Gustavo Alfaro

Gustavo Alfaro
Alfaro as the manager of Ecuador in 2022
Personal information
Full name Gustavo Julio Alfaro
Date of birth (1962-08-14) 14 August 1962 (age 62)
Place of birth Rafaela, Argentina
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1992 Atlético de Rafaela 126 (6)
Managerial career
1992–1995 Atlético de Rafaela
1995 Patronato
1996–1997 Quilmes
1998–2000 Atlético de Rafaela
2001 Belgrano
2001–2002 Olimpo
2003–2004 Quilmes
2005 San Lorenzo
2006–2008 Arsenal de Sarandí
2008–2009 Rosario Central
2009 Al-Ahli
2010–2014 Arsenal de Sarandí
2014–2015 Tigre
2016–2017 Gimnasia LP
2017–2018 Huracán
2018–2020 Boca Juniors
2020–2023 Ecuador
2023–2024 Costa Rica
2024– Paraguay
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gustavo Julio Alfaro (born 14 August 1962) is an Argentine football manager and former player who manages the Paraguay national football team.

Although Alfaro had a short career as a footballer, he was captain of the Atlético de Rafaela when they were promoted to the Argentine Primera División in 1989. Alfaro retired as a player from football in 1992 to concentrate on his coaching career. His first league title came with Arsenal de Sarandí in the 2012 Clausura.

Coaching career

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Alfaro started his career as a manager for Atlético de Rafaela and Patronato de Paraná in the early 1990s. He then had his first spell as manager of Quilmes and a second spell at Atlético de Rafaela.

In 2001, Alfaro became the manager of Olimpo and led them to the Primera B Nacional Apertura 2001 championship and promotion to the Primera.[1]

In 2003, Alfaro led Quilmes to promotion. He stayed to manage the team for the following season (2003–04), achieving a 4th and a 6th-place finish which earned them qualification for the 2005 Copa Libertadores and 2004 Copa Sudamericana tournaments.

In his only shot at an important club, Alfaro had a disastrous spell in San Lorenzo before joining Arsenal de Sarandí in late 2006.[2]

Alfaro helped Arsenal to two 5th-place finishes, allowing the club to qualify for the Copa Libertadores for the first time in their history. They also earned qualification for the 2007 Copa Sudamericana, where they beat Argentine champions San Lorenzo in the qualifying round to earn a place in the round of 16. In that stage, they faced the Brazilian team Goiás. Arsenal won 3–2 in Brazil and recorded a 1–1 draw in the second leg to win the tie 4–3 on aggregate, their official first victory over foreign opposition. Arsenal eventually reached the final of the competition, leaving a wake of sacked managers in their path, including Daniel Passarella, who resigned from River Plate after their defeat by Arsenal in the semi-finals.

In the final of the competition, Arsenal drew 4–4 with Mexican América, winning the title on the Away goals rule. This was the first major championship in the history of Arsenal de Sarandí and Alfaro's first major title.

At the end of the 2007–08 season, he was replaced by Daniel Garnero as manager of Arsenal. In October 2008, he was named the manager of Rosario Central. In 2009, he went to Saudi Arabia to work in Al-Ahli (Jeddah); he came with high expectations from the fans. He stayed as the coach for four months; on 20 November, he resigned for personal reasons.

On 17 May 2010, Arsenal de Sarandí confirmed that the new manager for next season would be Alfaro, who arrived along with assistant coaches Sergio Chiarelli, Carlos González, and Claudio Cristofanelli.[3] On 24 June 2012, Alfaro would achieve his first ever league title when Arsenal won its first league title in the club's history.

The Final Tournament of 2014 looked promising for Alfaro. He had an excellent team that would play at the Copa Libertadores. By April, the team had awful results, and he announced he would leave the club by the end of June. However, he was discharged by the club [4] and replaced by Martín Palermo.

On 2 January 2019, Boca Juniors named Gustavo Alfaro their new head coach, having his official debut on 27 January 2019, drawing 1–1 against Newell's Old Boys for the 2018–19 Super League. In the national competition, he would finish third. On 2 May, he could lift the 2018 Argentine Super Cup after playing against Rosario Central, winning a penalty shootout by 6–5 after drawing 0–0 in the ninety minutes. On 2 June, he would lose 0–2 against Club Tigre in the final of the 2019 Super League Cup in Córdoba. Beyond the title obtained, the specialized press criticized Alfaro for lacking a clear game identity in his team.

Coaching statistics

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As of 14 November 2024
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Atlético Rafaela Argentina 1 July 1992 30 June 1996 126 46 47 33 164 127 +37 036.51
Quilmes 1 July 1996 30 June 1997 42 18 11 13 60 47 +13 042.86
Atlético Rafaela 1 July 1998 30 June 2000 72 31 16 25 100 85 +15 043.06
Belgrano 1 January 2001 30 June 2001 14 2 5 7 8 20 −12 014.29
Olimpo 1 July 2001 30 June 2002 24 13 7 4 36 20 +16 054.17
Quilmes 1 January 2003 23 May 2005 111 44 36 31 132 106 +26 039.64
San Lorenzo 1 July 2005 6 February 2006 22 8 5 9 35 43 −8 036.36
Arsenal de Sarandí 5 June 2006 30 June 2008 94 39 25 30 122 120 +2 041.49
Rosario Central 10 October 2008 2 March 2009 14 2 2 10 12 19 −7 014.29
Al-Ahli Saudi Arabia 22 April 2009 20 November 2009 12 4 4 4 15 15 +0 033.33
Arsenal de Sarandí Argentina 1 July 2010 15 April 2014 182 76 47 59 224 198 +26 041.76
Tigre 5 September 2014 27 November 2015 49 20 11 18 62 58 +4 040.82
Gimnasia LP 21 March 2016 30 June 2017 39 15 13 11 38 32 +6 038.46
Huracán 14 July 2017 31 December 2018 46 22 15 9 56 40 +16 047.83
Boca Juniors 1 January 2019 31 December 2019 50 27 16 7 73 28 +45 054.00
Ecuador Ecuador 26 August 2020 12 January 2023 35 12 14 9 44 35 +9 034.29
Costa Rica Costa Rica 2 November 2023 9 August 2024 11 5 2 4 16 14 +2 045.45
Paraguay Paraguay 13 August 2024 present 5 3 2 0 5 2 +3 060.00
Total 948 387 278 283 1,202 1,009 +193 040.82

Honours

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Manager

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Olimpo
Arsenal
Boca Juniors

References

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  1. ^ RSSSF Argentine 2nd level championship winning managers
  2. ^ (in Spanish) Sports Ya profile[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ "Gustavo Alfaro será el nuevo DT". Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
  4. ^ http://tn.com.ar/deportes/esencial/final-abrupto-arsenal-decidio-cortar-con-el-ciclo-de-gustavo-alfaro_492166 (In Spanish)
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