Born on this day in 1982 is South American midfielder and Olympic gold medallist, Nicolas Medina.
Medina grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As a youngster he began playing football for Argentinos Juniors, following in the footsteps of Argentinian icon Diego Maradona.
After the success of cult hero Julio Arca, Peter Reid dipped into the South American market once more. The 19-year-old cost Sunderland £3.5 million, with Reid describing Medina as a "a complete midfield player".
While Arca was an instant Sunderland fan favourite, Medina never settled on Wearside. He played just one game for the senior side, in an FA Cup game against Bolton. Despite "an impressive debut", Medina was subbed and only ever played in Sunderland’s reserve sides.
The signing of Medina remains one of the most bizarre deals in Sunderland history more than twenty years later, and speculation circled that he was simply signed because Julio needed an Argentinian friend in the North East.
After a few years out of the team, Medina was loaned to Spain before eventually returning to his home country of Argentina.
In 2004, Medina was a starting player for Argentina in their South American Olympic qualification tournament. He then made three substitute appearances in the Summer Olympics, in which they won the tournament and Medina was given a gold medal. He lined up alongside illustrious names such as Willy Caballero, Javier Mascherano, Carlos Tevez, Gabriel Heinze and former Newcastle man Fabricio Coloccini.
He continued to play until 2018, travelling around South America before ending his career at Independiente Rivadavia. He retired after a long, journeyman’s career that spanned an impressive 19 years.
