View source for Mauricio Molina

{{Short description|Colombian footballer (born 1980)}}
{{About|the Colombian footballer|the Argentine professional golfer|Mauricio Molina (golfer)|the Chilean BMX racer|Mauricio Molina (BMX rider)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Mauricio Molina
| image = Molina2008.jpg
| upright = 
| caption = Molina in 2008
| full_name = Mauricio Alejandro Molina Uribe
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1980|04|30|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Medellín]], Colombia
| height = 1.77 m<ref>{{cite web|url=https://int.soccerway.com/players/mauricio-alejandro-molina-uribe/20268/|title=M. Molina|website=Soccerway|access-date=21 November 2015}}</ref>
| position = [[Midfielder]]
| currentclub = 
| youthyears1 = 1997–1998
| youthclubs1 = [[Envigado Fútbol Club|Envigado]]
| years1 = 1998–2001
| clubs1 = [[Envigado Fútbol Club|Envigado]]
| caps1 = 83
| goals1 = 25
| years2 = 2001–2002
| clubs2 = [[Club Santa Fe|Santa Fé]]
| caps2 = 16
| goals2 = 5
| years3 = 2002–2003
| clubs3 = [[Deportivo Independiente Medellín|Medellín]]
| caps3 = 43
| goals3 = 14
| years4 = 2003–2004
| clubs4 = [[Monarcas Morelia|Morelia]]
| caps4 = 24
| goals4 = 1
| years5 = 2004–2005
| clubs5 = [[Al Ain FC|Al Ain]]
| caps5 = 10
| goals5 = 0
| years6 = 2005–2007
| clubs6 = [[Deportivo Independiente Medellín|Medellín]]
| caps6 = 16
| goals6 = 5
| years7 = 2006
| clubs7 = → [[Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro|San Lorenzo]] (loan)
| caps7 = 24
| goals7 = 0
| years8 = 2007
| clubs8 = → [[Olimpia Asunción|Olimpia]] (loan)
| caps8 = 17
| goals8 = 5
| years9 = 2007–2008
| clubs9 = [[Red Star Belgrade]]
| caps9 = 11
| goals9 = 2
| years10 = 2008–2009
| clubs10 = [[Santos FC|Santos]]
| caps10 = 20
| goals10 = 8
| years11 = 2009–2010
| clubs11 = [[Seongnam FC]]
| caps11 = 46
| goals11 = 21
| years12 = 2011–2015
| clubs12 = [[FC Seoul]]
| caps12 = 159
| goals12 = 46
| years13 = 2016–2017
| clubs13 = [[Deportivo Independiente Medellín|Medellín]]
| caps13 = 60
| goals13 = 11 <!--LEAGUE APPS & GOALS ONLY -->
| nationalyears1 = 2001–2003
| nationalteam1 = [[Colombia national football team|Colombia]]
| nationalcaps1 = 12
| nationalgoals1 = 1
| medaltemplates = {{Medal|Country|{{fb|COL}}}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Copa América]]}}
{{Medal|W|[[2001 Copa América|2001 Colombia]]}}
}}

'''Mauricio Alejandro Molina Uribe''' ({{IPA|es-419|mawˈɾisjo moˈlina|lang}}; born 30 April 1980) is a Colombian former professional [[association football|football]]er who played as a [[midfielder]].

==Club career==
Molina started his career in Colombian side [[Envigado Fútbol Club|Envigado]] at the age of 16. He soon made his way up to the first team and was transferred to [[Club Santa Fe|Independiente Santa Fé]]. around 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 [[Monarcas Morelia|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 [[Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro|San Lorenzo de Almagro]] of Argentina from 2005 to 2006. In 2007, Molina signed with Paraguayan [[Olimpia Asunción|Club Olimpia de Asunción]] 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.

Molina prepared to include himself in the lines of [[Pelé]]'s [[Santos FC|Santos]]. He made his debut as a Santos player on 13 February 2008, starting against [[Corporación Nuevo Cúcuta Deportivo|Cúcuta Deportivo]] of Colombia in the [[2008 Copa Libertadores]].<ref name="debutsantos">{{cite web |url = http://esportes.terra.com.br/futebol/libertadores2008/interna/0,,OI2430509-EI10786,00.html |title = Leão poupa estreantes estrangeiros de críticas |publisher = Terra Esportes |access-date = 14 February 2008 |language=pt}}</ref>

In July 2009, Molina moves to South Korean club [[Seongnam FC|Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma]] for $1,275,000.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.sportsya.com/english/news.php/Colombian_midfielder_Mauricio_Molina_signs_for_Seongnam_Ilhwa.html?id_estruc=283&id=214536 |title = Molina moves to Seongnam Ilhwa |publisher = SportsYa |access-date = 18 July 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090720093741/http://www.sportsya.com/english/news.php/Colombian_midfielder_Mauricio_Molina_signs_for_Seongnam_Ilhwa.html?id_estruc=283&id=214536 |archive-date = 20 July 2009 |url-status = dead }}</ref> 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.<ref name="fcseoul">{{cite web |url = http://www.fcseoul.com/eng/news/news_view.jsp?seq=580&tcd=news&pg=1 |title = FC Seoul brings Molina and Kim Dong-jin |publisher = fcseoul.com |access-date = 27 January 2011}}</ref>

On 24 January 2011, Molina signed for [[K League Classic]] side [[FC Seoul]] on a three-year contract.<ref name="fcseoul" /><ref>{{cite web |url = http://m.fcseoul.com/mobile/news_tv/fcnews_view.jsp?seq=2372&tcd=news&pg=55 |title = FC서울, '최고의 왼발' 몰리나 영입 |publisher = fcseoul.com |access-date = 24 January 2011 |language=ko}}</ref>

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 [[Colombia national football team|Colombia national team]] that won the 2001 [[Copa América]].

