Mejía with Colombia at the 2014 FIFA World Cup | |||
Personal information | |||
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Full name | Alexander Mejía Sabalza | ||
Date of birth | (1988-07-11) 11 July 1988 (age 36) | ||
Place of birth | Barranquilla, Atlántico, Colombia | ||
Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Deportivo Cali | ||
Number | 13 | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2005–2012 | Deportes Quindío | 101 | (4) |
2011 | → Once Caldas (loan) | 37 | (0) |
2012–2014 | Atlético Nacional | 88 | (0) |
2015–2016 | Monterrey | 14 | (0) |
2015–2016 | → Atlético Nacional (loan) | 40 | (0) |
2016–2018 | León | 63 | (0) |
2019–2021 | Libertad | 65 | (0) |
2021–2022 | Santa Fe | 11 | (0) |
2022–2023 | Atlético Nacional | 13 | (1) |
2023 | Unión Magdalena | 7 | (0) |
2024– | Deportivo Cali | 2 | (0) |
International career | |||
2012–2022 | Colombia | 27 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 6 July 2021 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:08, 27 January 2022 (UTC) |
Alexander Mejía Sabalza (born 11 July 1988) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Deportivo Cali. He is described by FIFA'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 in his first season. In the following seasons, Mejía helped Nacional to three consecutive Colombian league titles, becoming team captain after the departure of Macnelly Torres.
Mexico
Mejía finished his loan at Nacional in June 2016. He was then transferred to León in the Liga MX 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.
Libertad
On 29 December 2018, Mejia joined Club Libertad 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, 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, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Mejía also appeared in the following match against Ivory Coast 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. Mejía started at a defensive midfielder role alongside Fredy Guarín, 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, 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
Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Atlético Nacional | 2012 | Categoría Primera A | 27 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 48 | 0 |
2013 | 36 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | 48 | 0 | |||
2014 | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 33 | 0 | ||
Atlético Nacional (loan) | 2015 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 24 | 0 | ||
2016 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 0 | ||
Total | 122 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 184 | 0 | ||
Monterrey | 2014–15 | Liga MX | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 17 | 0 | |||
León | 2016–17 | Liga MX | 23 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | 26 | 1 | |||
2017–18 | 25 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 29 | 0 | ||||||
2018–19 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 0 | ||||||
Total | 74 | 0 | 12 | 1 | — | 86 | 1 | |||||
Career total | 196 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 38 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 270 | 1 |
- Appearances in the Copa Colombia and Copa MX
- Includes appearances in the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana
- Appearances only in the Superliga Colombiana
Honours
Club
Atlético Nacional
- Superliga Colombiana
- Winner: 2012
- Copa Libertadores
- Winner: 2016
References
- "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil: List of players: Colombia" (PDF). FIFA. 14 July 2014. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 January 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- "Alexander Mejía" (in Spanish). Atlético Nacional. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
- Alexander Mejía es nuevo jugador de Libertad de Paraguay, goal.com, 29 December 2018
- ^ "Alexander MEJIA". FIFA. Archived from the original on 20 June 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- "Alexander Mejía regresa a México con León". Univision Deportes (in Spanish). 9 June 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
- "Oficial: Atlético Nacional cede a Davinson Sánchez al Ajax, pero jugará Copa Libertadores". HSB Noticias (in Spanish). 21 June 2016. Archived from the original on 23 June 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
- "Alexander Mejía es nuevo jugador de Libertad de Paraguay". Goal.com (in Spanish). 29 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
- "World Cup 2014: Radamel Falcao out of Colombia squad". BBC Sport. 9 June 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- Whalley, Mike (14 June 2014). "Colombia 3–0 Greece". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- Sanghera, Mandeep (19 June 2014). "World Cup: Colombia 2–1 Ivory Coast". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
- Fanning, Evan (24 June 2014). "Japan v Colombia, World Cup 2014: as it happened". The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
- McNulty, Phil (28 June 2014). "Colombia 2–0 Uruguay". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
- Rich, Tim (4 July 2014). "Brazil vs Colombia match report World Cup 2014: Thiago Silva and David Luiz score to set up semi-final against Germany". The Independent. Archived from the original on 6 October 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
External links
- Alexander Mejía at Soccerway
Deportivo Cali – current squad | |
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Colombia squads | |||||||||||||
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- 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
- Deportivo Cali 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 sportsmen