Mario Alberto Yepes Díaz (; born 13 January 1976) is a Colombian former 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 played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He is well known for his time in

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

, where he was considered to be one of the best defenders at the time, being dubbed by fans as "Super Mario". During his time in Italy with

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona, which competes in the second ...

, he earned a reputation in the media as a solid and physical old-fashioned man-marking centre-back, known as a "stopper" in Italian football jargon. He served as the

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 ...

of the Colombia national team between 2008 and 2014. Having begun his career in 1999, and having played for the Colombia national team during that period, Yepes is one of only two players that can truly be considered to be part of the late 1990s and early 2000s golden generation of Colombian football which won the

2001 Copa América The 2001 Copa América was held in Colombia, from 11 to 29 July. It was organised by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. Colombia won the tournament for the 1st time without conceding a goal. Brazil national football team, Brazil ...

and ended in 2003, but has also been part of Colombia's present golden generation (which began in 2013).

Faryd Mondragón Faryd Camilo Mondragón Alí (born 21 June 1971) is a Colombian retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Since his debut in 1993, he has played over 50 times for the Colombia national team. He was named in the Colombia squ ...

is the other Colombian footballer of the two, but officially retired in 2014. Yepes began his managerial career with hometown club

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 ...

, whom he managed from 2016 to 2017.

Club career

Early career

Mario Yepes started his playing career in 1994 with

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 ...

, 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 ...

before Cortulua's coach converted him to a libero (sweeper). Yepes signed for his home town club

in 1998. He won a Colombian championship with Deportivo Cali. He was part of the squad for the 1999 Copa Libertadores. In 1999, he joined River Plate in Argentina, where he won two

Argentine Primera Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

championships. In 2002, Yepes moved to Europe, signing for

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

in the French

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

. After two-and-half personally successful seasons with Nantes, Yepes joined fellow Ligue 1 side

in 2004. Yepes would become a mainstay in the PSG side winning the Coupe de France in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and the Coupe de la Ligue in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, though he did not feature in the second final. In 2008, Yepes joined

in Italy. He signed a new long-term contract in summer 2009.

A.C. Milan

In March 2010, Chievo teammate

Sergio Pellissier Sergio Pellissier (, ; born 12 April 1979) is an Italian former professional footballer who plays as a forward. He is currently working as general director of Rovigo and player, owner and chairman of Eccellenza amateurs FC Clivense, a club he f ...

confirmed that Yepes would join

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

in the summer, when his contract ran out. Yepes got to Milan in the 2010–11 season but was quickly deployed as a substitute due to the starting centre-back being

Thiago Silva Thiago Emiliano da Silva (born 22 September 1984) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Chelsea and captains the Brazil national team. Considered one of the best defenders of his generation, he is known f ...

. Yepes played few games in the Italian

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 ...

, but participated in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

. Yepes was close to scoring with Milan in the UEFA Champions League match against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

, in which he had two clear chances of scoring with a header, but was denied twice by Tottenham keeper

Heurelho Gomes Heurelho da Silva Gomes (born 15 February 1981) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for Premier League clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Watford, having previously made a name for himself at Dutch club ...

. Yepes scored his first

goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...

for Milan on 23 October 2011, where he finished off a comeback against

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province ...

, scoring the fourth and winning goal for Milan in the 83rd minute to drive the ''Rossoneri'' to a 4–3 victory, with

Kevin-Prince Boateng Kevin-Prince Boateng (; born 6 March 1987), also known as Prince, is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or forward for club Hertha BSC. Born in Germany, he represented the Ghana national team. Coming through the youth system, ...

scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

to level the scores after a 3–0 losing position. On 12 May 2012, Yepes signed a one-year extension

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

with Milan, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2013. After being an irregular player during the following season, however, Yepes stated that he would not sign a new contract with the club despite being offered the chance, expressing that he needed more "guaranteed" playing time in order to better prepare himself 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 ...

. He later confirmed that Milan would not offer him as such and his reason for departure.

Atalanta

On 14 July 2013, Yepes signed a one-year contract with Serie A club

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily known ...

. He made 26 appearances during the 2013–14 season and left the club at the end of the term.

San Lorenzo

On 13 September 2014,

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

club

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...

announced the signing of Yepes on a deal valid until the end of 2015. On 20 January 2016, he officially retired from professional football, joining Deportivo Cali as manager four months later.

