Pablo Estífer Armero (born 2 November 1986) is a Colombian former 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

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. He is known in Colombia by the nickname "Miñía", reportedly after a phrase commonly used to call infants in his hometown.

Club career

America de Cali

Armero made his professional debut with

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 ...

, and he was part of the squad that won the 2008 Finalizacion title against

Independiente Medellín Deportivo Independiente Medellín, also known as Independiente Medellín or DIM, is a Colombian professional football club (association football), football club based in Medellín that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their ...

Palmeiras

After his performance with Colombia, and having helped América win their 13th championship, Armero was loaned to

Palmeiras The Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional association football, football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes (district of São Paulo), Perdizes. Palmeiras is ...

, his agent Turbo Sports holding the registration rights through

Poços de Caldas Poços de Caldas is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the south of Minas Gerais state, Brazil, in the microregion of the same name. Its estimated population in 2020 was 168,641 inhabitants. The city is known for its hot springs. Histor ...

. He was signed in early 2009, and was the first choice for

position. He helped Palmeiras reach the

São Paulo State Championship The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF), t ...

semi-finals before losing to

Santos Santos may refer to: People *Santos (surname) * Santos Balmori Picazo (1899–1992), Spanish-Mexican painter * Santos Benavides (1823–1891), Confederate general in the American Civil War Places *Santos, São Paulo, a municipality in São Paulo ...

. He was noticed for his speed and crossing abilities and played many matches helping Palmeiras lead in the

Brazilian Série A Brazilian commonly refers to: * Brazil, a country * Brazilians, its people * Brazilian Portuguese, its dialect Brazilian may also refer to: * "The Brazilian", a 1986 instrumental music piece by Genesis * Brazilian Café, Baghdad, Iraq (1937) * Bra ...

. His only goal for Palmeiras came in a 4–1 win against Náutico in July 2009. Having signed a pre-contract, Armero almost joined the

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

side

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

in July 2010, but the deal collapsed on 3 July. Parma's lack of non-EU registration quota, reflected in the new ruling announced on 2 July, forced the contract to be terminated and obligated the club to pay a sum to the player. Instead, Parma signed

Zé Eduardo Zé Eduardo or José Eduardo may refer to: * Zé Eduardo (footballer, born 1987), real name José Eduardo Bischofe de Almeida, Brazilian footballer * Zé Eduardo (footballer, born 1991), real name José Eduardo de Araújo, Brazilian footballer * Zé ...

. It was reported that Palmeiras bought 20% economic rights, (date unknown) and the non-dividable registration rights in June 2010. made Palmeiras would receive 20% transfer fee.

Udinese

On 28 August 2010,

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

signed Armero. He became a left wingback ahead of Giovanni Pasquale in Udinese's 3–5–2 formation (or a 5–3–2 formation). That season Udinese finished fourth and returned to the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

. Due to Udinese's

UEFA coefficient In European football, the UEFA coefficients are statistics based in weighted arithmetic means used for ranking and seeding teams in club and international competitions. Introduced in 1979 for men's football tournaments (country rankings only), ...

, Udinese paired with seeded team

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

of the English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. The team changed tactics, and Armero played as a left-sided wingback in its 4–4–1–1 formation, with new-signing Neuton playing new left-back. After his successful Serie A debut and following his appearances in European football, Armero was selected into the

Serie A Team of the Year The AIC Serie A Team of the Year (in Italian: ''Squadra dell’anno AIC'') is an annual award given to a set of eleven footballers in the top tier of Football in Italy, Italian football, the Serie A, who are considered to have performed the best d ...

for the 2010–11 season. Armero was rested for the first round of

2011–12 Serie A The 2011–12 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM after its headline sponsors) was the 110th season of top-tier Italian football, the 80th in a round-robin tournament, and the second since its organization under a league committee separate from S ...

and started in his first

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

match on 15 September. With the team changing its tactics back to 3–5–2, Armero remained left wing-back, also scoring the winning goal.

Napoli

On 9 January 2013, Armero joined

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

on loan until the end of the season, with the option to make a permanent switch in the summer. He mostly made his appearances coming off the bench for the remainder of the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season. During the 2013 summer transfer window, Napoli made the move permanent for a reported €4 million.

