Luis Enrique Delgado Mantilla (born October 26, 1980) is a former Colombian

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 ...

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Career

Delgado spent his youth career at

Atlético Bucaramanga Club Atlético Bucaramanga S.A., better known as Atlético Bucaramanga, is a Colombian professional football team based in Bucaramanga. The club plays its home games at the Américo Montanini stadium. The club was founded on 11 May 1949 by Rafa ...

. In 2001, he played in Primera B with Escuela Carlos Sarmiento Lora. From 2002 to 2004 he played with Alianza Petrolera in the second division. In 2005 and 2006, he rejoined his boyhood club Atletico Bucaramanga in the top division, but only made 8 appearances across two seasons.

Real Cartagena

He joined Real Cartagena in 2008, at the time playing in the

Categoría Primera B Categoría Primera B, commonly referred to as Torneo BetPlay Dimayor due to Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is the second-division association football, football league in Colombia. The tournament was inaugura ...

. At the end of the season, Cartagena were promoted to the 2009 Categoría Primera A. He showed good performances during the 2009 season, helping his club advance to the playoffs in the 2009 Finalizacion, which caught the attention of other big Colombian clubs.

Millonarios

In early 2010, Delgado was signed by

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 ...

to be the backup goalkeeper to Juan Obelar, but after Obelar's poor performances, he was named as the starting goalkeeper and quickly became a fan favorite. With the arrival of Nelson Ramos in 2011, Delgado was relegated to backup goalkeeper for the 2012 Apertura, and he played mainly in the

2012 Copa Colombia The 2012 Copa Colombia, officially the 2012 Copa Postobón for sponsorship reasons, was the 10th edition of the Copa Colombia, the national cup competition for clubs of DIMAYOR. It began on February 14 and ended on November 7. The tournament compr ...

. In the second tournament of the year, after Nelson Ramos suffered an

achilles tendon rupture Achilles tendon rupture is when the Achilles tendon, at the back of the ankle, breaks. Symptoms include the sudden onset of sharp pain in the heel. A snapping sound may be heard as the tendon breaks and walking becomes difficult. Rupture of the ...

, Delgado was a starter again, participating in the league as well as 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 showing good performances. During the same period, his wife Tatiana was diagnosed with breast cancer, so the keeper decided to shave his head to support women with cancer. On 16 December 2012, he won the 2012 Finalizacion league title with Millonarios, beating DIM in a final that was decided on penalties. Delgado scored his club's last penalty and then saved youngster

Andrés Correa Andrés Correa Valencia (born 29 January 1994) is a Colombian footballer who plays as a left back for La Equidad. Career On 10 February 2015, Correa signed with MLS club Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional ...

's penalty that ultimately would give Millonarios their 14th league title. By the end of 2014, he was widely criticized for errors in games, and so for the 2015 season he lost the number one position with Nicolas Vikonis, playing only in the

Copa Colombia The Copa Colombia (); officially known as Copa BetPlay Dimayor is an annual football tournament in Colombia. It is contested by the 36 professional clubs affiliated to the División Mayor del Fútbol Profesional Colombiano (DIMAYOR) and is the ...

. In July 2015, he joined

Cúcuta Deportivo Cúcuta Deportivo Fútbol Club S. A. (Spanish ), commonly referred to as Cúcuta Deportivo, is a professional Colombian football club from the city of Cúcuta. Founded on 10 September 1924, it is one of the oldest active football clubs in the co ...

for the 2015 Finalizacion. He returned to Real Cartagena for the 2016 Apertura. In 2019, he joined

Águilas Doradas Águilas Doradas is a professional Colombian Association football, football team based in Rionegro that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Estadio Alberto Grisales, Alberto Grisales stadium. The club a ...

. On 21 April 2019, he scored a free kick in the last minute to give his club a 2-1 victory over Atletico Nacional. In 2020, he joined Deportivo Pasto, and this would ultimately be his last club as a professional, announcing his retirement shortly at the conclusion of the 2020 season.

Career statistics

Notes

References

External links

* * 1980 births Living people Colombian men's footballers Categoría Primera A players Categoría Primera B players Alianza Petrolera F.C. players Atlético Bucaramanga footballers Real Cartagena footballers Real Santander footballers Millonarios F.C. players Cúcuta Deportivo footballers Deportes Tolima footballers Águilas Doradas players 21st-century Colombian sportsmen Deportivo Pasto footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Footballers from Bucaramanga {{Colombia-footy-goalkeeper-stub