Nelson Barahona


Nelson Alberto Barahona Collins is a Panamanian football attacking midfielder. He currently plays for the Categoría Primera B side Real Cartagena in Colombia.

Club career

Nicknamed el Russo, Barahona played numerous of years in Árabe Unido's youth team before in 2007 making his debut with the senior team. After having several good appearances with the club and the Panama youth team he moved to Uruguayan side Fénix. Russo made his league debut with Fénix as a second-half substitute on 27 February 2008 against Nacional. Unfortunately, Fénix were relegated and Barahona returned to ANAPROF side Árabe Unido where he was crowned champion of the ANAPROF Clausura 2008.
On 28 February 2009 Barahona signed a 1-year loan contract with Colombian side Atlético Huila making him the second Panamanian in team after Amilcar Henriquez was signed in December 2008. He played his last game for Árabe Unido on 27 February 2009.
By 2010 he was transferred to Independiente Medellín, a club with which he had the chance to play the 2010 Copa Libertadores. At the end of the year, he was loaned to Venezuelan side Caracas FC.
In mid-2011 he returned to Independiente Medellín, club owner of his sports rights, but on 2 September 2011 he was hired by Deportivo Táchira of Venezuela whom he subsequently left in December 2011.
On 17 January 2012 Atlético Huila confirmed him as the new reinforcement for the 2012 season, Barahona joining compatriots Amílcar Henríquez and Alejandro Vélez at the club. This is his second stay in the club. In February 2013, he signed with Itagüí and he moved to Alianza Petrolera in December 2013.
In 2015, Barahona returned to Panama after seven years abroad to play for San Francisco.

International career

Barahona was part of the Panama U-20 squad that participated in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada. He scored Panama's only goal of the tournament against Czech Republic.
He made his senior debut for Panama on 22 August 2007 against Guatemala and has, as of 1 May 2015, earned a total of 45 caps, scoring 4 goals. He represented his country in 13 FIFA World Cup qualification matches and was part of the national team that won the 2009 UNCAF Nations Cup in Honduras. In 2011, he was called up by Julio Dely Valdés to play at the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
120 May 2009Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao López, Santa Fe, Argentina1–11–3Friendly
25 July 2009Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, United States1–21–22009 CONCACAF Gold Cup
312 June 2012Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City, Panama1–01–02014 World Cup qualifier
416 October 2012Estadio Pedro Marrero, Havana, Cuba1–11–12014 World Cup qualifier

Honours

Club

;Árabe Unido
;Atlético Huila
Mejor jugador de fútbol profesional local
COSAWARDS 2017

National