Mario Yepes
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Yepes in 2019 | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mario Alberto Yepes Díaz | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 13 January 1976 | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Cali, Colombia | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | |||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Centre back | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 1994–1997 | Cortuluá | 76 | (7) | |||||||||||
| 1997–1999 | Deportivo Cali | 93 | (11) | |||||||||||
| 1999–2002 | River Plate | 76 | (6) | |||||||||||
| 2002–2004 | Nantes | 73 | (2) | |||||||||||
| 2004–2008 | Paris Saint-Germain | 115 | (8) | |||||||||||
| 2008–2010 | Chievo | 63 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2010–2013 | AC Milan | 38 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Atalanta | 24 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | San Lorenzo | 31 | (0) | |||||||||||
| Total | 580 | (36) | ||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||
| 1999–2014 | Colombia | 102 | (6) | |||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Deportivo Cali | |||||||||||||
Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||
Mario Alberto Yepes Díaz (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmaɾjo ˈʝepes]; born 13 January 1976) is a Colombian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is well known for his time in Paris Saint-Germain, where he was considered to be one of the best defenders at the time, being dubbed by fans as "Super Mario". During his time in Italy with Chievo, he earned a reputation in the media as a solid and physical old-fashioned man-marking centre-back, known as a "stopper" in Italian football jargon. He served as the captain of the Colombia national team between 2008 and 2014.
Having begun his career in 1999, and having played for the Colombia national team during that period, Yepes is one of only two players that can truly be considered to be part of the late 1990s and early 2000s golden generation of Colombian football which won the 2001 Copa América and ended in 2003, but has also been part of Colombia's present golden generation (which began in 2013). Faryd Mondragón is the other Colombian footballer of the two, but officially retired in 2014.
Yepes began his managerial career with hometown club Deportivo Cali, whom he managed from 2016 to 2017.