Denil Maldonado

Denil Omar Maldonado Munguía (born 26 May 1998) is a Honduran professional footballer who plays as a defender for Romanian Liga I club Universitatea Craiova, on loan from Liga Nacional club Motagua, and the Honduras national team.

Motagua
Maldonado started his professional career with F.C. Motagua under the management of Diego Vásquez. He made his debut on 6 September 2015, in a 4–2 home defeat to Real Sociedad. He scored his first goal on 2 December 2018 in the Apertura tournament semi-final against Platense.

Pachuca
On 19 January 2020, Maldonado joined Liga MX club Pachuca on a year–long loan, with an option to buy once six months had passed. He made his debut the following 28 January in a 3–1 (4–2 on aggregate) round of 16 win against Venados in the Copa MX.

Everton
On 9 September, Maldonado was loaned out to Chilean Primera División side Everton de Viña del Mar for six months after Pachuca and Motagua agreed to extend Maldonado's loan until July 2021. He didn't make his first appearance until the following 10 December, coming off the bench in a 3–1 home victory against Curicó Unido. He scored his first and only goal for Everton on 21 October 2021, the equalizer in a 1–1 draw with Ñublense.

Los Angeles FC
On 22 December 2022, Maldonado joined MLS side Los Angeles FC for the 2023 season on loan with an option to buy.

Universitatea Craiova
On 9 January 2024, Maldonado joined Liga I club Universitatea Craiova on loan until 31 December 2024 for a rumoured fee of €200,000, with an option to buy.

Under-17
Maldonado represented Honduras at the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile.

Under-20
Maldonado played with the Honduras U-20 at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games in Colombia. He played in all five games and scored a goal against Trinidad and Tobago.

Under 23
On 23 July 2019, Maldonado was selected to represent Honduras at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. He captained the team throughout the tournament and sent Honduras to the final after converting the decisive penalty in a penalty shoot-out against Mexico. He played in the gold medal match as Honduras lost 4–1 to Argentina.

Senior
He made his debut for senior national team on 5 September 2019 in a friendly against Puerto Rico, as a starter.

Personal life
On 14 February 2017, Denil's older brother Alex Maldonado was murdered inside a public transit bus in Tegucigalpa.

139International

 * Scores and results list Honduras' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Maldonado goal.

Honours
Motagua
 * Liga Nacional: 2016–17 A, 2016–17 C, 2018–19 A, 2018–19 C, 2021–22 C
 * Honduran Supercup: 2017
 * CONCACAF League runner-up: 2018, 2019

CD Everton
 * Copa Chile runner-up: 2021

Los Angeles FC
 * MLS Cup runner-up: 2023
 * CONCACAF Champions League runner-up: 2023

Honduras U20
 * CONCACAF U-20 Championship runner-up: 2017

Honduras Olympic
 * Pan American Games runner-up: 2019

Individual
 * CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament Best XI: 2020