Francisco Maturana

Football player infobox
playername = Francisco Maturana


fullname= Francisco Maturana
nickname = Pacho
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1949|2|2|mf=y
cityofbirth = Quibdó
countryofbirth = Colombia
currentclub = Trinidad and Tobago
position = Defender
years = 1970-1980
1981
1982
clubs = Atletico Nacional
Atlético Bucaramanga
Deportes Tolima
caps(goals) =
nationalyears = 1981
nationalteam = Colombia
nationalcaps(goals) = 6 (0)
manageryears= 1986
1987-1990
1987-1990
1991
1992-1993
1993-1994
1994
1995-1997
1998
1999
1999-2000
2001
2002
2002-2003
2004
2007
2008-Present
managerclubs= Once Caldas
Atletico Nacional
Colombia
Real Valladolid
America de Cali
Colombia
Atletico Madrid
Ecuador
Millonarios
Costa Rica
Peru
Colombia
Al-Hilal
Colombia
Colón de Santa Fe
Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata
Trinidad and Tobago|

Francisco Maturana, also known as "Pacho" (born February 2, 1949 in Quibdó) is a Colombian ex-football player and later a successful football manager.

Career

As a Player

Born in Quibdó, Chocó, Francisco Maturana moved with his family at an early age to the city of Medellín. Here he played professional soccer while attending the University of Antioquia where he later obtained a degree in Dentistry. He began his professional career in 1970 at Atlético Nacional where he became a starting defender until 1980. During his time in Atlético Nacional he won two Colombian League Championships in 1973 and 1976. In 1981 he transferred to Atlético Bucaramanga and also played 6 matches with the Colombian National Team during the qulifying matches for the 1982 World Cup. In 1982 he played his last year with Deportes Tolima until he retired at the end of the season.

As a Manager

By motivation from Uruguyans Aníbal Ruíz and Luis Cubilla, he started managing Colombian team Once Caldas in 1986. The following year the Colombia Soccer Federation hired him to manage the national team's youth squad and then was quickly promoted to manage the Senior Squad to compete in the 1987 Copa America where they reached third place by beating the host Argentina. During this time, he was also hired to manage his former team Atlético Nacional. Then in 1989 he had his most successful year in his career. He led Atlético Nacional,composed of many Colombian legends, to win the Copa Libertadores for the first time for any Colombian club. Using Atlético Nacional players as a base for the National Team, he qualified the team to the 1990 World Cup after 28 years of absence. In December, he lost the Intercontinental Cup to AC Milan at the last minute of overtime. An upset to what would have been the perfect season. The following year he led Colombia to its best perfermance in World Cup competition by reaching the second round and losing to Cameroon.

After the World Cup, he was hired as coach of Spain's Real Valladolid.In 1993 he was voted as the South American coach of the year by El Pais and he was ranked third in Spanish Newspaper Marca's list of the worlds greatest managers.

He returned to Colombia in 1992. and got his team América de Cali champion of Colombia. In 1993 he got Colombia qualified for a second time in a row to a World Cup, with a historic triumph over Argentina in Buenos Aires by 5-0. That score made Colombia a surprising favorite for the 1994 World Cup, but the performance there was disappointing, as the team was eliminated in the first round, being defeated by such teams as the United States and Romania.

He had later a brief stint as coach of Atlético Madrid and in 1995 he was hired as the trainer of Ecuador National Football Team. After failing to get Ecuador qualified for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, he returned to Colombia to coach Millonarios.

In 1999 he briefly coached Costa Rica, and in 2000 he also coached for a few months Peru. He would later return to coach Colombia for the 2001 Copa América, winning it for the first time. His latest jobs as a coach would include Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal, where he won the domestic league and the Asian Champions League and a new stint for Colombia and Argentina's Colón de Santa Fe.

Francisco Maturana is considered to be one of the greatest South American coaches of all time and a legend of the Colombian game.

He worked for FIFA as a technical adviser where he has hold various coaching seminars around the world with the likes of Fabio Capello and Cesar Menotti.

In April of 2007 Maturana accepted an offer from Argentine Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata. He directed his first game on April 22 2007, the derby against Estudiantes de La Plata. In August of 2007 Maturana ended his relationship with Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata

As of February 1st he will take up the position of Head Coach of Trinidad and Tobago's National Team.His first game in charge was against Guadeloupe on February 6th at the Queens Park Oval in Trinidad.

Honors

As a Player

*Copa Mustang (2): 1973, 1976 with Atlético Nacional

As a Manager

*Copa Libertadores (1): 1989 with Atlético Nacional
*Copa Mustang (1): 1992 with America de Cali
*Copa America (1): 2001 with Colombia
*Saudi Premier League (1): 2002 with Al-Hilal
*World Cup Qualification (2): 1990, 1994 World Cup with Colombia

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