International career

Yepes has played 102 matches for the Colombia national team since his debut in 1999, making him the second-most capped Colombian player of all time, after

Carlos Valderrama Carlos Alberto Valderrama Palacio (Colombian Spanish: ; born 2 September 1961), also known as ''El Pibe'' ("The Kid"), is a Colombian former professional footballer and sports commentator for Fútbol de Primera, who played as an attacking mid ...

. He was part of the Colombia squad that won the

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

. and was also in the squads for three other editions of the tournament in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

. During the team's 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, Yepes made 12 appearances as Colombia qualified for its first finals since

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 ...

. In the final qualifying match, Yepes scored both goals in a 2–1 victory against

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

. Due to his age during the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, Yepes expressed his passion for the national team and wanting to retire either after the World Cup qualifiers or during the 2014 World Cup.

José Pékerman José Néstor Pékerman Krimen (; born 3 September 1949) is an Argentine professional football coach and current manager of the Venezuela national team. As a youth level coach for Argentina, he won the FIFA World Youth Championship three times, ...

promised to meet with his retirement request. On 17 December 2013, Yepes announced that he would retire after the

2014 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 righ ...

. On 14 June 2014, Yepes made his first appearance in the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

finals stage at age 38, captaining Colombia to a 3–0 win over

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

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 ...

. Yepes was the oldest outfield player at the 2014 World Cup, and the second-oldest overall, after compatriot Faryd Mondragón. On 19 June 2014, Yepes earned his 100th cap for Colombia in the second group stage match against the

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 ...

, becoming the third Colombian player to reach the milestone after Valderrama and Leonel Álvarez. He led Colombia to its best ever World Cup performance as they reached the

quarter-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

for the first time in their history, where they lost 2–1 to tournament hosts

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Managerial career

In late April 2016 Mario Alberto Yepes was named as manager of

, which became his first managerial experience. Yepes came to replace Fernando "Pecoso" Castro, who had been dismissed for the poor recent results, especially the early elimination of

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 ...

and the farewell of the event at the hands of

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

with a 6–2 rout. Yepes's coaching team had Freddy Hurtado and Julián Barragán as assistants, and Daniel Curbelo as physical trainer. During his period as coach, Deportivo Cali was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the domestic league twice (at the hands of

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 ...

in the Apertura and

Atlético Bucaramanga Club Atlético Bucaramanga S.A., better known as Atlético Bucaramanga, is a Colombian professional football team based in Bucaramanga. The club plays its home games at the Alfonso López stadium. The club was founded on 11 May 1949 by Rafael ...

in the Finalización), and qualified for the

2017 Copa Sudamericana The 2017 Copa CONMEBOL Sudamericana was the 16th edition of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana (also referred to as the ''Copa Sudamericana'', or pt, Copa Sul-Americana), South America's secondary club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. Argent ...

. However, a streak of poor performances in the start of the 2017 season plus a poor record while playing away from home, led to his exit from the club on 9 March 2017.

Personal life

Yepes is married to Colombian Carolina Villegas., He and his wife have three children, his son Luciano Yepes was born in May 2002, his second son Valentino Yepes was born on 23 September 2012, and his daughter Miranda Yepes was born in April 2005.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Colombia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Yepes goal.''

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 ...

: 1998 *

: runner-up

River Plate *

: Apertura 1999, Clausura 2000 Paris Saint-Germain *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

: 2005–06 *

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

: 2007–08 *

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the super cups found in many other countries. His ...

: runner-up

A.C. Milan *

: 2010–11 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

San Lorenzo *

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana ( pt, CONMEBOL Recopa Sul-Americana), known also as the Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as the Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club association football, football compe ...

: runner-up

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 ...

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

: runner-up

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Colombia *

Notes and references

External links

MarioYepes.co
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yepes, Mario 1976 births Living people Footballers from Cali Colombian footballers Colombia international footballers Colombian expatriate footballers Association football defenders FIFA Century Club Categoría Primera A players Argentine Primera División players Ligue 1 players Serie A players Cortuluá footballers Deportivo Cali footballers Deportivo Cali managers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Colombian people of French descent FC Nantes players Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players A.C. ChievoVerona players A.C. Milan players Atalanta B.C. players San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers Expatriate footballers in Argentina Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Italy 1999 Copa América players 2001 Copa América players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2007 Copa América players 2011 Copa América players 2014 FIFA World Cup players Copa América-winning players Colombian football managers

Club career

Early career

A.C. Milan

Atalanta

San Lorenzo

International career

Managerial career

Personal life

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

See also

Notes and references

External links