Mauricio Molina


Mauricio Alejandro Molina Uribe is a Colombian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

Club career

Molina started his career in Colombian side Envigado at the age of 16. He soon made his way up to the first team and was transferred to Independiente Santa Fé in 2001. During his stint through Santa Fe, After a serious injury he returned to the pitch in 2002 playing for Independiente Medellín 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 until 2004. After Morelia, Molina went to the United Arab Emirates to play for Al Ain FC 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 of Argentina from 2005 to 2006. In 2007, Molina signed with Paraguayan Club Olimpia 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 Red Star Belgrade, his first European club.
In 2008, he joined Brazilian club Santos. He made his debut as a Santos player on 13 February 2008, starting against Cúcuta Deportivo of Colombia in the 2008 Copa Libertadores. He scored his first goal for the club on 24 February, in a 4-1 Campeonato Paulista victory against Ituano. On 27 July 2008, he scored twice in a 5-2 victory against Vasco. At the time he departed the club, he became the 2nd highest scoring foreign player in Santos history, with 17 goals.
In July 2009, Molina moves to South Korean club Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma for $1,275,000. He scored in his debut against the 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 side FC Seoul on a three-year contract. He had an excellent 2012 season, where he scored 19 goals in 43 appearances.
On 31 December 2015, Molina returned to Independiente Medellín, 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 [Categoría Primera A season#Torneo Apertura|2016 Torneo Apertura], his second with the club and their 6th league title overall.

International career

At international level, Molina was part of the football team|Colombia national team] that won the 2001 Copa América.

Career statistics

International

#DateVenueOpponentScoreFinalCompetition
1.17 July 2003Miami Orange Bowl, Miami, United States1–11–12003 CONCACAF Gold Cup

Honours

Independiente Medellin
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma
FC Seoul
Colombia
Individual