José Alí Cañas Navas (born 19 June 1960) is a Venezuelan football

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

and former player who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He is the current manager of Zamora. Cañas is the youngest Venezuelan to feature in a

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

match, playing at the age of 15 in the 1976 edition. He is also the only Venezuelan manager to take part of a

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

, after being an assistant of

Ratomir Dujković Ratomir Dujković (Serbian Cyrillic: Ратомир Дујковић, born 24 February 1946) is a Serbian football manager and a former player. Playing career Born and raised in Borovo Naselje to an ethnic Serb family, Dujković attended Ivan ...

in the

Ghana national team The Ghana national football team represents Ghana in men's international football, doing it since 1957. The team consists of twenty players including the technical team. The team is nicknamed the Black Stars after the Black Star of Africa in ...

for the 2006 edition.

Career

Born in Mérida, Cañas played one

match for Portuguesa before moving to Estudiantes de Mérida in 1976. He left the club in 1980, and subsequently represented Universidad de Los Andes before returning to Estudiantes in 1987. Shortly after retiring, Cañas became

's assistant at the Venezuela national team. He also worked under the same role with subsequent managers

Eduardo Borrero Eduardo is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the male given name Edward. Another version is Duarte. It may refer to: Association football * Eduardo Bonvallet, Chilean football player and sports commentator * Eduardo Carvalho, Portuguese football ...

and

José Omar Pastoriza José Omar Pastoriza (23 May 1942 – 2 August 2004) was a football player and manager. A midfielder, he played for Independiente, AS Monaco, and the Argentina national team. As a manager, he managed the Venezuela national team among other te ...

, while also assisting Dujković at

Zulia Zulia State ( es, Estado Zulia, ; Wayuu: ''Mma’ipakat Suuria'') is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. As of the 2011 census, it has a population of 3,704,404, the largest population among Venezuela's states. It ...

in 1998; in that year, he was also in charge of

Monagas ) , anthem = '' Himno del Estado Monagas'' , image_map = Monagas in Venezuela.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location within Venezuela , pushpin_map = , pushpin_m ...

. In 2003, Cañas led

Maracaibo ) , motto = "''Muy noble y leal''"(English: "Very noble and loyal") , anthem = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_alt = ...

to the Clausura title, but lost the final to

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

. He subsequently returned to Monagas, and was named Dujković's assistant at the

on 29 December 2005. After the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

, Cañas returned to his home country and rejoined Monagas for a third spell. He was appointed manager of Mineros for the 2008 campaign, but was sacked in September of that year. In 2010, after a period at

Estrella Roja Estrella or La Estrella (Spanish for "the star") may refer to: Places * Estrella Freeway, Arizona State Route 303 in metropolitan Phoenix * Estrella, Goodyear, a planned community in Arizona * Estrella (Madrid), a ward in the Retiro district of M ...

, Cañas was again named manager of Monagas. He left the club on 7 December 2011, and was presented as manager of Yaracuyanos the following 21 June. On 11 January 2016, after two years as Rafael Dudamel's assistant at

Deportivo Lara ''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to: * Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club * Déportivo, a French rock band * Deportivo (Mexicable), an aerial lift station in Ecatepec, Mexico * Deport ...

, Cañas was named manager of the club. He left on a mutual agreement on 27 July, and took over Zamora on 23 August 2017. Cañas led Zamora to their title in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, but was sacked on 4 October 2019. On 3 September 2020, after nearly one year without a club, he was appointed in charge of former side Portuguesa. Cañas left Portuguesa on a mutual agreement on 2 August 2022. On 27 January of the following year, he took over Estudiantes de Mérida, but resigned on 30 May. On 1 April 2024, Cañas returned to Zamora, replacing

Enrique Maggiolo Enrique Ricardo Maggiolo Díaz (born 16 September 1974) is a Venezuelan football manager, currently in charge of Zamora. Career Born in Caracas, Maggiolo started his career at Colegio La Salle La Colina before joining C.S. Colegio San Agustín ...

Honours

Zamora * Venezuelan Primera División:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Canas, Ali 1960 births Living people Sportspeople from Mérida, Mérida Venezuelan men's footballers Men's association football forwards Portuguesa F.C. players Estudiantes de Mérida players Venezuelan football managers Venezuelan Primera División managers Monagas S.C. managers UA Maracaibo managers Mineros de Guayana managers Estrella Roja F.C. managers Yaracuyanos F.C. managers Asociación Civil Deportivo Lara managers Zamora F.C. managers Portuguesa F.C. managers Zulia F.C. managers Estudiantes de Mérida managers