Nicolás Esteban Medina Ríos (born 28 March 1987) is a Chilean former professional footballer who played as a forward.
Club career Born in Santiago, Medina began his football career at Club Universidad de Chile, being promoted to the first team in 2006. Also during that year, he received an offer from Real Madrid, but did not accept it because he still wanted to develop his game before making the move to Europe.A 4 años del Mundial Sub 20 de Canadá, Sulantay revela inéditas anécdotas (4 years after the Under 20 World Cup of Canada, Sulantay reveals unheard-of anecdotes); El Mercurio, 20 August 2011 (in Spanish)
In the following summer, Medina signed with another club from Spain, CA Osasuna, in a four-year contract and a €400.000 fee. He was immediately loaned to Segunda División side SD Eibar,Osasuna cede al delantero chileno Nico Medina al Castellón (Osasuna loan Chilean forward Nico Medina to Castellón); Diario AS, 27 November 2009 (in Spanish) where he was played very rarely (ten matches out of 42).
For the 2008–09 season, Medina was again loaned by the Navarrese to another team in that tier, SD Huesca.Nico Medina ha sido cedido a la SD Huesca (Nico Medina has been loaned to SD Huesca) ; CA Osasuna, 19 August 2008 (in Spanish) He appeared slightly more than the previous campaign, contributing three goals to the Aragonese's survival.Un Huesca muy superior se lleva los tres puntos del Rico Pérez (Highly-superior Huesca take three points from Rico Pérez); Marca, 11 October 2008 (in Spanish)Al líder se le escaparon dos puntos justo al final (Leader left two points at the very end); Marca, 18 January 2009 (in Spanish)El Huesca arranca un empate y Tabares se rompe la tibia y el peroné (Huesca scrape a draw and Tabares breaks tibia and fibula); Diario AS, 31 January 2009 (in Spanish)
On 27 November 2009, Medina moved clubs again, still owned by Osasuna, joining CD Castellón in a season-long move.Nico Medina cuenta con el OK de la Liga de Fútbol Profesional y podría formar parte de la convocatoria ante el Real Murcia (Nico Medina gets OK from Professional Football League and could make final squad against Real Murcia) ; CD Castellón, 27 November 2009 (in Spanish) He definitely cut ties with the former in the 2010 winter transfer window, signing with PFC Akademik Sofia from Bulgaria.Nico Medina rescinde su contrato con Osasuna para fichar por el Akademik de Sofía (Nico Medina terminates his contract with Osasuna to sign for Akademik of Sofia); Marca, 2 March 2011 (in Spanish)
Medina returned to his country in 2012, going on to represent Curicó Unido (two spells),Nicolás Medina podría dejar la institución albirroja (Nicolás Medina could leave white-and-red organization) ; Mundo Curicó Unido, 15 December 2016 (in Spanish) Deportes Naval,Nicolás Medina reforzará a Naval de Talcahuano (Nicolás Medina will bolster Naval de Talcahuano); Football Federation of Chile, 9 January 2013 (in Spanish) San Marcos de AricaDelantero Nicolás Medina renunció a San Marcos de Arica (Forward Nicolás Medina renounced San Marcos de Arica); Soy Chile, 15 July 2016 (in Spanish) and Rangers de Talca.Otro delantero se suma hoy a Rangers (Another forward added to Rangers today) ; El Centro, 27 January 2017 (in Spanish) He scored eight goals from 34 appearances in his first season with San Marcos, helping to promotion to Primera División as champions.San Marcos se tituló campeón y consigue el ascenso a Primera (San Marcos were crowned champions and win promotion to Primera); Prensa Fútbol, 15 May 2014 (in Spanish)
On 11 August 2017, aged 30, Medina returned to Spain after signing with amateurs Villarrubia CF.Medina vuelve a España tras firmar con el Villarrubia (Medina returns to Spain after signing with Villarrubia); Be Soccer, 11 August 2017 (in Spanish) After a fleeting spell in Sweden with Arameisk-Syrianska IF, he took his game to the Andorran Primera Divisió with FC Lusitanos,Nicolás Medina deja a su club en Andorra por sueldos impagos (Nicolás Medina leaves his club in Andorra due to unpaid wages); La Tercera, 5 February 2019 (in Spanish) FC Santa ColomaEl nuevo desafío de Nicolás Medina en el fútbol europeo (Nicolás Medina's new challenge in European football); Diario AS, 8 September 2020 (in Spanish) and Inter Club d'Escaldes.Benvingut Nico! (Welcome Nico!); Twitter, 7 September 2020 (in Spanish) As a curiosity, in his last club he used "1+8" as a squad number, just like Iván Zamorano at Inter Milan in 1998.El legendario "1+8" tiene nuevo dueño (The legendary "1+8" has an owner); CDF, 27 November 2020 (in Spanish)
On 7 October 2021, Medina announced his official retirement after 16 years of professional career as a football player.
International career Medina represented Chile at under-20 level, playing all the matches at the 2007 South American Youth Championship and netting five times as his team finished fourth and qualified for that year's FIFA U-20 World Cup.Chile cumplió y ya piensa en la fase final del Sudamericano sub 20 (Chile got job done and already think about under 20 South American finals) ; Fútbol Chileno, 13 January 2007 (in Spanish) He helped the nation to the third place in the finals held in Canada, scoring in the opening game against the hostsSub 20: Chile golea en su debut en Canadá (Under 20: Chile rout on their debut in Canada); El Mercurio, 1 July 2007 (in Spanish) and against the Democratic Republic of the Congo.Chile 3–0 Congo RD; Medio Tiempo, 6 July 2007 (in Spanish)
Managerial career In October 2021, Medina joined UD Montijo as an assistant coach of the B-team.
Personal life Nicolás is the older brother of the twins Diego and Mauricio Medina, who have played for Canadian club FC Manitoba.
Honours Player San Marcos Primera B de Chile: 2013–14
Santa Coloma Andorran Supercup: 2019
Chile U20 FIFA U-20 World Cup third place: 2007Sub 20 en Canadá: a un año del histórico tercer lugar en el Mundial (Under 20 in Canada: first anniversary of historic third place in the World Cup); El Mercurio, 18 July 2008 (in Spanish)
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