Oscar Murillo

Oscar Murillo is a Colombian professional footballer who plays for the Mexican club Pachuca in the Liga MX and the Colombia national football team. He was born on 18th April 1988, and hails from the city of Armenia, in Quindio, Colombia. He plays strictly as a centre-back. He is a left-footed player with a very good right foot.

A defender with excellent heading ability, his jumping is better than most players and dominates in the air, whether in defence or attacking set-pieces. Physically adept, he is a very strong player. Moreover, he is a determined player which makes him even more difficult to shrug off. A complete traditional defender, he defends better on his feet, being more successful on standing tackles rather than sliding tackles. He also excels in blocking shots and rushing to make interceptions. Not the most comfortable presence on the balls, he tries to effectively clear the ball rather than carrying it out of defence.

Background

He is a product of the very successful Boca Juniors academy, which has produced players like Juan Roman Riquelme, Carlos Tevez, Ever Banega, Fernando Gago. Coming up through the ranks of reserve team, his prospects for playing in the Boca senior team seemed bleak, so he moved to Colombian second division side Centauros Villavicencio. But even there he couldn’t make a senior team appearance, so he moved back to his hometown club of Deportes Quindio, where he started to gain game time and established himself as a starter.

Debut

A late bloomer, he made his international debut on 24th March 2016, in a World Cup qualification match against Bolivia. It was a mixed debut for Murillo, who played the complete 90 minutes in the 2:3 win for the Colombia, as Colombia required an extra time winner.

Since then, Murillo has been a regular part of the Colombia national team making most of his appearances from the bench.

Rise to Glory

He first gained a bit of attention while playing for Atletico Nacional, where he put in many splendid performances without any returns as the team failed to win any silverware, but turning up as the league runners-up in 2014 and 2015.

He then gained success after moving to Liga MX club Pachuca, as he led the side to a first place in the league in his debut season. His performances saw him called up for the national side. Murillo kept up his performances as Pachuca won the CONCACAF Champions League the following season.

Club Career

Murillo has played senior football for Centauros Villavicencio, Deportes Quindio, Deportiva Pereira, Atletico Nacional and Pachuca. In addition, he has also played for Colorado Rapids while on loan from Deportiva Quindio.

Achievements

He has won one Liga MX title and one CONCACAF Champions League title with Pachuca.

Sources

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/oscar-murillo/profil/spieler/77176

https://www.whoscored.com/Players/72468/Show/%C3%93scar-Murillo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%93scar_Murillo