Ángel Israel Mena Delgado (born 21 January 1988) is an Ecuadorian 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 lea ...

who plays as a winger for Orense and the Ecuador national team.

Club career

Emelec

Mena had extended his contract until 2017 with

Club Sport Emelec Club Sport Emelec is an Ecuadorian sports club based in Guayaquil that is best known for their professional association football, football team. The football team plays in the Ecuadorian Serie A, the highest level of professional football in th ...

. He played in 129 games for the national championship and scored 25 goals, according to records of the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF). He debuted in the first division in 2007. He scored his first official goal on 16 March 2008 at the Técnico Universitario. In 2010, he was loaned to

Deportivo Cuenca Club Deportivo Cuenca is an Ecuadorian football club based in Cuenca. They currently play in the Serie A, the top-flight football league in the country, and is one of two clubs from Cuenca to have played in the top-flight (the other being LDU ...

. In 2011, he returns to

, and was champion in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. After scoring 14 goals as Emelec won the 2014 championship, Mena extended his contract with the club for two years in February 2015. Mena scored the first goal in the 2014 Ecuadorian Serie A season final match against

Barcelona SC Barcelona Sporting Club (), internationally known as Barcelona de Guayaquil, is an Ecuadorian sports club based in Guayaquil, known best for its professional football team. They currently play in the Ecuadorian Serie A, the highest level of fo ...

, winning 3–0.

Cruz Azul

In 2017 Mena joined Mexican side

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V., commonly referred to as Cruz Azul, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football league system, Mexican footba ...

. On 12 February Mena scored an impressive free-kick goal against

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V., simply known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club based in Torreón, Coahuila. The club competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Founded in 1983 as Club Santos I ...

which earned Cruz Azul a 2–2 draw.

International career

In April 2014, being in Emelec, Mena was first called up to the Ecuador national football team, led by coach

Reinaldo Rueda Reinaldo Rueda Rivera (born 16 April 1957) is a Colombian football coach who currently serves as a manager for the Honduras national team. When he was the coach of the Colombia U-20 team, they finished 3rd at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Cham ...

, for a microcycle. Mena was called for Ecuador's provisional 30-man squad for

World Cup 2014 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 ...

in Brazil. Later in 2014, the interim coach of the Ecuador national team, Sixto Vizuete called up Mena to play friendly matches against

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. However, Mena suffered an injury that prevented him playing with the national team. Mena made his debut on 28 March 2015 in a match against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, coming in as a sub for

Jefferson Montero Jefferson Antonio Montero Vite (; born 1 September 1989) is an Ecuadorian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Midfielder#Winger, winger for club F.C. St Helens, FC St Helens. He has represented the Ecuador national fo ...

. Mena was selected in the 23 player Ecuador squad for the

Copa América Centenario The Copa América Centenario (, , ; literally ''Centennial America Cup'') was an international men's soccer tournament that was hosted by the United States in 2016. The competition was a celebration of the centennial of CONMEBOL and the Copa Am� ...

. Mena was selected in the 23-man Ecuador squad for the

2019 Copa América The 2019 Copa América was the 46th edition of the Copa América, the international men's association football championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. It was held in Brazil and took place between 14 June and 7 Ju ...

. Mena was selected in the 28 player Ecuador squad for the

2021 Copa América The 2021 Copa América was the 47th edition of the Copa América, the international men's association football, football championship organised by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. The tournament took place in Brazil from 13 June to ...

. Mena was named in the Ecuadorian squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. Mena was called up to the final 26-man Ecuador squad for the

2024 Copa América The 2024 Copa América was the 48th edition of the Copa América, the quadrennial international men's association football, soccer championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. The tournament was held in the United Sta ...

. He retired from the national team on 17 November 2024.

Personal life

Mena is married to Shirley Posligua with whom he has two daughters. He and his family are devout

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

s. Mena is good friends with fellow footballer Joao Rojas with whom he shared a locker while at Emelec, the fact that Rojas played for Cruz Azul was a significant factor in motivating Mena to join the club.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Emelec *

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

(3):

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Cruz Azul *

Copa MX Copa MX, also known as Copa Corona MX for sponsorship reasons, was an association football competition in Mexico and the domestic cup tournament for clubs at the highest and second levels of Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Copa ...

(1): Apertura 2018 León *

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

(1): Guardianes 2020 *

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

(1):

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Leagues Cup The Leagues Cup is an annual soccer competition between clubs from Major League Soccer (MLS), the main soccer league in the United States, and Liga MX, the main soccer league in Mexico. It is hosted in Canada and the United States. It began in ...

(1):

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Individual *

Assist Leader:

Golden Boot: Clausura 2019 *

Offensive Midfielder of the Year: 2018–19 *

Best XI: Clausura 2019, Guardianes 2020, Apertura 2021 *

All-Star:

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mena, Angel 1988 births Footballers from Guayaquil Living people 21st-century Ecuadorian sportsmen Ecuadorian Christians Men's association football wingers Ecuadorian men's footballers Ecuador men's international footballers C.S. Emelec footballers C.D. Cuenca footballers Cruz Azul footballers Club León footballers C.F. Pachuca players Orense S.C. players Ecuadorian Serie A players Liga MX players Copa América Centenario players 2019 Copa América players 2021 Copa América players 2022 FIFA World Cup players 2024 Copa América players CONCACAF Champions Cup–winning players Ecuadorian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico