Pablo Melgar

Pablo Sebastián Melgar Torino (born January 14, 1980) is a retired Guatemalan-Chilean[1] football defender.

Pablo Melgar
Personal information
Full name Pablo Sebastián Melgar Torino
Date of birth (1980-01-14) January 14, 1980
Place of birth Guatemala City, Guatemala
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Central defender
Youth career
Comunicaciones
Universidad Católica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999 Club Atlético Tembetary
1999–2000 Zacapa 8 (0)
2001–2002 Antigua GFC 12 (0)
2002–2004 Aurora 27 (1)
2004–2006 Municipal 56 (2)
2007 Antofagasta 12 (0)
2008 Municipal 13 (0)
2008–2009 Suchitepéquez 32 (3)
2009–2010 USAC
2010–2011 Suchitepéquez
2011 Antigua GFC
International career‡
2002–2007 Guatemala 55 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 February 2010
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22 February 2010
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Melgar and the second or maternal family name is Torino.

Club career

Before playing in Chile, Melgar played for local clubs Deportivo Zacapa, Antigua GFC, Aurora F.C., and Municipal, the latter from 2004 to 2007, during which time the club won five league titles in a row. He then left Municipal for Antofagasta but decided not to return to Chile after finding it hard to play football outside the capital, Santiago de Chile.[2] After a stint with USAC, Melgar returned to Municipal for the Apertura 2010 season.

International career

Melgar has been a regular on the Guatemala national team, for which he has competed at the youth, Olympic, and full international levels. Tournaments in which he partaked include the under-17 and under-20 World Cup qualifying, the 1999 Pan American Games, the 2000 Olympic tournament qualifying and the Central American Games of 2002.

He made his senior debut in a January 2002 friendly match against Cuba and has earned a total of 56 caps (including a non official game against Argentina), scoring 1 goal.[3] He has represented his country in 16 FIFA World Cup qualification matches[4] and played at the 2003 UNCAF Nations Cup[5] and the 2005[6] and 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cups.[7]

Personal life

Melgar is the son of the former Guatemala international footballer Armando Melgar and the older brother of the also former footballer Javier Melgar.[8][9]

From his maternal line, Pablo and Javier are the grandsons of the Chilean former footballer and manager Rolando Torino.[10] Due to his Chilean heritage, they naturalized Chilean by descent.[11]

References
  1. "Chileno-guatemalteco Pablo Melgar se integra a prácticas de Deportes Antofagasta" [Chilean-Guatemalan Pablo Melgar joins to Deportes Antofagasta's training] (in Spanish). El Mercurio de Antofagasta. 10 January 2007. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  2. Pablo Melgar no regresará a Antofagasta Archived 2008-04-28 at the Wayback Machine - La Red Deportiva (in Spanish)
  3. Passo Alpuin, Luis Fernando (2009-08-12). "Guatemala - Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  4. Record at FIFA Tournaments - FIFA
  5. UNCAF (Qualifying Tournament for Gold Cup) 2003 - Details - RSSSF
  6. CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 2005 - Full Details - RSSSF
  7. CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 2007 - Full Details - RSSSF
  8. "Javier Melgar :: Javier Alejandro Melgar Torino ::". www.ceroacero.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  9. Ocaña, Juan Diego (23 March 2022). "La historia del futbolista guatemalteco que fue el capitán histórico de los "Rojos del 74"". Aprende.Guatemala.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  10. @lrsolares (22 October 2018). "HASTA SIEMPRE, DON ROLANDO" (Tweet) (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 October 2022 – via Twitter.
  11. "Antofagasta llega a acuerdo con defensa guatemalteco". Emol (in Spanish). El Mercurio. 8 January 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
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