A lot of Colombian footballers play abroad, that’s a fact.
The country is sixth in the world for that statistic, according to the CIES Football-Observatory rankings, with 448 active players outside their country.
Every year, several young talented players move to the top European leagues, and this year continued that trend.
Jhon Duran moved to Aston Villa, Gustavo Puerta to Bayer Leverkusen, and Oscar Cortes, the hottest name of all, to Lens.
Cortes is a real talent, and has made a huge step forward in the last six months. Here’s his story.
🚐 𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗖𝗔𝑻𝒐𝒖𝒓 2023, 𝑒́𝑝𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑑𝑒 5⃣
— Racing Club de Lens (@RCLens) July 14, 2023
Oscar Cortés, de l'énergie à revendre ! 🔋
Talent brut et prometteur, le jeune attaquant 🇨🇴 vient découvrir le football européen et la chaleur de l'antre artésien. ❤️💛
👉 https://t.co/NA0DVh5A7Z#MercaTour2023 #FierDEtreLensois pic.twitter.com/PqGDU2YOfS
Oscar Cortes was born on 3 December 2003, in the port city of Tumaco, in south-west Colombia.
He found the game at a young age, keeping him away from violence in his local area.
He grew up in a low-income family that couldn't afford to buy him shoes, so he started playing barefoot on the Mira river banks, and soon showed his potential and joined his neighbourhood team, Candelilla Futbol Club.
Cortes would go on to learn football at Teo Preciado’s academy, where he fell in love with the game.
“Even though he played without shoes, he didn’t care,” his uncle, Emmanuel Cortes, said, “all he wanted to do was get better and progress”..
But just like other players, Cortes also had to help his family and bring home money for food.
Before he went to training, he searched for jobs on different farms, collecting cocoa beans, or anything that would give him money to help his family survive.
From Candelilla, he moved to Llorente Futbol Club, also from the same area where he grew up, and a place where scouts from across the country came to watch the young talents.
Another move was on the cards at the age of 14, this time to Tumaco Futbol Club, where he was discovered by Edgar Moreno and Norberto Peluffo, scouts from Millonarios, one of the biggest teams in Colombia..
In 2017 he moved to Bogota, and on 21 January he debuted with Millonarios against Deportivo Pasto, coming on as a substitute in the last minutes.
A month later, he made the starting lineup for the first time, and assisted in his team's victory.
Despite not playing much, Cortes caught the eye of Hector Cardenas, Colombia U20's head coach.
In January of this year, the young Colombian made his breakthrough with the national side, at the U20 South American Championship.
He was his side’s best player, and scored three goals in the tournament to help his side qualify for the U20 World Cup.
Back at Millonarios, Cortes saw a rise in his status, and was now seen as an essential player.
The club has sold its other wingers, forcing him to take a step up.
And he did, scoring six goals in 16 matches, alongside three assists.
He was so crucial to his club that Millonarios considered not sending him to the U20 World Cup, due to play-offs in the Colombian league.
But that was blocked by the Colombian Football Federation.
In the World Cup, he was again Colombia's best player, scoring four goals and leading the national team to the quarter-finals, where they eventually lost to Italy.
When Cortes returned home, he returned to help Millonarios win their 16th league title.
This rapid rise was capped with an invite to his country’s senior squad for friendlies against Iraq and Germany.
Against the former he would make his international debut as a substitute in June.
And last week it was finally Cortes’ turn for a big move, signing for French side RC Lens for €4.5m (£3.86m).
Lens surprised everyone last year when they finished second in the league, a point behind PSG, and they will play Champions League football this season as a result.
Lens seem fairly suitable for Cortes too, and if he pulls off another good season, doors could open for him across the continent.
Edited by Alex Smith
