Carlos Darwin Quintero Villalba (born 19 September 1987) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Categoría Primera A club Deportivo Pereira.

[8][9] His mentor Élkin Congote tried to find a better situation for Quintero to develop and set up trials with more prestigious youth teams in Cali, Carlos Sarmiento Lora School and Selección Valle, as well as Boca Juniors, but they all rejected him.

Quintero did catch the attention of Humberto Ortiz, a former top flight coach and now a scout for Categoría Primera A club Deportes Tolima.

[8] Quintero was part of Jorge Luis Bernal's Tolima youth side that won gold for men's football at the 2004 National Games of Colombia.

[13] Quintero and Tolima finished the Campeonato Finalización top of the table, but they lost in the final 2–1 on aggregate to Cúcuta Deportivo.

In July 2007, Quintero joined Russian Premier League side FC Krylia Sovetov Samara along with fellow Colombian and Tolima teammate Juan Carlos Escobar.

[24] The season was rough for Krylia Sovetov as well, finishing in 13th place and tied on points with relegated side Kuban Krasnodar.

[25] In 2008, Leonid Slutsky took over as the head coach for Krylia Sovetov and sent Quintero to Colombia on loan with an option to buy to Primera A club Deportivo Pereira for the first half of the Russian Premier League season.

[29] Quintero ended the Torneo Apertura with 4 goals from 12 appearances and was voted as the best player in the team by a fan poll on the club website.

[22] He made his first appearance in the CONCACAF Champions League on 25 February, coming on as a substitute in a 2–0 defeat to the Montreal Impact in the first leg of the quarterfinals.

[42] Santos and Quintero failed to qualify for Liguilla, but he enjoyed a solid debut season, scoring 8 and assisting 2 in 20 appearances across all competitions.

Quintero came on as a substitute in the second half and helped Santos secure a 3–1 win over the Kansas City Wizards in the final match of the group stage.

[60] The night was best remembered for what occurred after the match, when Quintero got a red card by getting in an altercation with Toronto defender Ashtone Morgan, prompting both benches to run onto the pitch.

On 16 March 2013, now in the Torneo Clausura, Quintero recorded a late assist and scored in the 89th minute to give Santos a dramatic victory over Atlas.

[63] Quintero made his first appearance of the 2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League on 21 August 2012, scoring a hat-trick in a 5–0 victory over Club Águila in the first match of the group stage.

Santos won the first leg 1–0 at CenturyLink Field, with Quintero assisting Herculez Gomez's goal and being named man of the match.

[65] In the return leg Santos managed a 1–1 draw with Quintero scoring to help send Los Guerreros to their second consecutive CCL final, facing Monterrey once again.

Quintero made his first appearance in the tournament on 11 February 2014, the first match of the group stage, where he assisted Peralta's goal as Santos defeated Arsenal de Sarandí 1–0.

[84] On 17 August Quintero scored his first goal of the 2014 Apertura, finding the back of the net in the 88th minute to give Santos a 1–0 away win against Guadalajara.

[103] On 13 December 2015, Quintero made his first career appearance in the FIFA Club World Cup, getting the start in a 2–1 defeat to Guangzhou Evergrande.

After he served his suspension for a red card he received in matchweek 7, Quintero scored twice and added an assist as América defeated Morelia 4–1.

On March 31, 2018, Quintero joined Major League Soccer side Minnesota United FC as a Designated Player, the first in the club's history.

[112][6] Quintero explained his decision to join Minnesota United by saying he and his family needed a change and new experiences, as well as being intrigued by the club's plans for the future.

[113] On 28 April, Quintero made his home debut for the Loons, marking the occasion by scoring once to help Minnesota get a 2–1 victory over the Houston Dynamo.

[113] On 4 July Quintero scored three chipped goals to give the Loons a 4–3 win over Toronto FC, recording the first hat-trick in Minnesota United's history.

Quintero made his first appearance of the tournament on 12 June, scoring twice and adding an assist as Minnesota defeated Sporting Kansas City 4–1.

[132] Quintero made his Dynamo debut in Houston's second game, coming off the bench on 7 March in a 4–0 loss to Sporting Kansas City.

[138] Despite Quintero's great form, it was a poor season for Houston as a team, finishing last in the Western Conference and missing out on the playoffs.

[153] Quintero was part of the Colombia U-20 national team in 2007, making 8 appearances and scoring one goal, the winner against Argentina, at the 2007 South American U-20 Championship.

[9] Quintero was born in Tumaco, Colombia, but moved to Cali when he was five, living in the Puerta del Sol district with his dad and sister.