Jhon Jairo Culma (born 17 March 1981), sometimes spelled as John Jairo Culma, is a Colombian former

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 played as a

defensive midfielder 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. ...

Career

Born in

Florida, Valle del Cauca Florida () is a town and municipality located in the Departments of Colombia, Department of Valle del Cauca Department, Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Its first inhabitants were indigenous peoples, mestizos, afro-Latinos and mulattos. Local rivers a ...

, Culma was raised in Ortigal, Cauca. He began playing youth football in the local Valle del Cauca league, and would train with the youth sides of

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 ...

Millonarios Millonarios Fútbol Club, known simply as Millonarios, is a Colombian professional football club based in Bogotá, that competes in the Categoría Primera A, top flight of football in Colombia. It is one of the most successful and iconic clubs i ...

and

Deportivo Cali Asociación Deportivo Cali, best known as Deportivo Cali, is a Colombian sports club based in Cali, most notable for its football team, which currently competes in the Categoría Primera A. Deportivo Cali is one of the most successful football t ...

. At age 17, Culma had a trial with

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

, but ultimately moved to Argentina where he signed with Independiente. Culma signed a long-term deal with

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V., commonly referred to as Cruz Azul, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football league system, Mexican footba ...

in 2001, where he would play primarily for its affiliate club,

Cruz Azul Oaxaca Club Deportivo Cruz Azul Oaxaca, also known as Cruz Azul Oaxaca, was a professional football club in Mexico that last played in the Primera División "A". The club served as a reserve team for Cruz Azul and was based at the Estadio Benito Juár ...

. However, he was selected to participate in the parent club's 2003 Copa Libertadores matches. In 2005, Brujas manager Carlos Restrepo signed Culma to play for the

Costa Rican Primera División The Primera División of Costa Rica, commonly known as Liga de Fútbol de Primera División (Liga FPD), and Liga Promerica for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional association football division in Costa Rica. It is administered by the Uni ...

club. Culma played for the

Colombia national under-20 football team The Colombia national under-20 football team represents Colombia in international under-20 football competitions and is overseen by the Colombian Football Federation. Colombia has qualified for the FIFA U-20 World Cup 11 times, and their stando ...

, participating in the

2001 South American U-20 Championship The 2001 South American U-20 Championship (Sudamericana sub-20) was a football competition contested by all ten U-20 national football teams of CONMEBOL. The tournament was held in Ecuador between 12 January and 4 February 2003, it was the 20th tim ...

Honours

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

: 2008–09, 2010–11

Personal life

Culma's brother,

Gustavo Gustavo is the Latinate form of a Germanic male given name with respective prevalence in Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian. It is derived from Gustav /ˈɡʊstɑːv/, also spelled Gustaf, a Swedish name, likely from Slavic Gostislav. People with ...

, is also a professional footballer who plays for

Once Caldas Once Caldas S.A., simply known as Once Caldas, is a professional Colombian Association football, football team based in Manizales, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. The club plays its home games at Estadio Palogrande. The club wa ...

References

External links

* 1981 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Colombian men's footballers Colombia men's under-20 international footballers 21st-century Colombian sportsmen Colombian expatriate men's footballers Club Atlético Independiente footballers Cruz Azul footballers Brujas F.C. players Maccabi Haifa F.C. players Bnei Sakhnin F.C. players Stade Brestois 29 players Argentine Primera División players Ligue 1 players Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Costa Rica Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in France Colombia men's international footballers Footballers from Valle del Cauca Department {{Colombia-footy-midfielder-stub