Yerry Fernando Mina González (born 23 September 1994) 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, rugb ...

who plays 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 ...

for club Everton and the Colombia national team. He shares the record for most goals in a single World Cup by a defender, with three scored at the

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

Club career

Deportivo Pas

Born in Guachené, Mina was a

Deportivo Pasto Asociación Deportivo Pasto, also known as Deportivo Pasto, is a Colombian professional football team based in the city of Pasto, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Estadio Departamental Libertad. ...

youth graduate, joining the side only at the age of 18. Promoted to the main squad during the 2013 season, he made his senior debut on 20 March of that year by starting in a 0–1 away loss against Dépor in the year's

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 ...

. Mina made his

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 th ...

debut on 15 September 2013, starting in a 0–0 draw at

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 footbal ...

. His first professional goal occurred on 18 October, as he scored his team's first in a 2–2 home draw against

Atlético Huila Atlético Huila is a professional Colombian football team based in Neiva, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera B. The club was founded on November 29, 1990, making it one of the youngest professional football clubs in Colombia. The club' ...

Independiente Santa Fe

On 14 December 2013, Mina moved to fellow top-tier club

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 ...

, initially on a one-year loan deal. Mina made his debut for the club the following 25 January, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 home win against

Rionegro Rionegro () is a city and municipality in Antioquia Department, Colombia, located in the subregion of Eastern Antioquia. The official name of the city is "Ciudad Santiago de Arma de Rionegro". Rio Negro means "Black River" in Spanish, as the cit ...

. He proved to be a vital piece in the successful era enjoyed by the club, both domestically and internationally. In his first full year, he was part of the team that won the Colombian league

Finalización 2014, defeating

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 Final. Mina then contributed to the 2015 Superliga Colombiana victory by netting the first goal in the 2–0 win against

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

in the second leg of the Finals. Mina was a regular starter during his tenure at Santa Fe, which culminated in the 2015 championship winning

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 ...

campaign.

Palmeiras

On 1 May 2016, Mina was confirmed as the new player of

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 ...

, but only joined the club in the following month. He signed a five-year contract with the club eleven days later. Mina made his debut for the club on 4 July 2016, playing a full game in a 3–1 away defeat of Sport Recife. His first goal for the ''Verdão'' arrived in the following fixture, a 1–1 draw against Santos. He was, however, rotated off just before the end of the first half due to an apparent injury. He was carried off the field on a stretcher, in tears. On 13 July it was confirmed that Mina would not recover in time for the

2016 Summer Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

, with the recuperation from his injury expected to take 6 to 8 weeks. By late August 2016, Mina had fully recovered from his injury, and was an undisputed starter during the latter stages of the season. In September, he scored goals against rivals

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 GaW ...

and

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author ...

, and finished the year with four league goals as his team was awarded the trophy for the first time in 22 years.

Barcelona

On 11 January 2018,

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

and Palmeiras reached an agreement regarding the transfer of Yerry Mina for the remainder of the current season and five more seasons, until 30 June 2023. This made him the first-ever Colombian to play for the club. The cost of the transfer was €11.8 million, and his release clause was set at €100 million. Mina made his debut replacing

Gerard Piqué Gerard Piqué Bernabeu (, ; born 2 February 1987) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is considered one of the best defenders of his generation. Initially a highly promising student at La Masia, Piqu ...

in the 83rd minute of the Copa del Rey semi-final against

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

. Barcelona would go on to win the match 2–0 and advance to the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

. He would make his home and league debut against

Getafe Getafe () is a municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city centre, within a flat ar ...

, starting and playing the full game to a 0–0 draw. He made his first official contribution at the club as he assisted

Ousmane Dembélé Masour Ousmane Dembélé (born 15 May 1997) is a French professional footballer who plays as a winger for La Liga club Barcelona and the France national team. Dembélé began his career at Rennes before joining Borussia Dortmund in 2016. He ...

in a 5–1 win against

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

Everton

On 8 August 2018, Mina signed with

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

team Everton in a deal worth €30 million. His first appearance came during a 3–1 home victory against

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

, as a last-minute substitute for

Gylfi Sigurðsson Gylfi Þór Sigurðsson (; transliterated as Gylfi Thor Sigurdsson; born 8 September 1989) is an Icelandic professional Association football, footballer who last played as an attacking midfielder for Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton. ...

