Gustavo Julio Alfaro (born 14 August 1962) is an Argentine

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

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 manages the

Ecuador national football team The Ecuador national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de Ecuador) represents Ecuador in men's international football and is controlled by the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF). They joined FIFA in 1926 and CONMEBOL a year later. Di ...

. Although Alfaro had a short career as a footballer, he was captain of the

Atlético de Rafaela Asociación Mutual Social y Deportiva Atlético de Rafaela, known simply as Atlético de Rafaela, is an Argentine sports club based in the city of Rafaela, in Santa Fe Province. The club is mostly known for its professional football team, that co ...

, when they were promoted to the

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

in 1989. Alfaro retired as a player from football in 1992 to concentrate on his coaching career. He his first league title came with Arsenal de Sarandí in the 2012 Clausura.

Coaching career

Alfaro started his career as manager working for Atlético de Rafaela and

Patronato de Paraná Patronato may refer to: *Club Atlético Patronato, an Argentine football club *Patronato real, an arrangement between the Vatican and the Kingdom of Spain *Barrio Patronato, a ''barrio'' (district) in Santiago, Chile *Patronato metro station Pat ...

in the early 1990s. He then had his first spell as manager of

Quilmes Quilmes () is a city on the coast of the Río de la Plata, Rio de la Plata, in the , on the south east of the Greater Buenos Aires. The city was founded in 1666 and it is the seat of the Quilmes Partido, eponymous county. With a population of 230 ...

and a second spell at Atlético de Rafaela. In 2001, Alfaro became the manager of Olimpo and led them to the

Primera B Nacional Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, in English "National B Division", and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 37 tea ...

Apertura 2001 championship and promotion to the Primera. 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 The 2005 Copa Libertadores was the 46th edition of the Copa Libertadores. The champion also qualified for the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship. It was the first time ever that two teams from the same country reached the final. This year's tourn ...

and

2004 Copa Sudamericana The 2004 Copa Sudamericana, Copa Nissan Sudamericana was the 3rd edition of CONMEBOL's secondary international football tournament. It was won by Argentina, Argentine club Boca Juniors, who defeated Club Bolívar, Bolívar of Bolivia to win their ...

tournaments. In his only shot at an important club, Alfaro had a disastrous spell in

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...

, before joining

Arsenal de Sarandí An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in late 2006. 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 Brazilian team

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goiânia. ...

. 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 wake, including

Daniel Passarella Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...

, 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 The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaker, tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the ...

. This was the first major championship in the history of Arsenal de Sarandí and also Alfaro's first major title. In the end of the 2007–08, season he was replaced by Daniel Garnero as manager of Arsenal. In October 2008, he was named as the manager of

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central () is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on December 24, 1889, by a group of railway workers, taking its name from the Englis ...

. At 2009 he went to Saudi Arabia to work in

Al-Ahli (Jeddah) Al-Ahli Saudi Football Club ( ar, النادي الأهلي السعودي) is a Saudi Arabian professional football club based in Jeddah, that competes in the second division of Saudi Arabian football, following their relegation from the Saud ...

, he came with high expectations from the fans. he stayed as the coach for 4 months, then 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. 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 good for Alfaro. He had a very good team that was going to play at the

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 ...

. By April, the team was having awful results and he announced he would leave the club by the end of June. However, he was discharged by the club http://tn.com.ar/deportes/esencial/final-abrupto-arsenal-decidio-cortar-con-el-ciclo-de-gustavo-alfaro_492166 (In Spanish) and replaced by

Martín Palermo Martín Palermo (; born 7 November 1973) is an Argentine football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of Platense. Palermo played for Boca Juniors and the Argentina national team. A prolific goalscorer ...

. On 2 January 2019

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

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 would be able to lift the 2018 Argentine Super Cup after playing against Rosario Central, winning in 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 the final of the 2019 Super League Cup in Córdoba. Beyond the title obtained, the specialized press criticized Alfaro for the lack of a clear game identity in his team.

Coaching statistics

Honours

;Olimpo *

(1): 2001 Apertura ;Quilmes *

(1): 2003 ;Arsenal *

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...

(1):

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

(1): 2012 Clausura *

Copa Argentina The Copa Argentina (English: ''Argentine Cup''), officially known as the "Copa Argentina AXION energy" due to sponsorship reasons, is an official football cup competition organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA), with the aim of qual ...

(1): 2012–13 ;Boca Juniors *

Supercopa Argentina The Supercopa Argentina (English: Argentine Super Cup) is an official National association football cup of Argentina organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). The annual football match was played for the first time in 2012, being cont ...

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 ...

Superliga Argentina The Superliga Argentina de Fútbol, (officially "Superliga Profesional del Fútbol Argentino") was an Argentine sports association responsible for administering the main professional league of Argentine football, the Primera División, between ...

: 2019–20

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alfaro, Gustavo 1962 births Living people People from Rafaela Argentine footballers Association football midfielders Atlético de Rafaela footballers Argentine football managers Atlético de Rafaela managers Club Atlético Patronato managers Quilmes Atlético Club managers Club Atlético Belgrano managers Olimpo managers San Lorenzo de Almagro managers Rosario Central managers Arsenal de Sarandí managers Al-Ahli Saudi FC managers Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata managers Club Atlético Huracán managers Boca Juniors managers Ecuador national football team managers 2021 Copa América managers Sportspeople from Santa Fe Province 2022 FIFA World Cup managers Argentine expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate football managers in Ecuador Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Ecuador