Miguel Ángel Borja Hernández (born 26 January 1993) 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Argentinian club River Plate, and the Colombia national team.

Club career

Colombia

Borja began his career with

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 ...

, making his professional debut in 2011. That same year, he was transferred to Cucuta Deportivo, club in which he had few chances to play. He would soon be transferred again, this time to play for

Categoría Primera B Categoría Primera B, commonly referred to as Torneo BetPlay Dimayor due to sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay (formerly ''Torneo Águila''), is the second-division football league in Colombia. Format DIMAYOR has applied a new forma ...

side,

Cortuluá Cortuluá, officially named Cortuluá Fútbol Club S. A. and previously known as Corporación Club Deportivo Tuluá, is a Colombian football club from the municipality of Tuluá in the Valle del Cauca. It was founded in 1967 and plays in the Cate ...

. Borja would make a name for himself in the second division of Colombia, often being referred to as a 'fast' and 'complete goalscorer', as well as boasting impressive strength on the ball. His impressive performances with Cortuluá eventually led him to becoming an alternative striker for Colombia's national under-20 team in 2013. On 17 January 2013, it was reported that

Independiente Medellin Independiente may refer to: *the Spanish word for wikt:independent, independent Music *Independiente (record label), a record label formed in 1997 *Independiente (Dragon Ash album), ''Independiente'' (Dragon Ash album), 2007 *Independiente (Ricard ...

had been interested in acquiring Borja's services. However, nothing was finalized and Borja was eventually sold to first division side,

La Equidad Club Deportivo La Equidad Seguros, also known as La Equidad, is a professional Colombian football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Metropolitano de Techo stadium. History ...

. In his 2 disputable games, Borja scored 4 goals before being transferred to

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

side

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

Livorno and Olimpo

During the summer of 2013, it was confirmed that Borja would join Italian club

on loan. The loan consisted of a fee of €150,000 with an option to buy for €1.5 million. His debut for ''Le Triglie'' came on 20 October, coming off the bench in a 1–2 loss to

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

. Borja made seven season appearances for the club but failed to score a goal. Livorno was eventually regulated to the

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

after placing last for the season. Shortly after Livorno were relegated, Borja was sent on loan to Argentine club

Club Olimpo Club Olimpo, usually referred to as Olimpo de Bahía Blanca, is an Argentine sports club based in the city of Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires Province. The club was founded October 15th, 1910. Its primary activity is soccer. The club is recognized i ...

, where he scored three in sixteen games.

Return to Colombia

Borja was loaned to

Independiente Santa Fe Club Independiente Santa Fe, known simply as Santa Fe, is a Colombian professional football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the El Campín stadium. Santa Fe is one of the th ...

for the second half of 2015. That season, Borja scored ten goals in thirty-three matches. He won the

2015 Copa Sudamericana The 2015 Copa Sudamericana ( pt, Copa Sul-Americana 2015) was the 14th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. Colombian team Santa Fe qualified to play in the 2016 Copa Libert ...

with the team (he played seven matches with no goals). For the 2016 season, he was sold to

who was 17th in the league the previous season. In the Apertura tournament of the season, Borja scored a record of nineteen goals in twenty-one matches, breaking the record of most goals scored by a player in a league tournament (since

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, the league is divided in two tournaments, Apertura and Finalización, each season). The previous record was held by

Jackson Martínez Jackson Arley Martínez Valencia (; born 3 October 1986) is a Colombian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He started his career with Independiente Medellin in 2004 and becoming the league's top scorer in 2009, before be ...

, with eighteen goals in the

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Finalización. His team Cortuluá reached the Semifinals, which they lost to

Independiente Medellín Deportivo Independiente Medellín, also known as Independiente Medellín or DIM, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at Estadio Atanasio Girardo ...

. He was transferred again on 8 June, this time to

Atlético Nacional Atlético Nacional S. A., best known as Atlético Nacional, is a Colombian professional association football, football club based in Medellín. The club is one of only three clubs to have played in every first division tournament in the countr ...

. On 6 July, during his first match for his new team, while playing against

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

in the semi-finals of the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

, he scored twice, a feat he repeated in the second leg a week after. Then, on 27 July 2016, he went on to score the definitive goal in the final series against Ecuadorian team

Independiente del Valle Club de Alto Rendimiento Especializado Independiente del Valle, known simply as Independiente del Valle, is a professional football club based in Sangolquí, Ecuador, that currently plays in the Ecuadorian Serie A. Founded in 1958, the club play ...

, which Atlético Nacional ended up winning 2–1 on the aggregate.

Palmeiras

On 9 February 2017, it was announced that Borja had agreed to transfer to Brazilian side

Palmeiras Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...

. He signed a five-year deal for a fee believed to be around US$10.5 million. Borja became the fourth most expensive transfer of Brazilian football.

Junior

On 28 December 2019, Borja signed a one-year loan deal with

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 ...

Grêmio

On 5 August 2021, Borja signed with Grêmio until December 2022, loaned from

River Plate

On 12 July 2022, Borja signed a contract with Argentine giants River Plate, running until December 2025.

International career

Borja was included in Colombia's 23 man

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army do ...

for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, making one substitute appearance in the group stage match against

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Colombia's goal tally first.''

Honours

Independiente Santa Fe *

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 ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...

Atlético Nacional *

Copa Colombia The Copa Colombia ( en, Colombia Cup, link=yes); officially known as Copa BetPlay Dimayor is an annual football tournament in Colombia. It is contested by the 36 professional clubs of DIMAYOR and is the nation's domestic cup competition, equiva ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Palmeiras *

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian"), and also known as Brasileirão Assaí due to sponsorship with Assaí Atacadista, is a Br ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Colombia U20 *

South American Youth Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as U-20 South American Championship and es, Torneo Juventudes de América, "Campeonato Sudamericano Sub 20" or pt, Juventude da América (English: "America's Youth") is a South American ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Individual *

South American Footballer of the Year The Rey del Fútbol de América ("King of Football of America"), often referred to as the South American Footballer of the Year, is an annual association football award presented to the best footballer in South America over the previous calendar ...

: 2016 *

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional association football, football league in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo. Run b ...

top scorer:

Team of the Year:

Personal life

Borja was in 2021 linked with Colombian television journalist and writer Diva Jessurum. She has denied the rumors.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Borja, Miguel 1993 births Living people People from Córdoba Department Colombian footballers Categoría Primera A players Cúcuta Deportivo footballers Cortuluá footballers La Equidad footballers U.S. Livorno 1915 players Olimpo footballers Independiente Santa Fe footballers Atlético Nacional footballers Serie A players Argentine Primera División players Colombian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Argentina Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Brazil Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Colombia under-20 international footballers Colombia international footballers Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Colombia Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Association football forwards Copa Libertadores-winning players 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2021 Copa América players Atlético Junior footballers Colombian people of African descent