Efrén Mera
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Efrén Alexander Mera Moreira | ||
| Date of birth | June 23, 1985 | ||
| Place of birth | Manta, Ecuador | ||
| Height | 1.66 m (5 ft 5 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Emelec | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1998–2000 | Green Cross | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2000–2011 | Manta | 305 | (23) |
| 2005 | Liga de Loja | 13 | (0) |
| 2012– | Emelec | 13 | (2) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 April 2012 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 April 2012 | |||
Efrén Alexander Mera Moreira (born June 23, 1985) and nicknamed "the Pup" is an Ecuadorian Attacking Midfielder currently playing for Club Sport Emelec of the Ecuadorian first division league.
Club career
Mera began his professional career in his hometown of Manta playing for Green Cross's youth division. He would then be transferred to cross town team Manta where he would play for the bulk of his professional career. With Manta he played in all of the Ecuadorian football divisions and helped his team get promoted all the way up in the Ecuadorian football ladder, starting from the Ecuadorian second division, then to the Ecuadorian Serie B and finally to the Ecuadorian premier division, the serie A.
Mera's first promotion to Ecuadorian serie A with Manta was in 2002 when they won Ecuadorian Serie B, however next year they could not maintain form and got relegated back to Serie B for the next season, with only 18 years of age Mera played 31 matches for his club in the Serie A and was considered a very promising player. Despite the relegation he remained with the club, until 2005 while his team played on the Serie B he got another opportunity to play in the Serie A when he was loaned to Liga de Loja. He only played for 13 matches for the "Bear Claw" and didn’t impress much so he was sent back to Manta. In 2008, he finally helped his team attain its final promotion to the Ecuadorian main division, and then he helped them avoid relegation for several years and became widely recognized in Ecuador as his team's main asset.
In January 2012 he got his big break when he was transferred to Ecuadorian giants Emelec for an undisclosed fee and the free loan of Ecuadorian striker Roberto Mina. Since Mera has never played for any major Ecuadorian club before nor has he had any national team caps, the vast majority of Emelec fans considered the signing to be "below expectations". On the other hand, his former team issued a public thank you note on their official website thanking him for his lifelong services for the club and naming him as one of the club's historic figures.
The pup has had a slow start with the “electrics” firstly because of muscular injury and then because of pneumonia, nevertheless the few matches that he has played he has impressed greatly and even scored twice so the fans reaction to his gameplay has been quite satisfactory.
The Pup
He got nicknamed "the Pup" by his former teammates in Manta because of his short height and that in the year 2000 with only 15 years of age, Mera made his professional debut on the Ecuadorian second division.
