Mauricio Alejandro Molina Uribe (; born 30 April 1980) is a retired Colombian 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 ...

, who ended his professional career playing for

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 ...

Club career

Molina started his career in Colombian side

Envigado Envigado () is a town southeast of Medellín, Colombia in the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley. It borders El Poblado, Medellín to the north, Sabaneta to the south, El Retiro and Caldas ...

at the age of 16. He soon made his way up to the first team and was transferred to Independiente Santa Fé. around his stint through Santa Fe, After a serious injury he returned to the pitch in 2002 playing for

where he led the team to its first national championship in 45 years and the third overall. In 2003, he helped the team reach the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores. After the successful campaign with Independiente Medellín he moved to CA Morelia of

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 ...

until 2004. After Morelia, Molina went to the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

(UAE) to play for the

Al Ain FC Al Ain Football Club ( ar, نادي العين لكرة القدم; transliterated: Nady al-'Ayn) or Al Ain FC or simply Al Ain is a professional football club, based in the city of Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is one of many ...

where he stayed for a semester, after which he returned to his best memories with Independiente Medellin for another semester. Molina then played for

San Lorenzo de Almagro Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro, commonly known as San Lorenzo de Almagro or simply San Lorenzo (in English: ''Saint Lawrence''), is a sports club of Argentina in the Boedo district of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its football team ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

from 2005 to 2006. In 2007, Molina signed with

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 ...

an Club Olimpia de Asunción where he played the first semester of the year. After a very successful campaign with the team in which he was the co-scorer with 10 goals, Molina was transfer for the second semester of 2007 to the

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

n club

FK Crvena Zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional Association football, foot ...

, also known as Red Star Belgrade, in which Molina makes his debut in the European football. Molina prepares to include himself in the lines of a great club:

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 ...

ian Santos. He made his debut as a Santos player on 13 February 2008, starting against

Cúcuta Deportivo Cúcuta Deportivo Fútbol Club S. A. is a professional Colombian football club based in Cúcuta, which plays in the Categoria Primera B. The club was officially founded on 10 September 1924, and its first appearance in a professional league ...

of Colombia in the

2008 Copa Libertadores The 2008 Copa Libertadores de América was the 49th edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's premier annual international club tournament. This marked the first year the competition was sponsored by Spanish bank Santander. As such, the compe ...

. In July 2009, Molina moves to

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

n club

Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Seongnam () is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. Seongnam is a satellite city of Seoul. It is largely a residential city ...

for $1,275,000. In his first

K-League K League (Hangul: K리그) is South Korea's professional football league. It includes first division K League 1 and second division K League 2. History Until the 1970s, South Korean football operated two major football leagues, the National ...

match for Seongnam, he scored debut goal against Pohang Steelers. In all K-league competitions Molina scored 22 goals along with 11 assists in 50 appearances for Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma and in 2010 Molina and Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma won the AFC Champions League 2010. On 24 January 2011, Molina signed for

K League Classic The K League 1 (Hangul: K리그1) is the men's top professional football division of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. History The South Korean professional football league was founded in 1 ...

side FC Seoul on a three-year contract. On 31 December 2015, Molina returned to

, where he played for two more seasons before finally retiring from professional football, tenure during which he acted as a co-captain for the team and helped them win the 2016 Torneo Apertura, his second with the club and their 6th league title overall.

International career

At the national team level, he was part of the Colombia national football team that won the 2001 Copa América.

Career statistics

K League

:''Correct .''

International goals

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

Honours

Club

;Independiente Medellin * Categoría Primera A (2): 2002-II, 2016-I ;Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma * AFC Champions League (1): 2010 ;FC Seoul * K League (1):

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 gat ...

Korean FA Cup The Korean FA Cup is a national football cup knockout competition of South Korea, held annually by the Korea Football Association (KFA). Before the FA Cup was established in 1996, two predecessor competitions named All Joseon Football Tournament ...

(1): 2015

International

;Colombia * Copa América (1): 2001

Individual

* FIFA Club World Cup Top Scorer : 2010 (3 goals) *

K League Best XI The K League Best XI is an award for the best eleven players in a K League season. K League 1 award (1983–present) Winners Players marked bold won the Most Valuable Player award in that respective year. Appearances by player Appearanc ...

: 2010,

K League Top Assists Award The K League Top Assists Award has been awarded to the top assist providers of K League since the 1983 season. K League 1 winners (1983–present) K League 2 winners (2013–present) See also * K League * K League records and statistic ...

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 fa ...

References

External links

Mao Molina FacebookMao Molina Fansite
* * *
Mauricio Molina
at mediotiempo.com
Mauricio Molina
at santos.globo.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Molina, Mauricio 1980 births Living people Association football midfielders Colombian footballers Colombian expatriate footballers Colombia international footballers Envigado F.C. players Independiente Santa Fe footballers Independiente Medellín footballers Atlético Morelia players Al Ain FC players San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers Club Olimpia footballers Red Star Belgrade footballers Santos FC players Seongnam FC players FC Seoul players Categoría Primera A players Serbian SuperLiga players Argentine Primera División players Liga MX players K League 1 players Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate footballers in Argentina Expatriate footballers in Paraguay Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Serbia Expatriate footballers in Brazil Expatriate footballers in South Korea 2001 Copa América players 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Colombian expatriates in South Korea Copa América-winning players Footballers from Medellín UAE Pro League players