John Stefan Medina Ramírez (born 14 June 1992) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays for Liga MX club Monterrey and the Colombia national team. Initially, Medina debuted for Atlético Nacional as a centre-back. As time progressed, he has shown to be comfortable playing as a right-back and on some occasions as a defensive midfielder.[2]
.jpg) Medina with Colombia in 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | John Stefan Medina Ramírez[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 14 June 1992[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Envigado, Colombia | |||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Right-back | |||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Monterrey | |||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 33 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Atlético Nacional | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2014 | Atlético Nacional | 88 | (3) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2014– | Monterrey | 275 | (9) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | → Pachuca (loan) | 49 | (4) | |||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009 | Colombia U17 | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2013– | Colombia | 30 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:41, 29 August 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 27 September 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Club career
editAtlético Nacional
editA youth product of Nacional's academy, Medina played as a starter in the youth squad for one season before making his senior debut in 2011. Eventually, he gained a spot in the senior squad in 2012 after making occasional appearances. He was given the number 2 shirt in tribute to the late Andrés Escobar who also wore the same shirt, mostly because he's managed to avoid committing fouls as a defender by making good challenges. He has been liken to the late Nacional legend because of this.
Medina finished his career with Nacional in 2014, winning 6 domestic trophies over the course of 4 seasons.
Monterrey
editOn 30 May 2014 the Mexican club Monterrey confirmed the signing of Stefan Medina for the fee of $4,200,000.[3] He made his debut against Leones Negros, stating that while he was pleased with his debut, he still needed more time to fully adapt to Mexican football.[4]
He was a regular starter for the team throughout the entire 2014-15 season and was named in the team's starting lineup for the inaugural game at the BBVA Bancomer stadium, although throughout the Apertura 2015 his performance was frequently criticized and he was eventually benched by 18-year old rookie Cesar Montes in the centre-back position.
Pachuca
editOn 28 November 2015, Rayados de Monterrey announced that Medina had been transferred to Pachuca on a season-long deal, in exchange for Miguel Ángel Herrera.[5] He made his debut for Pachuca on 9 January 2016 playing 90 minutes in a draw against Club Tijuana.
He won the league title in May 2016 after Pachuca defeated his former club Monterrey 2–1 on aggregate, he was a starter throughout the entire season and was regularly deployed as a right-back, his loan was extended for the entire 2016-17 season during which he won the 2016-17 CONCACAF Champions League in April 2017 against Tigres UANL, playing as a substitute in both games at the Finals.
Return to Monterrey
editOn June 7, 2017, it was announced that his loan with Pachuca was terminated and he returned to Monterrey, with Cesar Montes, Nicolas Sanchez and Jose Maria Basanta all part of the center back position he was positioned in the right–back role.[6]
He was an integral part of the team as the starting right–back as they reached the finals of the Apertura 2017 league tournament losing to cross–town rivals Tigres UANL, and winning the Apertura 2017 cup against former team Pachuca.
In 2019 with the arrival of Miguel Layún he was again moved to the centre-back position and excelled at the role, playing a vital role in the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League title win against Tigres UANL.[7]
International career
editMedina has been called up by the youth national squads on numerous occasions. In 2009, he was part of the team that finished fourth in the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria, appearing in two matches.
He earned his first cap for Colombia on 10 September 2013 against Uruguay.
Medina was regularly called on to the squad after his second cap, but suffered an ankle injury on April 24, 2014, thus forcing him to miss out on the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[8]
Medina wasn't called up for the squad again until early 2015, in a friendly against Bahrain and Kuwait, where he played in Colombia's 6–0 victory against Bahrain.[9]
In May 2018 he was named in Colombia's preliminary 35 man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[10] However, he did not make the final cut to 23.[11]
He was included in the final cut of the 23-man list for the 2019 Copa America.[12]
Honours
editAtlético Nacional
- Categoría Primera A: 2011-I, 2013-I, 2013-II, 2014-I
- Copa Colombia: 2012, 2013
- Superliga Colombiana: 2012
Pachuca
Monterrey
Individual
- Liga MX Best XI: Apertura 2019
References
edit- ^ a b c "FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2019: List of Players: CF Monterrey" (PDF). FIFA. 5 December 2019. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 December 2019.
- ^ "Stefan Medina, un joven bien preparado para ser campeón".
- ^ "Confirmado Stefan Medina jugará en el fútbol mexicano - ComuTricolor.com". comutricolor.com. Archived from the original on 31 May 2014.
- ^ http://www.aporelmundial.com/actualidad-liga-mx-medina-todavia-no-estoy-totalmente-adaptado/10864/
- ^ Stefan Medina va a Tuzos a prestamo por un año
- ^ "Stefan Medina regresa a Rayados por su revancha". Mediotiempo. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
- ^ "Dorlan Pabón, Stefan Medina y Avilés Hurtado se coronaron campeones de Concachampions". ELESPECTADOR.COM (in Spanish). 2 May 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
- ^ "Se confirmó la lesión de Stefan Medina, será operado - ComuTricolor.com". comutricolor.com. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014.
- ^ ""Espero poder estar con la Selección en Copa América": Stefan Medina".
- ^ "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - Final 23-man lists | Goal.com".
- ^ "Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez named in Colombia's World Cup squad | Goal.com". Archived from the original on 12 June 2018.
- ^ "Lista Selección Colombia: Los 23 convocados a Copa América". AS Colombia (in Spanish). 30 May 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.