A Colombian soccer player has gone viral for a reason that has nothing to do with a highlight reel. When fans saw recent family photos, many did a double take because the ages simply did not seem to add up. The player is 33, while his oldest daughter is 21, which leaves only a 12 year gap between them. That striking detail has turned his private life into a public conversation all over again.
The athlete at the center of the attention is Edwin Cardona, a longtime Colombian midfielder who currently plays for Atlético Nacional. He has had a well traveled career that included a stint with Boca Juniors and other clubs across the region. He also made 45 appearances for Colombia’s national team and was part of the squad that won bronze at the 2021 Copa América. None of that, however, is what recently pushed his name back into trending territory.
The renewed spotlight came after a tough night on the field in the first leg of a Copa Libertadores round of 16 matchup against São Paulo, when Cardona missed two penalties. Moments like that can dominate headlines, and they also tend to invite deeper dives into a player’s history. In this case, it opened the door for the internet to revisit an extraordinary claim that has followed him for years. The claim is that Cardona became a father when he was only 12.
According to reports that circulated again as fans debated the story, Cardona’s oldest daughter, Ana, was born when he was 12 and her mother, Carolina Castaño, was 14. The couple later married and went on to have two more children, a daughter named María Ángel and a son named Emiliano. The age gap between Cardona and Ana is what leaves so many people baffled when they see them together in photos. It looks less like a typical father daughter dynamic and more like siblings, which is exactly why the images have confused so many viewers.
Even though the family has not sat down for a formal public explanation, they have shared plenty of day to day moments on social media over the years. Ana, who has built an influencer following on Instagram, has posted heartfelt messages about her family. In one post, she wrote, “Thank you, God, for allowing me to celebrate one more year of life with what is most precious to me, my family.” She also added, “Thank you, mom and dad, for all the values and principles you taught me and for raising me the right way so I could become the woman I am today.”
In another message, she described the kind of simple happiness she associates with being together. She wrote, “We spend the year surrounded by what matters most, family, love, and the sea, which reminds us that life always moves forward.” Her online content often focuses on beauty and lifestyle, and travel is one of her biggest interests. Reports have suggested that her father helps support that passion, which only adds to the public’s curiosity about how the family operates behind the scenes.
Cardona himself has not publicly confirmed or denied the claim about becoming a father at 12. At the same time, speculation that Ana might have been adopted has been dismissed as unproven rumor. Ana has addressed the situation more directly in social media comments, offering a blunt answer to people questioning whether the story could be real. She said, “Anything is possible in life, so yes, he is my dad.”
Some outlets have also repeated another statement attributed to Ana from an older video when she was 17, although the video link is no longer active. In that clip, she reportedly said, “Let me explain. First, I am 17 years old. Second, I am not adopted. Third, my mom gave birth to me when she was 14.” With the original post no longer available to watch, the words continue to circulate mostly as screenshots and retellings, which is part of why the topic keeps reigniting.
The story has also brought attention to Cardona’s early life and how hard his path to professional soccer may have been. Reports describe a childhood marked by poverty, including the detail that “everyone slept in one bed” because the family struggled to afford basic housing. Before he entered Atlético Nacional’s academy system, he reportedly worked a series of jobs including construction work, driving, and selling fruit. Once the club invested in his development, it also supported his family in practical ways, which is often a turning point for talented teenagers from difficult backgrounds.
There is also a broader social context that makes the age details especially controversial today. Colombia raised the legal minimum age for marriage to 18 in 2024, after years of debate and advocacy, and that change reflects shifting attitudes about protecting minors. The Cardona story is not being discussed as a legal case, but it is forcing people to confront how different norms and realities can collide in a single family narrative. It also highlights how quickly the internet can turn a private history into a global debate, especially when it involves parenthood and very young ages.
For readers who do not follow South American soccer closely, it helps to understand the stage where this resurfaced. The Copa Libertadores is the top club competition in South America, and knockout rounds can swing on a single moment like a missed penalty. Penalty kicks are taken from 12 yards away, and even elite players miss them more often than casual fans think. Atlético Nacional, based in Medellín, is one of Colombia’s most famous clubs and has a long record of domestic success, which means its stars live under constant scrutiny.
The strange part of this story is not only the numbers but also how the internet reacts to them. Photos, captions, and family snapshots are usually meant to be personal, yet they can quickly become evidence in a public argument about what seems believable. Whether people view the story with disbelief, sympathy, or judgment often depends on their own assumptions about age, culture, and privacy. Share what you think about the reaction to Cardona and his family’s story in the comments.
