Juan Carlos Lezcano López (born 5 November 1938) is a Paraguayan retired

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 le ...

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 ...

and later as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, primarily in Spain, where he is considered one of

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Elx Club de Futbol, S.A.D.) is a professional football based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 1923, the club competes in La Liga, holding home matches at ''Estadi ...

's most important players.

Career

Born in

Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of ...

to a father who was a footballer, Lezcano began playing football as a youth with local side

Club Olimpia Club Olimpia is a Paraguayan sports club based in the city of Asunción. The club promotes the practice of various sports with most importance given to the football, rugby and basketball sides, the former being the highest priority and most s ...

. He first played senior footballer with Chilean side

Club Deportivo Universidad Católica Club Deportivo Universidad Católica is a professional football club based in Santiago, Chile. Founded in 1937 they play in the Primera División, the top flight of Chilean football. The team has played its home games at Estadio San Carlos d ...

. Despite being scouted by Spanish agents, he joined Universidad Católica's rivals

Santiago Morning Club de Deportes Santiago Morning (popularly known as Chaguito Morning or Morning) is a Chilean professional football club based in Recoleta, Santiago. They compete in the Primera B. Santiago Morning was one of Primera División de Chile found ...

in 1961. The following season Lezcano moved to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, joining

. Lezcano played nine

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

seasons with Elche, scoring 42 goals in 213 league appearances. He was a key figure for the club as it reached the

1969 Copa del Generalísimo Final The Copa del Generalísimo 1969 Final was the 67th final of the King's Cup. The final was played at Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, on 15 June 1969, being won by Club Atlético de Bilbao, who beat Elche CF 1-0. Details References {{DE ...

- Elche's highest profile moment. After he retired from playing, Lezcano became a football coach. He managed

Elche CF Ilicitano Elche Ilicitano Club de Fútbol, known officially as Elche Ilicitano is a Spanish football team based in Elche, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1932 as Club Deportivo Ilicitano, a farm team, it is the reserve team of Elche CF, ...

in 1976, and was assistant manager to

Felipe Mesones Felipe Mesones Temperán (9 February 1936 – 15 December 2017) was an Argentine football right winger and coach. Playing career Born in Buenos Aires, Mesones spent the vast majority of his career in Spain, representing Real Murcia, Levante UD ...

for the parent club in 1977. Lezcano has also acted as a caretaker manager for Elche on three occasions.

References

External links

* 1938 births Living people Paraguayan footballers Club Deportivo Universidad Católica footballers Santiago Morning footballers Elche CF players CD Eldense footballers Association football midfielders La Liga players {{Paraguay-footy-bio-stub