==Career statistics==
===Club===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="3"|League
!colspan="2"|[[Korean FA Cup|KFA Cup]]
!colspan="2"|[[Korean League Cup|League Cup]]
!colspan="2"|[[AFC Champions League|Continental]]
!colspan="2"|Other
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="3"|[[Seongnam FC|Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma]]
|[[2009 K League|2009]]
|rowspan="2"|[[K League 1]]
|17||10||2||1||0||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||19||11
|-
|[[2010 K League|2010]]
|29||11||3||2||4||1||11||7||colspan="2"|—||47||21
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!46!!21!!!5!!3!!4!!1!!11!!7!!colspan="2"|—!!66!!32
|-
|rowspan="6"|[[FC Seoul]]
|[[2011 K League|2011]]
|rowspan="5"|K League 1
|29||10||2||1||0||0||8||2||colspan="2"|—||39||13
|-
|[[2012 K League|2012]]
|41||18||2||1||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||43||19
|-
|[[2013 K League Classic|2013]]
|35||9||1||1||colspan="2"|—||13||1||colspan="2"|—||49||11
|-
|[[2014 K League Classic|2014]]
|19||5||4||0||colspan="2"|—||4||0||colspan="2"|—||27||5
|-
|[[2015 K League Classic|2015]]
|35||4||5||1||colspan="2"|—||7||1||colspan="2"|—||47||6
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!159!!46!!14!!4!!0!!0!!32!!4!!colspan="2"|—!!205!!54
|-
|rowspan="3"|[[Independiente Medellín|Medellín]]
|[[2016 Categoría Primera A season|2016]]
|rowspan="2"|Categoría Primera A
|39||9||4||2||colspan="2"|—||8||0||colspan="2"|—||51||11
|-
|[[2017 Categoría Primera A season|2017]]
|21||2||5||1||colspan="2"|—||4||0||2||0||32||3
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!60!!11!!9!!3!!colspan="2"|—!!12!!0!!2!!0!!83!!14
|-
!colspan="3"|Career total
!265!!78!!28!!10!!4!!1!!55!!11!!2!!0!!354!!100
|}

===International===
:''Scores and results list Colombia's goal tally first.''
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! # !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Score !! Final !! Competition
|-
|1.||17 July 2003||[[Miami Orange Bowl]], [[Miami]], [[United States]]||{{fb|GUA}}||'''1'''–1||1–1||[[2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup]]
|}

==Honours==
'''Independiente Medellin'''
*[[Categoría Primera A]]: [[2002 Categoría Primera A season#Torneo Finalización|2002-II]], [[2016 Categoría Primera A season#Torneo Apertura|2016-I]]

'''Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma'''
*[[AFC Champions League]]: [[2010 AFC Champions League|2010]]

'''FC Seoul'''
*[[K League]]: [[2012 K League|2012]]
*[[Korean FA Cup]]: [[2015 Korean FA Cup|2015]]

'''Colombia'''
*[[Copa América]]: [[Copa América 2001|2001]]

'''Individual'''
*[[FIFA Club World Cup]] top scorer: [[2010 FIFA Club World Cup|2010]] (three goals)
*[[K League Best XI]]: [[2010 K League|2010]], [[2012 K League|2012]]
*[[K League Top Assists Award]]: [[2012 K League|2012]], [[2013 K League Classic|2013]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.maomolinacolombia.galeon.com/ Mao Molina Fansite]
*{{K League player}}
*{{FIFA player|185305}}
*{{NFT player|pid=1535}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930014956/http://mediotiempo.com/jugador_torneo.php?id_torneo=16&id_jugador=1503 Mauricio Molina] at mediotiempo.com (archived)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090119102918/http://santos.globo.com/futebol_jogador.php?cod=1075 Mauricio Molina] at santos.globo.com {{in lang|pt}} (archived)

{{Navboxes
|titlestyle=background:#FCD116;color:#003893;border:1px solid #CE1126;
|title= Colombia Squads
|list1=
{{Colombia squad Copa América 2001}}
{{Colombia Squad 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup}}
}}
{{Navboxes
| titlestyle=background:gold;color:black;
|title=Awards
|list1=
{{FIFA Club World Cup top scorers}}
{{K League Classic Top Assists}}
{{2010 K-League Best XI}}
{{2012 K-League Best XI}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Molina, Mauricio}}
[[Category:1980 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Men's association football midfielders]]
[[Category:Colombian men's footballers]]
[[Category:Colombian expatriate men's footballers]]
[[Category:Colombia men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Envigado F.C. players]]
[[Category:Independiente Santa Fe footballers]]
[[Category:Independiente Medellín footballers]]
[[Category:Atlético Morelia players]]
[[Category:Al Ain FC players]]
[[Category:San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers]]
[[Category:Club Olimpia footballers]]
[[Category:Red Star Belgrade footballers]]
[[Category:Santos FC players]]
[[Category:Seongnam FC players]]
[[Category:FC Seoul players]]
[[Category:Categoría Primera A players]]
[[Category:Serbian SuperLiga players]]
[[Category:Argentine Primera División players]]
[[Category:Liga MX players]]
[[Category:K League 1 players]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Paraguay]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea]]
[[Category:2001 Copa América players]]
[[Category:2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players]]
[[Category:Colombian expatriates in South Korea]]
[[Category:Copa América–winning players]]
[[Category:Footballers from Medellín]]
[[Category:UAE Pro League players]]
[[Category:AFC Champions League Elite–winning players]]
[[Category:21st-century Colombian sportsmen]]