MIAMI, Florida – Many young players have delivered good performances in the 2023 Concacaf Central American Cup to date, but Real Esteli MF Harold Medina has stood above them all.

The 21-year-old has been one of the figures of this history-making Real Esteli side, which won three straight matches in Group B to open the tournament, the first time that Real Esteli have won three consecutive matches in a Concacaf tournament.

Medina scored the lone goal in Real Esteli’s massive 1-0 victory against 2022 Concacaf League champions Olimpia of Honduras, and also had an assist in the three games he played.

Overall, Medina completed just over 79 percent of his passes in 293 minutes played, took nine shots and had a clearance in addition to his goal and assist.

His efforts spearheaded Real Esteli’s second-place finish in the group, making him Concacaf’s On The Rise player for the 2023 Central American Cup group stage.

“It’s a dream, it’s another accomplishment in the football career of a player in which you always want to give your best and always be the best, so I think it’s very nice. It makes me feel happy and I’m going to try to keep going in what’s ahead,” said Medina in an exclusive interview with Concacaf.com.

No doubt that Real Esteli’s performance has been one of the major storylines in this tournament, as they advanced from a group stage for the first time in a Concacaf tournament. Medina says the team’s cohesion has been a crucial part of their success.

“I think it’s the unity among ourselves. We have been a very tight, strong group. We all have the mentality of wanting to improve every day in training and in games. Things have gone well for us and we’re just going to try to keep going on this path. We just hope that we can get some players back from injury for the rest of this Concacaf tournament,” said Medina.

Medina had a performance for the ages in the victory against Olimpia by scoring his team’s goal and coming close to a second score when he hit the post.

“It was wonderful, it was something you dream about, scoring a goal against one of the best in Central America like Olimpia, which is a big team. It was a great joy to bring three points to our team in what was the hardest game for us.

“Scoring a goal in Concacaf brings a big emotion, like in the goal against Olimpia at home in front of all our fans. I think it’s really special for the player, it’s a motivation to continue doing things well and try to improve each day,” said Medina.

Up next for Medina and Real Esteli is a quarterfinal showdown against three-time Concacaf Champions Cup winners Saprissa of Costa Rica. If Real Esteli are to make it to a first ever Concacaf semifinal, they know that it is imperative to secure a good result in the first leg at home.

“We know it’s going to be a difficult match-up, but not impossible to win. We are going to work as hard as we can to get a good result. A positive result at home is really important and then we can go into the return leg with a positive result because the return leg is in Costa Rica, so hopefully things go well,” said Medina.

Eliminating Saprissa in the quarterfinals would secure Real Esteli a return to the Concacaf Champions Cup, their first since 2021 and their eighth overall. Medina would like nothing more than to get a crack at the region’s biggest clubs.

“It would be wonderful, we’ve been in the Champions Cup before, but we have never been in a Concacaf semifinal before, so that would be unique and special for everyone in the club and the players as well,” concluded Medina.