David Ospina
Goalkeeper · Arsenal · Colombia
About David Ospina
Colombia's most-capped player in history, a well-travelled goalkeeper whose two decades in the game took in Arsenal, Napoli and Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr either side of two spells at boyhood club Atlético Nacional.
David Ospina's story
Wanted to Score, Not Stop
Born 31 August 1988 in Medellín, Ospina loved football from the age of three. His father Hernán got him into a local academy run by Alexis García at six, as a forward, not a goalkeeper. He ended up in goal purely by chance, filling in when the regular keeper missed a friendly. At 13 he joined Atlético Nacional's academy, making his senior debut for the club in 2005, aged 17.
Six Years as "The Wall of Nice"
After two league titles with Nacional, Ospina moved to OGC Nice in 2008 for around €2m, initially understudying Hugo Lloris's successor. He became first choice within a year, making 199 appearances across six seasons and earning French citizenship by naturalisation in 2014. That year, strong form for Nice took him to Arsenal for a reported £3m, where he went on to win two FA Cups.
His Father's Letter
Ospina's father Hernán, a former amateur footballer he calls his "great mentor", shaped his career from the start. He pulled David out of school in his mid-teens so he could train full-time toward a professional contract. In 2017, during a difficult run at Arsenal, Hernán wrote him an open letter urging him not to "lower his guard". He died in 2019, remembered by Colombian media for helping build a youth talent programme with Real Madrid's community foundation in Itagüí.
One More Chapter
Loaned to Napoli in 2018, Ospina made the move permanent in 2019 and won the Coppa Italia in 2020. After two injury-hit seasons at Saudi club Al Nassr, he returned to his boyhood club in 2024 for what became a trophy-laden final chapter in Colombian football. He backed up Camilo Vargas at the 2026 World Cup, then, as Colombia's most-capped player ever, signed for Mexican side Atlante FC that July.
Did you know?
- 🧤 Colombia's most-capped player of all time, with 130 caps, and the first goalkeeper in the country's history to reach 100 international appearances.
- 🎽 Started in goal for Arsenal's Champions League debut away at Galatasaray in October 2014, helping seal a 4-1 win after Wojciech Szczęsny was sent off.
- 👨👩👧👦 Married to Colombian model Jesica Sterling since 2012; the couple have two children together.
- 🇫🇷 Became a naturalised French citizen in 2014, during six seasons at OGC Nice, where fans nicknamed him "the wall of Nice".
- 🥅 Founded a goalkeeping academy, Cancerbero FC, with fellow Colombian goalkeepers Bréiner Castillo and Andrés Saldarriaga, training young keepers in Medellín and Envigado.
- 🇸🇦 Was Al Nassr's first-choice goalkeeper when Cristiano Ronaldo signed for the Saudi club in January 2023.
- 👨👧 Was James Rodríguez's brother-in-law for six years, after his sister Daniela married the midfielder in 2011; they separated in 2017.
- 🏅 Named on the Ballon d'Or 2015 longlist after a run of form that saw Arsène Wenger call him "the best goalkeeper in the Premier League".
- 🏢 Outside football, he co-developed a shopping centre in Rionegro, Parque Comercial Jardines Llano Grande, with other former footballers.
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