West Ham United (loan)

On 31 January 2014, Armero completed his loan move to

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

until the end of the season. He made his West Ham debut on 15 March in a 3–1 away defeat to

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

. With West Ham already losing 3–1, he was an 83rd-minute substitute for

Andy Carroll Andrew Thomas Carroll (born 6 January 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Championnat National 2 club Bordeaux. He has played in the Premier League and English Football League for Newcastle United, Preston No ...

. He played five league games for West Ham before his loan ended. His final game came on 19 April 2014 in a 1–0 home defeat by

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

. The only goal of the game was a penalty conceded by Armero whose performance was criticised by manager

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (born 19 October 1954) is an English football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football League, as well as brief spells in the North ...

Return to Udinese and loan to Milan

On 20 June 2014,

announced they had signed back Armero, a season after he left to

. On 11 August 2014, the club announced his loan move to

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

for the 2014–15 season.

Flamengo and Bahia

On 9 April 2015, he was loaned again, this time to

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

, until the end of the year. He debuted in a match against

Avaí Avaí is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population is 5,436 (2020 est.) in an area of 540 km2. Media In telecommunications, the city was served by Companhia Telefônica Brasileira until 1973, when it began to be serve ...

for the third round of the Brasileirão 2015. Armero rejoined Italian club Udinese for the 2015–16 season, where he mostly appeared as a substitute. However, Armero was sold halfway through the 2016–17 season, having played only eight matches in three years. On 24 December 2016, he joined

Bahia Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

, who was playing in

Campeonato Brasileiro Série B The Campeonato Brasileiro Série B (commonly referred to as the Brasileirão Série B, the Série B or the Brazilian Série B to distinguish it from the Italian and the Ecuadorian Serie B), and currently officially called Brasileirão Série B ...

at the time.

CSA

Armero joined Brazilian club CSA on 17 March 2019, but was released only two months later after being spotted at a nightclub on the eve of a league match.

International career

Armero played for the Colombian under-17 team in the

2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship The 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship, was the tenth edition of FIFA U-17 World Cup, FIFA U-17 World Championship. It was held in the cities of Helsinki, Tampere, Lahti and Turku in Finland from 13 to 30 August 2003. Players born after 1 January 19 ...

and was promoted to the senior team in 2008 for his form with América de Cali. He received his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

in Colombia's 5–2 win over

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

and has won the spot of starting

for the national team. In March 2013, he scored his first goal for Colombia in a 5–0 victory over

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

. In June 2014, he was named in Colombia's squad for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

finals. Armero scored Colombia's first goal in a 3–0 win against

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

in the team's opening group game.

Style of play

Described as a " box-to-box player" ("tuttocampista," in Italian) in the media, Armero was known for his versatility, team–play, and work-rate, and is capable of playing in several

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

positions; he has been used as a left–sided midfielder, as an

attacking 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. ...

, or as an offensive–minded

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, known as the ''

mezzala 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. ...

'' role, in Italian football jargon, and has even been used as a left-back.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results lists Colombia's goal tally first.''

Honours

América de Cali *

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 ...

: 2008–II Bahia *

Copa do Nordeste Copa do Nordeste (English: ''Cup of the North-East''), also known as Campeonato do Nordeste (''English: Championship of the North-East'') or Copa Nordeste (English: ''Northeastern Cup'') is a Brazilian football competition among Northeastern re ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Individual *

: 2010–11

References

External links

* *
CBF Contract Record
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Armero, Pablo 1986 births Living people Men's association football wingers Men's association football fullbacks Colombian men's footballers Colombia men's international footballers América de Cali footballers SE Palmeiras players Udinese Calcio players AC Milan players SSC Napoli players West Ham United F.C. players CR Flamengo footballers Esporte Clube Bahia players Centro Sportivo Alagoano players Guarani FC players Categoría Primera A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Serie A players Premier League players Colombian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in Italy 2011 Copa América players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 Copa América players Expatriate men's footballers in England Colombian expatriate sportspeople in England Footballers from Tumaco Colombian people of African descent 21st-century Colombian sportsmen