Alexander Jesús Medina Reobasco (born 8 August 1978) is a Uruguayan

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and former player who played as a striker. Medina is often nicknamed ''

Cacique A cacique, sometimes spelled as cazique (; ; feminine form: ), was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, who were the Indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles at the time of European cont ...

'' (Chief) due to his command inside the field during his playing career.

Playing career

Club

Born in Salto, Medina began his career with local side Ferrocarril de Salto. After representing Fritsa de Tacuarembó, he made his professional debuts with

Huracán Buceo Huracán Buceo is a multisports club, best known for its football (soccer), football side, located in Montevideo in Uruguay. In 2009 the team went into a financial crisis and couldn't play anymore in the professional competitions and played furt ...

in 1998. Medina subsequently represented

Central Español Central Español Fútbol Club, usually known simply as Central Español is a Uruguayan football club based in Montevideo. History The F.U.F era Together with Peñarol, Central founded FUF (Uruguayan football federation) in 1923 after being expel ...

and Liverpool Montevideo, finishing the 2003 season as the top scorer. He moved to

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

for the 2004 season, and was again the league's top scorer with 26 goals. In August 2005, Medina moved abroad and joined

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

side

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

. He featured sparingly in his first season, as his side suffered relegation, and appeared more regularly in his second, as the club narrowly missed out promotion. On 31 August 2007, Medina signed for

Racing Ferrol Racing Club de Ferrol, commonly known as Racing de Ferrol, is a Spanish football team based in Ferrol, Province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1919, the club currently plays in , holding home games at '' E ...

also in the Spanish second tier. A first-choice, he only scored three goals as the

Galicians Galicians ( or ''pobo galego''; ) are an ethnic group primarily residing in Galicia, northwest Iberian Peninsula. Historical emigration resulted in populations in other parts of Spain, Europe, and the Americas. Galicians possess distinct cu ...

suffered relegation. Medina returned to his home country and Nacional in June 2008, but left the club in August of the following year to sign for

Arsenal de Sarandí Arsenal Fútbol Club (), usually referred as Arsenal de Sarandí , or simply Arsenal, is an Argentine sports club from the Sarandí district of Avellaneda Partido, Greater Buenos Aires. The football team currently plays in Primera Nacional, t ...

. He switched teams and countries again in January 2010, after agreeing to a deal with

Unión Española Club Unión Española S.A.D.P. is a professional football club based in the Independencia neighborhood, commune of Santiago, Chile currently participating in the Primera División de Chile. History Foundation, Amateur Era and First seasons ...

, but returned to his home country for the 2011 with

River Plate Montevideo A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

. In 2011, Medina returned to Nacional for a third spell. Initially a starter, he fell down the pecking order during the 2013 season, and moved to Fenix in August 2014. He retired in the following year, aged 37.

International

Medina made his full international debut for

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

on 1 March 2006, coming on as a late substitute for

Diego Forlán Diego Forlán Corazo (born 19 May 1979) is a Uruguayan professional Manager (association football), football manager and former football player who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Regarded as one of the best forwards of his ...

in a 1–2 friendly match against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Managerial career

Nacional

In July 2016, Medina returned to his former club Nacional, as a manager of the youth setup. On 12 December of the following year, he was named manager of the first team in the place of

Martín Lasarte Martín Bernardo Lasarte Arróspide (born 20 March 1961) is a Uruguayan former footballer who played as a defender, and recently the manager of Nacional Montevideo. He represented five teams in his country, and also had a three-and-a-half-yea ...

. Medina led Nacional to the Championship play-off in his first season, but lost to eventual champions

Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (), more commonly referred to as Peñarol, is a Uruguayan professional football club based in Montevideo. The club currently competes in the Uruguayan Primera División, the highest tier in Uruguayan football. The nam ...

. On 7 December 2018, he resigned.

Talleres

On 6 June 2019, Medina replaced departing

Juan Pablo Vojvoda Juan Pablo Vojvoda Rizzo (born January 13, 1975) is an Argentine association football, football Coach (sport), manager and former player who played as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, central defender. He is the current head coach ...

at the helm of Talleres in the Argentine top tier. In his first season, he qualified the club to the

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...

, and led the side to an impressive third place finish in the 2021 campaign; he also reached the

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

of the

2019–20 Copa Argentina The 2019–20 Copa Argentina (officially the Copa Argentina AXION energy 2019–20 for sponsorship reasons) was the eleventh edition of the Copa Argentina, and the ninth since the relaunch of the tournament in 2011. The competition began on 15 Jan ...

, but lost on penalties to

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

. On 23 December 2021, Medina left Talleres as his contract was due to expire.

Internacional

On 27 December 2021, Medina was appointed manager of

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...

side

Internacional Sport Club Internacional (), commonly known as Internacional, Inter de Porto Alegre, a cidade do Grêmio or simply Inter, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Porto Alegre. They play in the Série A, the first division of the ...

on a one-year contract. He was sacked the following 15 April, after a 1–1 draw with Paraguayan side Guaireña.

Vélez Sarsfield

On 24 May 2022, Medina agreed to become the manager of

Vélez Sarsfield Velez may refer to: People * Vélez (name), a Spanish surname, including a list of people with the name Places * Vélez de Benaudalla, Spain * Vélez Sársfield (barrio), Buenos Aires, Argentina * Vélez-Blanco, Spain * Vélez-Málaga, Spain * Vé ...

, returning to Argentina after nearly six months. He left the club on a mutual agreement the following 26 February.

Granada

On 27 November 2023, Medina replaced Paco López at the helm of

side

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

. He was dismissed on 19 March 2024, after winning one of his 14 games in charge.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Nacional *

Uruguayan Primera División The Liga Profesional de Primera División (American Spanish , , local: , ''First Division''), named "Torneo Uruguayo Copa Coca-Cola" for sponsorship reasons, is the highest professional Association football, football league in Uruguay organized b ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, 2008–09, 2011–12 Talleres *

Supercopa Internacional The Supercopa Internacional (English: International Super Cup) is an official national association football cup of Argentina contested by the reigning champions of Primera División and Trofeo de Campeones respectively.

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Medina, Alexander 1978 births Living people Uruguayan men's footballers Footballers from Salto, Uruguay Men's association football forwards Huracán Buceo players Central Español players Liverpool F.C. (Montevideo) players Club Nacional de Football players Cádiz CF players Racing de Ferrol footballers Arsenal de Sarandí footballers Unión Española footballers Club Atlético River Plate (Montevideo) players Centro Atlético Fénix players Uruguayan Primera División players La Liga players Argentine Primera División players Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Expatriate men's footballers in Chile Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Chile Uruguayan football managers Club Nacional de Football managers Uruguay men's international footballers Argentine Primera División managers Talleres de Córdoba managers Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield managers Sport Club Internacional managers Granada CF managers Uruguayan expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Argentina Expatriate football managers in Brazil Expatriate football managers in Spain Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Brazil