Fernando Caetano Clavijo Cedrés (January 23, 1956 – February 8, 2019) was a Uruguayan-American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

defender and former head coach of the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

and

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, la ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. He played three seasons in the American Soccer League, two in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

and ten in the Major Indoor Soccer League. He earned 61

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with the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team ha ...

and eight with the U.S. national

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt, hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and Indoor soccer, indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players ...

team. He later coached both indoor and outdoor teams as well as at the national team level with Nigeria and Haiti. He was a member of the

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a private, non-profit institution established in 1979 and currently located in Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The Hall of Fame honors soccer achievements in the United States. Induction ...

and is a 2014 inductee into the Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame.

Club career

Outdoor

Clavijo began his professional playing career at the age of 16 with Uruguayan club

Atenas de San Carlos Club Atlético Atenas de San Carlos is a football club from San Carlos, Maldonado in Uruguay. They currently play in the Uruguayan Segunda División. History Atenas played two seasons in the Uruguayan Primera División, 2009–10 and 2014–1 ...

. He spent his six seasons with Atenas at forward. In 1979, Clavijo, at the age of 22, left Uruguay and with his wife moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

taking a job at a

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

restaurant. At this time, he started playing amateur soccer at an amateur club when some saw him playing and suggested him to try out for a professional club. After a successful trial, Clavijo signed with

New York Apollo The New York Greeks was an American soccer club based in New York City that was a member of the American Soccer League. The team began as the amateur Greek-Americans. The club played lower Premier Division of the German American Soccer League w ...

of the American Soccer League (ASL). The Apollo changed its name to the New York United between the 1979 and 1980 season. Clavijo then spent two seasons with the United. In 1983, he moved to the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

of the

(NASL). In 1984, he was an NASL All-Star with the Earthquakes.

Indoor

Clavijo began his indoor soccer career, which rapidly eclipsed his outdoor career, in 1981 with the New York Arrows of Major Indoor Soccer League. The move indoors also brought a change from forward to defender. In 1984, he moved to the

San Diego Sockers San Diego Sockers may refer to: *San Diego Sockers (1978–1996) The San Diego Sockers were a soccer and indoor soccer team based in San Diego, California. The team played in the indoor and outdoor editions of the North American Soccer League ( ...

where he contributed to the Sockers winning three championships in his four years with the team.

International career

Outdoor

In 1987, Clavijo became an American citizen. On November 21, 1990, he debuted for the

in a friendly match against the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. He then became a key player for the American team, being part of the team that won the 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup and that represented the United States in their home soil at 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 ...

. Despite being 38 years old at the time (the oldest player on the American squad), Clavijo started three of the four matches the United States played in the tournament. Playing mostly as 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 was on the field in the 2-1 historic victory against

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

and in the 1-0 defeat against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in the

Round of 16 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

. After the World Cup, Clavijo retired from professional soccer having represented the United States on 61 occasions in only five years of international career.

Futsal

In 1992, he had earned eight

, scoring two goals, for the

United States national futsal team The United States national futsal team represents the United States at international competitions. It is governed by the United States Soccer Federation and affiliated with CONCACAF. The U.S. Futsal Federation was founded in 1981 and the first ...

. He was part of the team that finished second at the 1992 FIFA Futsal World Championship. In 1998, he also served as the head coach of the

Coaching

Clavijo's coaching career began in 1991 with the St. Louis Storm where he was player-coach. In 1994, he became the head coach of the

Seattle SeaDogs The Seattle SeaDogs are a defunct indoor soccer team that played in the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) from 1995 to 1997. They won the last CISL championship in 1997. History In 1995, the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) awarded a ...

of the

Continental Indoor Soccer League The Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) was a professional indoor soccer league that played from 1993 to 1997. History In the summer of 1989 Dr Jerry Buss, the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and California Sports, told his executive Vice Pre ...

(CISL). In 1997, he was the CISL Coach of the Year. He then moved to the

Florida ThunderCats The Florida ThunderCats were an indoor soccer club based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida that competed in the National Professional Soccer League. The team folded after one season. Year-by-year References Soccer clubs in Miami Soccer clubs ...

of the National Professional Soccer League. He then assisted ex-US coach

Bora Milutinovic Bora may refer to: Geography * Bora (Australian), the site of an initiation ceremony in Australian aboriginal culture, sometimes known as Bora rings * Bora, Punjab, a village in India * Borá, a city in the São Paulo state in Brazil * Bora (wind ...

with the Nigerian national team at the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

. He followed Bora to Major League Soccer as well, assisting him with the MetroStars in 1999, the worst season for any team in league history at the time. He left the club after the year, assuming head coaching duties with the

in December 1999. Clavijo brought the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

to their second-ever playoff berth his first year in charge. Under his management the franchise finished the 2000 season with a .500 record, the best record in the franchise's history at that time. In his second season in charge the

finished mid-table, but advanced to the

2001 U.S. Open Cup Final The 2001 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup ran from June through October 2001, open to all soccer teams in the United States. The Los Angeles Galaxy won the tournament with a 2–1 victory over the New England Revolution in sudden death (sport), extra time ...

, losing away to the

Los Angeles GALAXY LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...

(in Fullerton, CA.) by 1–2 in extra time. Clavijo was fired midway through the 2002 season. On October 16, 2003, Clavijo became the head coach of the Haitian national team. He led them through World Cup Qualifying, resigning his position after Haiti lost to

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. On December 22, 2004, the

hired Clavijo as the team's head coach. Clavijo was inducted into the U.S.

in 2005. Coach Clavijo resigned from the Colorado Rapids on August 20, 2008 after a record in all competitions of 43 wins – 55 losses – 26 draws. Clavijo served as Technical Director for MLS club

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise be ...

from 2012 to 2019.

Personal life

Clavijo died on February 8, 2019, in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

, after five years with diagnosed

multiple myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone pain, an ...

Playing stats

MISL stats

NASL

References

External links

Fernando Clavijo NASL/MISL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clavijo, Fernando 1956 births 2019 deaths People from Maldonado, Uruguay Uruguayan footballers American soccer players United States men's international soccer players Uruguayan emigrants to the United States Naturalized citizens of the United States American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Atenas de San Carlos players New York Apollo players New York United players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players New York Arrows players San Diego Sockers (original MISL) players Los Angeles Lazers players St. Louis Storm players American men's futsal players American soccer coaches New England Revolution coaches Colorado Rapids coaches Haiti national football team managers Expatriate football managers in Haiti National Soccer Hall of Fame members 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1992 King Fahd Cup players 1993 Copa América players 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1994 FIFA World Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players Major League Soccer coaches New York Red Bulls non-playing staff Association football midfielders Association football defenders Deaths from multiple myeloma Deaths from cancer in Florida American expatriate soccer coaches Uruguayan expatriate football managers Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Haiti American expatriate sportspeople in Haiti