primera B (second-tier) and holds ...
.
He has worked as a
football commentator and analyst for
ESPN Chile.
Honours
Club
;Platense
*
Primera Division Argentina
Primera may refer to
* Nissan Primera, a car
* Primera Air, a former airline
* Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues
* Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas
* Alà Primera
Alà Rafael Primera Rosel ...
Topscorer (1):
1994 Clausura
;Colo-Colo
*
Primera División de Chile
Primera may refer to
* Nissan Primera, a car
* Primera Air, a former airline
* Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues
* Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas
* Alà Primera
Alà Rafael Primera Rosel ...
(4):
1996,
1997–C,
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
,
2002–C
*
Copa Chile
The Copa Chile (''Chile Cup'') is an annual cup competition for Chilean football teams. Due to time constraints and club pressure, the trophy was cancelled in 2000, but returned in 2008. Its precursor was the Campeonato de Apertura (''Opening Ch ...
(1):
1996
References
External links
Argentine Primera Statisticsat FutbolXXI.com
*
*
at HistoriadeColoColo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Espina, Marcelo
1967 births
Living people
Footballers from Buenos Aires
Argentine emigrants to Chile
Argentine footballers
Argentine expatriate footballers
Argentina international footballers
Club Atlético Platense footballers
Irapuato F.C. footballers
Atlante F.C. footballers
Club Atlético Lanús footballers
Correcaminos UAT footballers
Colo-Colo footballers
Racing de Santander players
Argentine Primera División players
Liga MX players
La Liga players
Chilean Primera División players
1995 King Fahd Cup players
1995 Copa América players
Association football midfielders
Argentine football managers
Argentine expatriate football managers
Colo-Colo managers
Everton de Viña del Mar managers
Unión Española managers
Club Atlético Platense managers
Chilean Primera División managers
Primera B Nacional managers
Expatriate footballers in Mexico
Expatriate footballers in Chile
Expatriate footballers in Spain
Expatriate football managers in Chile
Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Mexico
Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Chile
Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain
Naturalized citizens of Chile
Chilean association football commentators