Mateo Restrepo

Mateo Restrepo Mejia (born April 29, 1997) is a Canadian soccer player who plays as a defender for HFX Wanderers. He has featured for Canada internationally at the U17 and U18 levels.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Restrepo and the second or maternal family name is Mejia.
Mateo Restrepo
Personal information
Full name Mateo Restrepo Mejia
Date of birth (1997-04-29) April 29, 1997
Place of birth La Ceja, Colombia
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 HFX Wanderers
Number 14
Youth career
Woodbridge Strikers
2013–2015 Toronto FC
2015–2016 FC Ingolstadt
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2019 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 66 (0)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015 Toronto FC II 1 (0)
2020– HFX Wanderers 0 (0)
National team‡
2012 Canada U17
2014–2015 Canada U18
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22 January 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 28 July 2016

Club career

Early career

Restrepo was born on April 29, 1997, in La Ceja, Colombia, and lived there until the early 2000s.[1] His family moved to Canada to improve their quality of life and the chance at a better education for Restrepo.[1]

Toronto FC

He joined TFC Academy and played in the Second Division of the Canadian Soccer League and League1 Ontario.[2] He was the recipient of the league's first ever red card in Toronto FC Academy's first game.[3] After the season, he was named to the 2014 League1 Ontario Top XI at the conclusion of the first year of the league.[4][5]

Restrepo made his professional debut for Toronto FC II on March 28, 2015, when he was brought on as a substitute in a United Soccer League match against FC Montreal.[6] Despite featuring for Toronto FC II, he was able to maintain his collegiate eligibility by playing under an academy contract.[7]

FC Ingolstadt

In 2015, Restrepo joined the academy of German side FC Ingolstadt 04 after being noticed with his national team participation.[1][8] He made sixteen appearances for Ingolstadt in the Under 19 Bundesliga that season.[9]

UC Santa Barbara

Restrepo enrolled for college at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is listed on the 2016 roster as a student-athlete for the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer team.

HFX Wanderers

On January 22, 2020, Restrepo signed with Canadian Premier League side HFX Wanderers.[10]

International career

Restrepo made his debut with the Canadian youth national teams in 2011 at the age of 14.[11] He joined the Canada men's national under-17 soccer team in 2012 for the Torneo della Nazioni.[12] He was elevated to the Canada men's national under-18 soccer team in 2014 and featured for the U-18's for two years.[13][14][15]

References
  1. "Restrepo: "Habe hier tolle Freunde und Mitspieler"". FC Ingolstadt 04 (in German). December 12, 2015. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  2. "Junior Roster | Toronto FC". 2012-12-31. Archived from the original on 2012-12-31. Retrieved 2017-05-21.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  3. "Toronto FC Academy 1 - Vaughan Azzurri 1". League1 Ontario. May 31, 2014. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  4. "League1 Ontario Top XI 2014". League1 Ontario. October 22, 2014. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  5. Desai, Devang (October 22, 2014). "Academy Kids Named To League One Best XI". Toronto FC. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  6. Hylton, Kamal (March 28, 2015). "Match Recap: TFC II vs. FC Montreal". Toronto FC II. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  7. Wiebe, Andrew (September 25, 2015). "24 Under 24: Path to pros increasingly runs through USL, where "play your kids" mantra holds true". Major League Soccer. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  8. "U 19 2015/16". FC Ingolstadt 04 (in German). Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  9. "M. Restrepo". Soccerway. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  10. Gareth Hampshire (22 January 2020). "Wanderers sign enterprising young Canadian defender Mateo Restrepo". HFX Wanderers FC. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  11. "Mateo Restrepo Canada bio". Canadian Soccer Association. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  12. "Canada m17 to participate in Torneo della Nazioni". Canadian Soccer Association. April 17, 2012. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  13. "No such thing as too many internationals for Men's U-18s". Canadian Soccer Association. October 1, 2014. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  14. "Canada M18 heading East". Canadian Soccer Association. April 16, 2015. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  15. "Next Canada M20 group heads to Mexico for camp and international matches". Canadian Soccer Association. November 4, 2015. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
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