Bernardo José Espinosa Zúñiga (; born 11 July 1989) is a Colombian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Primera Federación The Primera Federación, officially the Primera Federación Versus e-Learning for sponsorship reasons (formerly known as Primera RFEF). is the third tier of the Spanish football league system beginning with the 2021–22 season. It is administe ...

club

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the re ...

Club career

Sevilla

Born in

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

to a Colombian father and a Spanish mother, Espinosa and his family moved to

when he was 10 and he finished his youth career in the country with

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

. After appearing in one match for the reserves in 2007–08 (five minutes) he proceeded to spend a further three full seasons with them, one in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

and two in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

, only starting regularly in his last. Espinosa made his first-team – and

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 ...

– debut on 11 May 2011, playing 90 minutes in a 3–2 away loss against

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish football. The team's ...

. In the ensuing summer, he was loaned to

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...

in a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

-long move. Espinosa scored his first top-flight goal for the

Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...

ns on 7 January 2012, heading home the game's only in a home win against

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

Sporting Gijón

On 26 December 2012, after not featuring at all for Sevilla in the first half of the campaign, Espinosa was loaned to

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting is a Spanish professional association football, football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in the ...

in the second division. The following 26 June he signed a permanent three-year contract, scoring three goals while only missing one game in 42 in the 2014–15 campaign to help the

Asturians Asturians () are a Romance ethnic group native to the autonomous community of Asturias, in the North-West of the Iberian Peninsula. Culture and society Heritage The Asturians have Celtic ( Astures) and Latin cultural origins, most notably f ...

to return to the top tier after three years. Espinosa missed the second part of 2015–16, due to a serious knee injury.

Middlesbrough

On 15 June 2016, at the expiration of his contract, Espinosa joined newly promoted

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

on a three-year deal. Still recovering from his

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

ailment when he arrived, he gained regular playing time during the second half of the season, being third choice in his position behind

Calum Chambers Calum Chambers (born 20 January 1995) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back or right-back for club Cardiff City F.C., Cardiff City. Originally a member of Southampton F.C., Southampton's Southa ...

and

Ben Gibson Benjamin James Gibson (born 15 January 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captains club Stoke City. Having graduated from Middlesbrough's Academy, Gibson had loan spells with Plymouth Argyle, Yo ...

Girona

On 7 July 2017, after being relegated, Espinosa signed with

Girona FC Girona Futbol Club, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. ( ) is a Spanish professional Football team, football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, the team plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 ...

for an undisclosed fee. He was an undisputed starter during his two seasons at the club, suffering relegation at the end of his second. Espinosa was loaned to

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

of the top division on 6 July 2019, with a

buyout clause A buyout clause or release clause refers to a clause in an employment contract. It allows the employee to terminate the contract unilaterally upon payment of a specified (usually substantial) fee to the employer. The fee may be paid by the employ ...

. He scored his first competitive goal on 27 October, the only in an away victory over

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 6 September 1909, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025– ...

. Espinosa left the

Estadi Montilivi Estadi Montilivi is a multi-use stadium in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It is used mostly for Association football, football matches and serves as the home ground of Girona FC. It was built and opened in 1970. Montilivi has a capacity of 14,624. Hi ...

in December 2023, aged 34 and with 174 official appearances to his credit.

Atlético Nacional

On 5 January 2024, Espinosa returned to Colombia after more than two decades, joining

Atlético Nacional Atlético Nacional S. A., best known as Atlético Nacional, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín. The club is one of only three clubs to have played in every first division tournament in the country's history, the other ...

of the

Categoría Primera A The Categoría Primera A (), commonly referred to as Liga BetPlay Dimayor due to Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is a professional association football league in Colombia and the highest level of the Colombian ...

. He scored his first goal in his country on 28 January, but in a 4–1 defeat at

América de Cali América de Cali S. A., best known as América de Cali or América, is a Colombian professional football club based in Cali. It competes in the Categoría Primera A, the top-flight league of Colombian football. The team plays its home games at ...

International career

In November 2015, Espinosa was named in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

's squad for a

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

qualifier against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, but eventually did not make his debut. He was called up again in March 2018, for friendlies with

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Espinosa was named in a preliminary 35-man squad for the finals in Russia, but he did not make the final cut.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual * Segunda División Best Defender: 2014–15

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Espinosa, Bernardo 1989 births Living people 21st-century Colombian sportsmen Colombian men's footballers Footballers from Cali Men's association football central defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Primera Federación players Sevilla Atlético players Sevilla FC players Racing de Santander players Sporting de Gijón players Girona FC players RCD Espanyol footballers Marbella FC players Premier League players Middlesbrough F.C. players Categoría Primera A players Atlético Nacional footballers Colombian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in England Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Colombian expatriate sportspeople in England