Leonel Álvarez (footballer, born 1965)

Leonel Álvarez
	Álvarez in 2010
Personal information
Full name	Leonel de Jesús Álvarez Zuleta
Date of birth	29 July 1965 (age 59)
Place of birth	Remedios, Colombia
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	Emelec (manager)
Senior career*
Years	Team
1983–1986	Independiente Medellín
1987–1989	Atlético Nacional
1990	América de Cali
1990–1992	Real Valladolid
1992–1995	América de Cali
1996	Dallas Burn
1997	Veracruz
1998–1999	Dallas Burn
1999–2001	New England Revolution
2002	Deportivo Pereira
2003–2004	Deportes Quindío
Total
International career
1985–1997	Colombia
Managerial career
2007	Deportivo Pereira (assistant)
2008–2009	Independiente Medellín (assistant)
2009–2010	Independiente Medellín
2010–2011	Colombia (assistant)
2011	Colombia
2012	Once Caldas
2012	Itagüí
2013–2014	Deportivo Cali
2014	Veracruz
2015–2017	Independiente Medellín
2017–2018	Cerro Porteño
2018–2019	Club Libertad
2022	Águilas Doradas
2023	Cienciano
2024	Deportivo Pereira
2024–	Emelec
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Leonel de Jesús Álvarez Zuleta (born 29 July 1965) is a Colombian football manager and former player who played as a defensive midfielder. He is the current manager of Ecuadorian Serie A club Emelec.^[2]

Álvarez played 101 times for the Colombia national team between 1985 and 1997, making him the third most capped player in Colombian international football.^[3] He also served as head coach of the Colombia national team in 2011, and is the only coach to have been champion twice with Independiente Medellín.

Club career

Álvarez was born in Remedios, Colombia. He began his career with Independiente Medellín in 1983. In 1989, he was part of the Atlético Nacional team that won the Copa Libertadores in 1989. He won a Colombian league title with América de Cali in 1990 and another in 1992.

He has also played for Veracruz of Mexico and Real Valladolid of Spain.^{[citation needed]}

Álvarez signed with Major League Soccer before the league's inaugural 1996 season, and was allocated to the Dallas Burn on February 5, 1996.^[4]

In his year with the team, Álvarez he scored three goals and five assists for the team from a defensive midfield position, and was named as part of the MLS Best XI.^[4] Álvarez moved to Mexico for the 1997 season, where he played for Veracruz. He returned to Dallas Burn in 1998, where he recovered his starting position; Álvarez would be an extremely important player in the Burn's central midfield for the next two years, but on August 13, 1999, he was traded to the New England Revolution for Ariel Graziani.^[4] He played his first match for the Revolution five days later, starting in a home loss to the Tampa Bay Mutiny. During the 2000 New England Revolution season, Álvarez scored his first goal for the Revolution, on April 1 against the LA Galaxy.^[5] He started all 3 matches of the Revolutions 2000 playoff campaign.^[5]

Álvarez played for the Revolution throughout 2001 before the team decided not to renew his contract for the 2002 season.^[6]

Late in his career, he returned to Colombian football, where he played for Deportes Quindío and for Deportivo Pereira.^{[citation needed]}

International career

Álvarez appeared in a total of 101 games for the Colombia, making his debut on 14 February 1985 against Poland. He appeared for Colombia in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups, playing in a total of seven games. Additionally, he played in the Copa América for his native country in 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, and 1995.

Coaching career

Álvarez began his coaching career as technical assistant at Deportivo Pereira, one of his former clubs. In 2008, he worked as the assistant coach at Independiente Medellín, the team he began his career with, working as Santiago Escobar's understudy. After Escobar was fired Álvarez was promoted and given his first head coach opportunity. In his debut season as a coach, he helped make Medellín champions. In May 2010 he was named the assistant coach of the Colombia national team. In September 2011, he was appointed head coach of the team, following the resignation of Hernán Bolillo Gómez.^[7] He got off to a good start by beating Bolivia, but was sacked on 14 December that year after the Colombian squad recorded a 1–1 draw with Venezuela and a 2–1 loss with Argentina in the World Cup qualifying campaign. In July 2012, he was appointed as Itagüí's new coach.

Career statistics

Score and result list Colombia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after Álvarez goal.

International goal scored by Leonel Álvarez^[8]
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	10 June 1987	Estadio Atanasio Girardot, Medellín, Colombia	Ecuador	1–0	1–0	Friendly

Honors

Club

Atlético Nacional

Copa Libertadores: 1989

América de Cali

Categoría Primera A: 1990, 1992

Individual

South American Team of The Year: 1990, 1993, 1995^[9]
MLS All-Star: 1996,^[10] 1998^[11]
MLS Best XI: 1996^[12]

References

^ "Leonel Alvarez - Football". Eurosport. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
^ "Oficial: Leonel Álvarez fue presentado como nuevo entrenador de Emelec" [Official: Leonel Álvarez was presented as new coach of Emelec] (in Spanish). Olé. 17 June 2024. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
^ rsssf: Colombia record international footballers Archived 30 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
^ ^a ^b ^c "2024 Media Guide" (PDF). Retrieved 12 September 2024.
^ ^a ^b "2024 Media Guide". Retrieved 12 September 2024.
^ https://web.archive.org/web/20180612135826/https://newengland-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/elfinderimages/media/ClubHistory_CoachandPlayerRegistry.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^ "Leonel Álvarez seguirá en Colombia". ESPN (in Spanish). 8 September 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
^ Mamrud, Roberto (13 March 2004). "Leonel de Jesús Alvarez – Century of International Appearances". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
^ "South American Team of the Year". 16 January 2009. Archived from the original on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
^ All-Star Game flashback, 1996 Archived December 28, 2014, at the Wayback Machine at MLSsoccer.com
^ "1998 MLS All-Star Game". MLSsoccer.com. 2 August 1998. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
^ "2022 Fact & Record Book". Major League Soccer. January 2023. p. 184. Retrieved 28 July 2023.

External links

Leonel Álvarez at National-Football-Teams.com
International statistics at rsssf

[1] "Leonel Alvarez - Football". Eurosport. Retrieved 7 April 2022.

[2] "Oficial: Leonel Álvarez fue presentado como nuevo entrenador de Emelec" [Official: Leonel Álvarez was presented as new coach of Emelec] (in Spanish). Olé. 17 June 2024. Retrieved 18 June 2024.

[3] rsssf: Colombia record international footballers Archived 30 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine

[2024_FC_Dallas_Media_Guide-4] "2024 Media Guide" (PDF). Retrieved 12 September 2024.

[2024_New_England_Revolution_Media_Guide-5] "2024 Media Guide". Retrieved 12 September 2024.

[Club_and_Player_Registry-6] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20180612135826/https://newengland-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/elfinderimages/media/ClubHistory_CoachandPlayerRegistry.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

[7] "Leonel Álvarez seguirá en Colombia". ESPN (in Spanish). 8 September 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2021.

[8] Mamrud, Roberto (13 March 2004). "Leonel de Jesús Alvarez – Century of International Appearances". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 7 August 2014.

[9] "South American Team of the Year". 16 January 2009. Archived from the original on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.

[10] All-Star Game flashback, 1996 Archived December 28, 2014, at the Wayback Machine at MLSsoccer.com

[11] "1998 MLS All-Star Game". MLSsoccer.com. 2 August 1998. Retrieved 27 July 2023.

[12] "2022 Fact & Record Book". Major League Soccer. January 2023. p. 184. Retrieved 28 July 2023.

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