Nicolás Esteban Medina Ríos
Quick Facts
Biography
Nicolás 'Nico' Esteban Medina Ríos (born 28 March 1987) is a Chilean professional footballer who plays for Curicó Unido as a forward.
Club career
Born in Santiago, Medina began his football career at Club Universidad de Chile, being promoted to the first team in 2006. Also during that year, he received an offer from Real Madrid, but did not accept it because he still wanted to develop his game before making the move to Europe.
In the following summer, Medina signed with another club from Spain, CA Osasuna, in a four-year contract and a €400.000 fee. He was immediately loaned to Segunda División side SD Eibar, where he was played very rarely (ten matches out of 42).
For the 2008–09 season, Medina was again loaned by the Navarrese to another team in that level, SD Huesca. He appeared slightly more than the previous campaign, contributing with three goals to the Aragonese's survival in the category.
On 27 November 2009, Medina moved clubs again, still owned by Osasuna, joining CD Castellón in a season-long move. He definitely cut ties with the former in the 2010 winter transfer window, signing with PFC Akademik Sofia.
International career
Medina represented Chile at under-20 level, playing all the matches at the 2007 South American Youth Championship and netting five times as his team finished fourth and qualified for that year's FIFA U-20 World Cup. In the finals held in Canada he helped the nation to the third place, scoring in the opening game against the hosts and against the Democratic Republic of the Congo.