Omar Jesús Merlo (; born 12 June 1987) is a former

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

naturalized

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an 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 played as a

centre-back 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 ...

Career

Merlo made his first team debut for Colón in 2006, and quickly established himself as a regular member of the first team squad. In February 2008, he signed up with powerhouse team River Plate, where he won the Torneo Clausura. Seasons later, Merlo was a key player at the squad of Primera División club

Huachipato Huachipato FC is a Chilean football club based in Talcahuano that currently plays in the Chilean Primera División. Huachipato was founded on 7 June 1947 by workers of the homonymous steel mill in Talcahuano, and it currently plays its home g ...

that earned 2012 Torneo Clausura, scoring the winning penalty in the final. In January 2024, he announced his retirement after playing for

Curicó Unido Curicó Unido is a football club based in Curicó, Maule Region, Chile. They currently play in the Primera B de Chile, the second level of the Chilean football system. They are currently managed by Héctor Almandoz. History Curicó Unido was f ...

in the

2023 Chilean Primera División The 2023 Chilean Primera División, known as Campeonato Betsson 2023 for sponsorship purposes until 15 October 2023, was the 93rd season of the Chilean Primera División, Chile's top-flight football league. The season began on 20 January and ended ...

Personal life

Merlo naturalized Chilean by residence when he was a player of

Honours

River Plate * Torneo Clausura (1): 2008 Clausura Huachipato *

Primera División de Chile Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

(1): 2012 Clausura Sporting Cristal *

Peruvian Primera División The Peru First Division (; known simply as ''First Division'', and Liga 1 Te Apuesto for sponsorship reasons), officially known as Liga 1, is the top flight of association football in Peru. It has been referred to as Torneo Descentralizado since ...

(1):

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Copa Bicentenario The Copa Bicentenario was a football competition in Peru played by the Association football, football clubs of the Peruvian Primera División, Liga 1 and Peruvian Segunda División, Liga 2. It was organized by the Peruvian Football Federation and ...

(1):

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

* Torneo Apertura (1):

* Torneo Clausura; runner-up:

References

External links

* *
Merlo at Football-Lineups
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merlo, Omar 1986 births Living people Footballers from Santa Fe, Argentina Argentine men's footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentine emigrants to Chile Naturalized citizens of Chile Chilean men's footballers Chilean expatriate men's footballers Men's association football defenders Argentine Primera División players Club Atlético Colón footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Primera B Metropolitana players Club Atlético Platense footballers Chilean Primera División players Unión San Felipe footballers Huachipato FC footballers Curicó Unido footballers Peruvian Primera División players Sporting Cristal footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Chile Expatriate men's footballers in Peru Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Chile Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Peru Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Peru 21st-century Argentine sportsmen