Camilo Andrés Mena Márquez (born 1 October 2002) 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

right winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for Polish club

Lechia Gdańsk Lechia Gdańsk () is a Polish football (soccer), football club based in Gdańsk. As of the 2025–26 Ekstraklasa, 2025–26 season, they compete in the Ekstraklasa. The club was founded in 1945 by people Polish population transfers (1944–1946 ...

Early life

Mena was born in

Concordia, Antioquia Concordia () is a town and Municipalities of Colombia, municipality in the Colombian Departments of Colombia, department of Antioquia Department, Antioquia. It is part of the sub-region of Southwestern Antioquia. This municipality is located a ...

, but was left displaced due to violence in

Urabá Antioquia Urabá Antioquia is a subregion in the Colombian Department of Antioquia that consists of two enclaves, one forming the northwest corner of the department the other, the west, both are along the Atrato River and are separated by the El Carme ...

Club career

Youth career and Tigres

Mena started his career with . After six months with Alianza Platanera, he moved to

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

in 2017, joining the academy of Tigres. He made his debut the following year, at the age of fifteen, and made his first start in a 2–1 home loss to

Cortuluá Cortuluá, officially named Cortuluá Fútbol Club S. A. and previously known as Corporación Club Deportivo Tuluá for short, was a Colombian football club from Tuluá, Valle del Cauca Department. It was founded in 1967 and last played in Categ ...

. In October 2019, after good performances for Tigres, he was named by English newspaper ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' as one of the best footballers born in 2002 worldwide.

Deportivo Pereira

In December 2019, it was announced that Mena would join

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 ...

side

Deportivo Pereira Deportivo Pereira is a professional Colombian football team based in Pereira, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Hernán Ramírez Villegas stadium. History Early years While there are several am ...

for the 2020 season. After a year with Deportivo Pereira, he moved to Latvia to sign for

Valmiera Valmiera () is the second largest city of the historical Vidzeme region, Latvia, with a total area of . As of 2002, Valmiera had a population of 27,323, and in 2020, it was at 24,879. It is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city, and ...

. During his time with Valmiera, he was named as the most influential under-20 player in world football, as he had more goals and assists than any other player under the age of twenty. He also led the scoring charts for all players under the age of twenty worldwide, joint with Malaysian player Arif Aiman Hanapi.

Loan to Jagiellonia Białystok

In February 2023, he joined Polish side Jagiellonia on a six-month loan deal, where he was assigned with a squad number #10. He debuted there on 3 April, in a 87th minute of a 1–1 away draw with

Stal Mielec FKS Stal Mielec, commonly known as Stal Mielec (), is a Polish professional football club based in Mielec. The team competes in the I liga, the second level of the Polish football league system. The club was established on 10 April 1939. Histori ...

. Mena played seven matches in Jagiellonia over the period of two months before his move to

Lechia Gdańsk

In August 2023, despite Mena's wishes to join the defending

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

champions

Raków Częstochowa Robotniczy Klub Sportowy Raków Częstochowa Spółka Akcyjna (commonly referred to as Raków Częstochowa, or simply Raków) is a Polish professional football club, based in Częstochowa, that competes in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of natio ...

, Valmiera agreed on a deal to sell him to second division side Lechia Gdańsk. On 4 August, Mena signed a four-year contract with the Pomeranian club.

International career

Mena represented Colombia at the 2017 South American U-15 Championship, scoring once in a 12–0 win over the Czech Republic. He has also represented Colombia at under-17 level.

Career statistics

;Notes

Honours

Valmiera *

Latvian Higher League Latvian Higher League or Virslīga, also known as TonyBet Virslīga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Latvia and the highest level of the Latvian football league system. Organised by the Latvian Footbal ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Lechia Gdańsk *

I liga I liga (, ), currently named Betclic I liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic, is the men's second professional association football division of the Polish football league system, below the Ekstraklasa and above the II liga via promotion/rel ...

: 2023–24

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mena, Camilo 2002 births Living people Footballers from Antioquia Department Colombian men's footballers Colombia men's youth international footballers 21st-century Colombian sportsmen Men's association football wingers Tigres F.C. footballers Deportivo Pereira footballers Valmiera FC players Jagiellonia Białystok players Lechia Gdańsk players Categoría Primera B players Categoría Primera A players Latvian Higher League players Ekstraklasa players I liga players Colombian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Latvia Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Latvia Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Poland