Macnelly Torres Berrío (born 1 November 1984) is a former Colombian

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 ...

former professional footballer who played mainly as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. A playmaker and known for his technical abilities with the ball he was able to win 16 titles during his 18 years of career. Torres made his debut for Colombia in 2007 and has scored 4 goals in 48 appearances for the country.

Club career

Early career

Torres joined

Atlético Junior Club Deportivo Popular Junior F.C. S.A. (), commonly known as Junior de Barranquilla, by its old name Atlético Junior, or simply as Junior, is a Colombian professional football team based in Barranquilla, that currently plays in the Categorí ...

's youth system at age 10 until he made his debut as a professional in 2002. In the 2004 season Junior won the Finalización Tournament, which was his first professional title in his career. Macnelly was part of a " golden generation" for Junior, also including players like

Martín Arzuaga Martín Arzuaga (born July 23, 1981) is a retired footballer who played as striker. Career Arzuaga's previous clubs include Rosario Central of Argentina, CD Veracruz of Mexico and Godoy Cruz of Argentina Argentina (), officially the ...

and Omar Sebastián Pérez. In 2005, he moved to

Cúcuta Deportivo Cúcuta Deportivo Fútbol Club S. A. is a professional Colombian football club based in Cúcuta, which plays in the Categoria Primera B. The club was officially founded on 10 September 1924, and its first appearance in a professional league w ...

, where he won the 2006 Finalización. He also participated in the

2007 Copa Libertadores The 2007 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2007 Copa Toyota Libertadores de América for sponsorship reasons) was the 48th edition of the Copa Libertadores. It started on January 24, 2007 and finished on June 20, 2007. It was won by B ...

, where he scored a goal against Uruguay's

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 ...

to help Cúcuta qualify for the semifinals, which they lost to the eventual champions

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

Colo-Colo

After

Jesús Dátolo Jesús Alberto Dátolo (born 19 May 1984) is an Argentine professional footballer who playeds as a midfielder for Tristán Suárez. Club career Dátolo started his career in 2000 at Cañuelas in Primera C Metropolitana, Argentina's fourth di ...

failed to sign for Chilean club

Colo-Colo Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo () is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano they play in the Chilean Primera División, from which they have never been relegated. The team has pla ...

, Torres became the new target of the

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, who ...

-based club. He completed his move after long negotiations of the Chilean club with Cúcuta, and both clubs reached an agreement for a fee of US$2.4 million. This fee was the most expensive in Chilean football history at the time. The previous record was the $1.2 million transfer of

Néstor Gorosito Néstor Raúl Gorosito (born 14 May 1964) is an Argentine football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the current manager of Gimnasia La Plata. Playing career Néstor ''Pipo'' Gorosito began his playing career at Riv ...

from

San Lorenzo de Almagro Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro, commonly known as San Lorenzo de Almagro or simply San Lorenzo (in English: ''Saint Lawrence''), is a sports club of Argentina in the Boedo district of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its football tea ...

to Universidad Católica. On 7 February 2008, Torres was presented as new player of the club during a press conference alongside the club's coach Claudio Borghi. He arrived as a replacement for his compatriot

Giovanni Hernández Giovanni Andrés Hernández Soto (; born 17 June 1976), is a Colombian football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Atlético F.C. in the Colombian Categoría Primera B, and formerly managed Uniautónoma, Real Cartagena an ...

, who had problems with the club's board and then signed for

. Colo-Colo later confirmed that Torres would join in June, because he had to finish playing the

2008 Copa Libertadores The 2008 Copa Libertadores de América was the 49th edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's premier annual international club tournament. This marked the first year the competition was sponsored by Spanish bank Santander. As such, the comp ...

with Cúcuta. Torres won two league titles with the club: the 2008 Clausura and the 2009 Clausura. In January 2011, Torres requested to leave the club.

Atlético Nacional

In 2011, he moved back to his home country and signed for Atlético Nacional. With the club, he won the 2011 and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

Apertura, as well as 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 comp ...

. He also a brief loan spell after the 2011 Apertura to

San Luis San Luis (Spanish for "Saint Louis") may refer to: Places Argentina * San Luis Province * San Luis, Argentina, capital of San Luis Province Belize * San Luis, Belize, in Orange Walk District Colombia * San Luis, Antioquia, a town and municipality ...

of the Liga MX.

Al Shabab

Shortly after winning the 2013 Apertura title with Nacional, Torres moved to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

and signed with Saudi Arabian club Al Shabab for a fee of $4.5 million. He played one season with the Saudi club, where he scored once in 22 league appearances. He left the club in a controversial way, after sending a complaint to FIFA because he was denied his salary payment for five months.

Return to Junior

Torres returned to Junior in 2015, which was the club where he made his professional debut in 2001. He played the Apertura season with the club, which runs from January to June, while making 19 appearances and scoring 2 goals.

Return to Atletico Nacional

In June 2015, Torres returned to Nacional and signed a three-year contract with the club. In December 2015, he won his first title with the club, the 2015 Finalizacion. He won the

2016 Copa Libertadores The 2016 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2016 Copa Bridgestone Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 57th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL ...

with Nacional, and scored an important goal against

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central () is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on December 24, 1889, by a group of railway workers, taking its name from the English ...

in the quarter-finals, while being named in the squad of the tournament. He added two more titles in 2017: the

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana ( pt, CONMEBOL Recopa Sul-Americana), known also as the Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as the Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club football competition organized by CO ...

in April, and the 2017 Apertura title in June.

