Alexander Mejía Sabalza (born 11 July 1988) is a Colombian 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 as a midfielder for

Unión Magdalena Unión Magdalena () commonly known as El Unión, and nicknamed as El Ciclón Bananero (The Banana Cyclone) and also Los Samarios (The Samarios), is a Colombian football club from the city of Santa Marta, capital of the department of Magdalena, ...

. He is described by

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

's official website as "a linchpin noted for his ability to tidy up mistakes, rob possession and track down and pressurize opponents".

Club career

Colombia

Mejía made his professional debut for Deportes Quindío in 2005, where he played for seven years, including a loan spell at Once Caldas. In 2012, he joined Atlético Nacional and won both the Copa Colombia and the

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 ...

in his first season. In the following seasons, Mejía helped Nacional to three consecutive Colombian league titles, becoming team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

after the departure of

Macnelly Torres Macnelly Torres Berrío (born 1 November 1984) is a former Colombian footballer former professional footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder. A playmaker and known for his technical abilities with the ball he was able to win 16 t ...

Mexico

Mejía finished his loan at Nacional in June 2016. He was then transferred to León in the

Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...

for the Apertura 2016. However, as a part of the deal, he was able to stay with Nacional until after the Medellín club had finished its campaign in 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 ...

Libertad

On 29 December 2018, Mejia joined

Club Libertad Club Libertad is a professional association football, football club based in Asunción, Paraguay that currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División. The club plays its home games at Estadio Tigo La Huerta; which holds 10,100 people. Fo ...

of Paraguay on a free transfer for two years.

International career

In 2012, Mejía made his debut for the Colombia national team in a FIFA World Cup qualifier against Peru. He went on to become a regular member of the squad in the remainder of the campaign, making five appearances overall.

2014 World Cup

On 9 June 2014, he was named in Colombia's squad for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, and played in four of the five matches Colombia had. On 14 June, Mejía appeared as a sixty-ninth-minute substitute in Colombia's opening match of the tournament, a 3–0 victory over Greece in

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...

, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Mejía also appeared in the following match against

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

on 19 June 2014, coming on as a substitute in the seventy-ninth minute, and seeing out a 2–1 victory in Brazil's capital, Brasília. In Colombia's third – and last – game of the Group Stage, they played against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Mejía started at a defensive midfielder role alongside

Fredy Guarín Fredy Alejandro Guarín Vásquez (born 30 June 1986) is a Colombian former professional footballer. A versatile player, he was comfortable as a central, defensive or right midfielder. He started his career with Envigado, then had a short spell ...

, playing the entire eighty-minute game. Colombia won 1–4. Mejía's last game of the 2014 World Cup came against Uruguay in the Round of 16 in the

Maracanã Stadium Maracanã Stadium ( pt, Estádio do Maracanã, standard Brazilian Portuguese: , local pronunciation: ), officially named Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho (), is an association football stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The stadium is part o ...

, Rio de Janeiro on 28 June. Colombia won 2–0, and progressed to the Quarter-finals, playing against the hosts, Brazil, losing 2–1.

Season statistics

Honours

Club

Atlético Nacional *

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 ...

**Winner: 2013-I, 2013-II, 2014-I * Copa Colombia **Winner:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

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 ...

**Winner:

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 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mejia, Alexander 1988 births Living people Footballers from Barranquilla Colombian men's footballers Colombia men's international footballers 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 Copa América players Atlético Nacional footballers Copa Libertadores-winning players Deportes Quindío footballers Once Caldas footballers C.F. Monterrey players Club León footballers Club Libertad footballers Independiente Santa Fe footballers Unión Magdalena footballers Colombian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Paraguay Categoría Primera A players Liga MX players Paraguayan Primera División players Men's association football midfielders Colombian people of African descent 21st-century Colombian people