Julio César Cortés

Infobox Football biography
playername = Julio César Cortés


fullname = Julio César Cortés
dateofbirth = Birth date and age|1941|3|29|mf=y
cityofbirth =
countryofbirth = Uruguay
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
height = height|m=1.76
nickname = "El Pocho"
position = Midfielder
currentclub =
youthyears = ? - 1962
youthclubs = Sud América
years = 1956-1957
1958-1959
1960-1961
1962
1963-1964
1965
1966-1971
1972 ?
?
1975
1976-1978

clubs = Centro Atlético Fénix
Peñarol
Sud América
Gimnasia de La Plata
C.A. Cerro Rosario Central Peñarol
Club de Fútbol Atlante
UNAM Pumas
CSD Municipal
Alianza F.C.
Guanacaste
caps(goals) =










80 (4) [Source: [http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2007/septiembre/24/pais1251576.html] ]
nationalyears = 1962-1970
nationalteam = fb|URU
nationalcaps(goals) = 30 (3)
manageryears = 1983 1984-1985 1987 c.199? 2000-2003 2004 2005 2007
managerclubs = Suchitepéquez Juventud Retalteca Guatemala national team Comunicaciones Saprissa Xelajú MC Turrialba F.C Aurora FC Guatemala national team Águila San Miguel Jalapa A.D. San Carlos

Julio César "El Pocho" Cortés (born March 29, 1941) is an Uruguayan football coach and former midfielder who participated in three World Cups with the Uruguayan national team.

At the club level, Cortés was most successful during the time he played for Uruguayan club Peñarol, winning two league titles and the Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup in 1966.

He has spent the majority of his coaching career in Central America, managing several clubs, and having two tenures as coach of the Guatemala national team, which he led to win the 2001 UNCAF Nations Cup tournament.

Playing career

Cortés began his career with Sud América, and in 1962 he joined C.A. Cerro. He left the club in 1965 to play in Argentina for Rosario Central. [Sources: [http://www.weltfussball.de/spieler_profil.php?id=18423] , [http://www.canalla.com/Historia/mesiano.htm] , [http://www.galeon.com/arequita/santana.htm] .]

Peñarol and international success

After one season with Rosario, Cortés returned to Uruguay to join Peñarol in 1966, and became part of a first team that included players like Pedro Rocha, Alberto Spencer, Julio César Abbadie, and Omar Caetano. The team went on to win the Copa Libertadores in 1966, with Cortés scoring a decisive goal against arch-rivals Nacional in the semifinal playoff on April 23, 1966, which allowed the team to reach the final where they defeated Argentine's River Plate after three matches, obtaining their third Copa Libertadores. [cite web
url = http://www.rsssf.com/sacups/penarol-copa1969.html
author = Tabeira, Martín / RSSSF
publisher = RSSSF
title = Peñarol in Copa Libertadores 1960-1969
accessdate = 2007-04-08] Later that year, Cortés helped Peñarol to defeat Spanish champions Real Madrid to win the Intercontinental Cup title. While Cortés was playing for the club, Peñarol also won the domestic league championship in 1967 and 1968. [Source: http://www.manya.org/historia/campeonesc.html]

Uruguay national team (1962-1970)

From 1962 to 1970, Cortés appeared in 30 international matches for Uruguay, scoring 3 goals. [cite web
url = http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/uru-recintlp.html
author = Passo Alpuin, Luis Fernando / RSSSF
publisher = RSSSF
title = Uruguay - Record International Players
accessdate = 2007-04-08] He made his international debut on May 2, 1962 in a 3-2 victory against Scotland in Glasgow shortly before the 1962 World Cup, at which he played in one match. He also appeared at the 1966 and 1970 finals, being one of six Uruguayan players to be part of three World Cup squads. [As of the 2006 World Cup. The five other players are Pedro Rocha (with 4 World Cups), Ladislao Mazurkiewicz, William Martínez, Víctor Espárrago, Luis Cubilla (3 each).]

At the 1966 World Cup, Cortés scored the eventual match-winning goal against France, one of the two goals Uruguay scored in that match and in the entire tournament. Uruguay was eliminated in quarterfinals by West Germany.

Four years later in Mexico, he played all of Uruguay's six matches, as the team reached semifinals, where they lost to Brazil. With the consolation match against West Germany, Cortés reached an overall total of 11 World Cup matches played, Uruguay's second-highest mark behind goalkeeper and Peñarol teammate Ladislao Mazurkiewicz's 13. The match against the Germans was also his last international match.

Coaching career

After having played in Costa Rica in the late 1970s, Cortés became a coach, and has spent since almost three decades managing several clubs in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and El Salvador.

In 1983, Cortés led Deportivo Suchitepéquez to their only national title to date. [es icon cite web
url= http://www.prensalibre.com/especiales/ME/guatefut/15.html
author=
publisher="Prensa Libre"
title="Guatemala, 100 años de fútbol - Entrenadores"
accessdate=2007-04-08] Other Guatemalan clubs he coached in the 1980s and 1990s are "Juventud Retalteca", CSD Comunicaciones, Xelajú MC, and Aurora FC. In Costa Rica, he coached "Turrialba F.C" and Deportivo Saprissa in the 1990s, and in the 2000s, he has coached C.D. Águila of El Salvador, Deportivo Jalapa of Guatemala, and A.D. San Carlos of Costa Rica (2007).

Guatemala national team (1987 and 2000-2003)

In 1987, Cortés was named head coach of the Guatemala national team, which he managed at that year's Pan American Games. His second period as Guatemala's manager began in June 2000, and ended three years later, in what is one of the longest uninterrupted tenures for a coach of the Guatemalan team. During that time, Guatemala failed to qualify to the 2002 World Cup, but won the 2001 UNCAF Nations Cup – its first international title in 34 years – and finished runner up of that tournaments two years later.

Dispute with the Guatemalan Federation

After being removed from the charge of national coach in April 2003, Cortés sued the Guatemalan footbal federation (FEDEFUT) for breach of contract, demanding payment of part of his remuneration as national team coach. The coach took the case before FIFA, whom in 2006 ruled that the FEDEFUT pay him part of what he demanded. [es icon cite web
url = http://www.prensalibre.com/pl/2006/julio/18/lectura_depor.html#147174
author = Recinos, Eddy; Barrios Bautista, Luis
publisher="Prensa Libre"
title="Cortés gana demanda"
accessdate=2007-04-08] In September 2006, the FEDEFUT reacted against the coach, accusing him of fraud before a local court, whom dictated that Cortés – who was at the time living in Costa Rica and was at the moment in Guatemala – remained in the country. [es icon cite web
url = http://www.prensalibre.com.gt/pl/2006/septiembre/20/152053.html
author = PrensaLibre.com
publisher="Prensa Libre"
title="Arremeten contra el técnico Pocho Cortés"
accessdate=2007-04-08]

Honours

Player
*Copa Libertadores winner: 1966
*Uruguayan "Primera División" winner: 1967, 1968
*FIFA World Cup fourth place: 1970Manager
*Guatemalan "Liga Mayor" winner: 1983 (with Suchitepéquez)
*Guatemalan domestic cup winner: 1984-85 (with "Juventud Retalteca") and 2005 (with Jalapa)
*2001 UNCAF Nations Cup winner (with the Guatemala national team)

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.manya.org/historia/figuras/index.html Short bio at www.manya.org (unofficial Peñarol web site)]