. He scored his first goal for Everton in a 5–1 away win against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Br ...

, a header during the opening two minutes of the match following a cross from

Bernard Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "bra ...

. He scored his first

brace Brace(s) or bracing may refer to: Medical * Orthopaedic brace, a device used to restrict or assist body movement ** Back brace, a device limiting motion of the spine *** Milwaukee brace, a kind of back brace used in the treatment of spinal c ...

for Everton on 1 February 2020 against

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

Vicarage Road Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of championship club Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200. History It has been the home of Watford since 1922, when the club moved from Cas ...

, scoring them both in stoppage time at the end of the first half in a game that Everton came from 2–0 down to win 2–3. Mina opened his scoring account for Everton in the 2020–21 season with a bullet header against

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

in a 4–2 victory at Goodison Park on 3 October 2020.

International career

FWC 2018 - Round of 16 - COL v ENG - Photo 048

In 2016, Mina was named to Colombia's

Copa América Centenario The Copa América Centenario ( pt, Copa América Centenário, french: Coupe Amerique Centennaire, en, Centennial Cup America; literally ''Centennial America Cup'') was an international men's association football tournament that was hosted by the ...

squad, starting one game against

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

. He played in five of Colombia's 2018 World Cup Qualifying matches from October 2016 to March 2017, and in May 2018 he was named to Colombia's final 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 d ...

for the

2018 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 transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

. At the

, Mina scored three goals for Colombia, all headers. Mina did not play in Colombia's opening 2–1 loss with

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 n ...

, but started at

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 ...

in each of Colombia's remaining matches. In the group stage, he scored the opening goal in a 3–0 win over

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, then scored the lone goal in a 1–0 win over

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

which propelled Colombia to the top of their group and into the

knockout stage 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 mat ...

. Against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in the round of sixteen, Mina tied the scoring 1–1 in the 93rd minute to send the game into extra time. Colombia went on to lose the game on penalty kicks, ending their tournament. With his three goals, he tied the record number of goals scored by a defender in a single World Cup tournament, sharing the record with Germans

Paul Breitner Paul Breitner (born 5 September 1951) is a German former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and left-back. Considered one of the best players of his era, Breitner was named in the FIFA World Cup All-Time Team, and was named by Pel ...

in 1974 and

Andreas Brehme Andreas "Andy" Brehme (; born 9 November 1960) is a German football coach and former football defender. At international level, he is best known for scoring the winning goal for Germany in the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final against Argentina from a ...

in 1990.

Personal life

Yerry Mina's father and uncle were both professional football goalkeepers. His father advised him to play another position, and his uncle took him to

's trial. His brother, Juan José, is also a footballer. His uncle, Jair Mina, is also his agent. Mina is a devout

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

and is a member of the neo-Pentecostal

Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International The Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International (CGMJCI) is a Christian, neopentecostal charismatic, and restorationist congregation. It was created in 1972 by the evangelical preacher Luis Eduardo Moreno, his mother María Jesús Moren ...

. Mina has spoken publicly at many events sponsored by the church to talk about his life and faith.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Independiente Santa Fe *

: 2014-II

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 wa ...

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 April ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Barcelona *

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 Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...

: 2017–18 *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

: 2017–18 Individual * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Team of the Year:

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the FPF, the league is contested between 16 clubs and t ...

Team of the Year:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

* FIFA World Cup Fantasy Team:

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 ...

* FIFA FIFPro World XI 5th team: 2018

References

External links

Profile
at the Everton F.C. website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mina, Yerry 1994 births Living people Colombian Pentecostals Members of the Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International Sportspeople from Cauca Department Colombian footballers Association football central defenders Deportivo Pasto footballers Independiente Santa Fe footballers Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras players FC Barcelona players Everton F.C. players Categoría Primera A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players La Liga players Premier League players Colombia international footballers Copa América Centenario players 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 Copa América players 2021 Copa América players Colombian expatriate footballers Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Colombian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in Brazil Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in England Colombian people of African descent