Deportivo Cali

In July 2018, Torres signed for

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 footba ...

, and played the 2018 Finalización season with them.

Libertad

In December 2018, a

Club Libertad Club Libertad is a professional football club based in Asunción, Paraguay that currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División. The club plays its home games at Estadio Tigo La Huerta; which holds 10,100 people. Founded in 1905, Libe ...

director commented that the club's coach, Leonel Alvarez, who is also Colombian just like Torres, wanted to bring the player to the club. A few days later, the transfer was confirmed and Torres signed for the Paraguayan club on a two-year contract. In addition, a release clause of $500,000 was set. He joined fellow Colombian

Alexander Mejía Alexander Mejía Sabalza (born 11 July 1988) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Unión Magdalena. He is described by FIFA's official website as "a linchpin noted for his ability to tidy up mistakes, rob possessi ...

at the club, who was his former teammate at Atlético Nacional. He won the

2019 Copa Paraguay The 2019 Copa Paraguay was the second edition of the Copa Paraguay, Paraguay's domestic football cup competition. The competition started on 28 May 2019 and concluded on 5 December 2019. Libertad won their first title in the competition by beati ...

with the club. In January 2020, the club decided to terminate his contract, mainly due to the number of injuries he had and performing below the expectations.

Alianza Petrolera

In February 2020, the Colombian player returned to his home country, this time to

Alianza Petrolera Alianza Petrolera is a Colombian professional football team based in Barrancabermeja, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. The club was founded in 1991 and played in the Categoría Primera B until 2012. They play their home games at ...

. In December 2020 he left the club, citing injuries and

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

as the reasons.

International career

Torres was part of the Colombia U-20 squad that reached the semi-finals of the

2003 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in United Arab Emirates between 27 November and 19 December 2003. U20 Brazil claimed their fourth title. The 2003 championship was the 14th contested. The tournament was originally planned to be ...

. He played 5 games. Torres made his international debut in a friendly against Guatemala on 17 June 2005. Torres also played in all of Colombia's group games at the

2007 Copa America 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...

. His decision to make the move to Saudi Arabia was publicly criticized by former Colombian midfielder

Carlos Valderrama Carlos Alberto Valderrama Palacio (Colombian Spanish: ; born 2 September 1961), also known as ''El Pibe'' ("The Kid"), is a Colombian former professional footballer and sports commentator for Fútbol de Primera, who played as an attacking mid ...

, as it was considered to be the reason why he wasn't selected for the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

squad. Despite not being selected, he was still called up to dispute the

2014 World Cup qualifying The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA#Structure, FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil national football team, Bra ...

matches against

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del 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 ...

in September, as well as Colombia's last two matches against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

and

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

, all while playing for Al-Shabab.

Personal life

Torres' first name, Macnelly, was given to him by his father after a baseball star he admired.

Career statistics

Club

¹ Includes cup competitions such as

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

and

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American fo ...

. ² Includes

Superliga Colombiana The Superliga Colombiana (''Colombian Superleague''), officially known as Superliga BetPlay DIMAYOR due to sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is an official competition contested between the winners of the Apertura and Finalización t ...

matches.

International goals

''Scores and results lists Colombia's goal tally first.''"Macnelly Torres International Statistics".
Int.soccerway.com Retrieved on 6 August 2014

Honours

Club

Atlético Junior *

Categoría Primera A The Categoría Primera A (), commonly referred to as Liga BetPlay Dimayor (between 2015 and 2019 ''Liga Águila'') due to sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is a Colombian professional league for association football clubs. It is th ...

(1): 2004 Finalización Cúcuta Deportivo *

(1): 2006 Finalización Colo-Colo *

Primera División de Chile Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera The is a large family car which was produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan from 1990 to 2007, for the markets in Japan and Europe. In Japan, it replaced the Auster/Stanza, and was exclusive to '' N ...

(2): 2008 Clausura, 2009 Clausura Atlético Nacional *

(4): 2011 Apertura, 2013 Apertura, 2015 Clausura, 2017 Apertura *

Copa Colombia The Copa Colombia ( en, Colombia Cup, link=yes); officially known as Copa BetPlay Dimayor is an annual football tournament in Colombia. It is contested by the 36 professional clubs of DIMAYOR and is the nation's domestic cup competition, equi ...

(2):

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, 2016 *

(1):

(1): 2016 *

(1):

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Al-Shabab Riyadh *

King Cup of Champions The King Cup (sometimes spelled King's), officially known as The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Cup ( ar, كأس خادم الحرمين الشريفين), is the Saudi Arabian football knockout cup competition, run by the Saudi Arabian Footb ...

(1):

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Club Libertad

Copa Paraguay The Copa Paraguay is a knockout football competition in men's domestic Paraguayan football, starting in 2018 and succeeding the defunct Torneo República. The project for its creation was officially presented in December 2017 and approved by the ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Torres, Macnelly 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Barranquilla Association football midfielders Colombian footballers Colombian expatriate footballers Colombia under-20 international footballers Colombia international footballers 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2007 Copa América players Atlético Junior footballers Cúcuta Deportivo footballers Colo-Colo footballers Atlético Nacional footballers San Luis F.C. players Al-Shabab FC (Riyadh) players Club Libertad footballers Deportivo Cali footballers Alianza Petrolera players Categoría Primera A players Chilean Primera División players Liga MX players Saudi Professional League players Paraguayan Primera División players Expatriate footballers in Chile Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in Paraguay Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Chile Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Paraguay