Carlos Javier "Colo" Mac Allister (born 5 March 1968) is an Argentine politician and former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

. A

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, he played for

Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was recognized as one of the ...

, Boca Juniors, and Racing Club during his career. He also won three international caps for the Argentina national team in 1993. After his football career, Mac Allister was elected as a National Deputy for the

Republican Proposal Republican Proposal ( es, link=no, Propuesta Republicana) is a centre-right political party in Argentina. It is usually referred to by its abbreviation, PRO. PRO was formed as an electoral alliance in 2005, but was transformed into a national p ...

party in 2013, representing his native province of

La Pampa La Pampa () is a sparsely populated province of Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it ...

. From 2015 to 2018, he served as Secretary of Sports in the government of President

Mauricio Macri Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previo ...

Club career

Mac Allister debuted for

in 1986. He transferred to Boca Juniors in 1992, where he scored the winning goal in the gold cup final. In 1996, he left Boca for Racing Club where he played until 1998, playing one final season with

Ferro Carril Oeste Club Ferro Carril Oeste, known simply as Ferro Carril Oeste or familiarly, Ferro, is an Argentine sports club from the neighbourhood of Caballito, Buenos Aires. Although many activities are hosted by the club, Ferro is mostly known for its foot ...

before retiring at the age of 30.

International career

In 1993, Mac Allister played for the Argentina national team in the qualifiers for the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

alongside

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the F ...

Fernando Redondo Fernando Carlos Redondo Neri (; born 6 June 1969) is an Argentine retired footballer. A defensive midfielder with the ability to contribute offensively and creatively, he turned professional playing for Argentinos Juniors and played one full ...

Sergio Goycochea Sergio Javier Goycochea (; born 17 October 1963) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is best known for helping his country reach the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final with his penalty kick saves. Career Goyco ...

Oscar Ruggeri Oscar Alfredo Ruggeri (born 26 January 1962) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as centre-back. Nicknamed ''El Cabezón'' ("The Big-Headed One"), Ruggeri achieved success at the international level with the Argentina nati ...

and

Diego Simeone Diego Pablo Simeone González (; ; born 28 April 1970, nicknamed El Cholo (), is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder; he has been the manager of Atlético Madrid since December 2011. In his cl ...

. He was brought into the team in late 1993 following a loss to Colombia on 5 September 1993 in Buenos Aires, and played in the following international games for Argentina: * 31 October 1993: 1–1 draw vs Australia, played in Sydney in the 1994 World Cup inter-continental qualification playoff; * 17 November 1993: 1–0 victory vs Australia, played in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

in the 1994 World Cup inter-continental qualification playoff; * 15 December 1993: 2–1 victory vs

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, played in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

in a friendly. However, Mac Allister was not selected for the

finals.

Post-playing career

In 1998 the Mac Allister brothers, Carlos and Patricio, established their own sports club for youngsters, the MacAllister Sports Club. They acquired a four-hectare piece of land situated 5 km outside

Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese and Spanish name for Saint Rose. Santa Rosa may also refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city * Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, La Pampa * S ...

, in

province, where they built their own club to train and promote young football players for their subsequent careers in professional football. He was elected to the National Chamber of Deputies as part of the

party in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, representing his native province of

. From 2015 to 2018, he served as Secretary of Sports in the government of President

Personal life

Mac Allister is of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

descent. Mac Allister has ancestors from the Irish town of

Donabate Donabate () is a small coastal town in Fingal, Ireland, about north-northeast of Dublin. The town is on a peninsula on Ireland's east coast, between the Rogerstown Estuary to the north and Broadmeadow Estuary to the south. Donabate is a civil ...

. He talked in 2004 about having no deep relations to his roots, but "would love to know

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

", places he "would someday go". His brother is Patricio Mac Allister. He has three sons who are professional footballers:

Alexis Alexis may refer to: People Mononym * Alexis (poet) ( – ), a Greek comic poet * Alexis (sculptor), an ancient Greek artist who lived around the 3rd or 4th century BC * Alexis (singer) (born 1968), German pop singer * Alexis (comics) (1946–1977 ...

, Francis and

Kevin Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant '' Kevan'' is anglicized from , a ...

Honours

References

External links

FIFA Player Statistics
*
Argentine Primera statistics
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mac Allister, Carlos 1968 births Living people People from Santa Rosa, La Pampa Argentine people of Scottish descent Argentine people of Irish descent Argentine footballers Association football fullbacks Argentina international footballers Argentinos Juniors footballers Argentine Primera División players Argentine sportsperson-politicians Boca Juniors footballers Racing Club de Avellaneda footballers Ferro Carril Oeste footballers Carlos Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in La Pampa Pan American Games bronze medalists for Argentina Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games Footballers at the 1987 Pan American Games Pan American Games medalists in football