Jorge Vargas (born 8 February 1976 in

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

) is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an football manager and former

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 ...

defender, currently in charge as head coach of Pro Patria.

Club career

Vargas debuted in his country's first division in 1995, while playing for

Huachipato Club Deportivo Huachipato is a Chilean football club based in Talcahuano that is a current member of the Chilean Primera División. The club was founded 7 June 1947 and plays its home games at the Estadio CAP, which has a capacity of 10,500 ...

on loan from Universidad Católica. After returning from his loan spell Vargas received little playing time for Universidad Católica, and was consequently loaned out during the 1997 season to

Coquimbo Unido Coquimbo Unido is a Chilean football club based in the city of Coquimbo. The club was founded August 30, 1958 and will play in the Chilean Primera División on 2022. Their home games are played at the Estadio Municipal Francisco Sánchez Rumoroso ...

, where he began to make a name for himself with his solid play. His play did not go unnoticed by Universidad Católica as he returned to the club and began to feature regularly. By 1999 Vargas established himself as the symbol and most prominent member of the club appearing in 38 matches and netting 3 goals. Vargas started drawing interest from Italian clubs and by the end of 1999 was sold to

Reggina Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo. They are n ...

. With Reggina in the Italian serie A Vargas enjoyed the most successful part of his career, in four years he appeared in 97 league matches scoring 3 goals. In 2003/04 Vargas joined Empoli, but was unable to help the club avoid relegation. After his negative experience with Empoli, Vargas signed with A.S Livorno, where he recaptured the form that made him a standout for Reggina. In two years at the Tuscan club Vargas appeared in 55 league matches. After his successful serie A career Vargas signed on with top Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg for the 2006/07 season. He appeared in 26 league matches helping the club to the Austrian Bundesliga crown. On 29 July 2008, Vargas joined the recently relegated Italian side

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

. On 25 November 2009, Vargas joined to

Spezia Calcio Spezia Calcio is a professional Association football, football club based in La Spezia, Liguria, Italy. Spezia Calcio was founded in 1906 by the Swiss banker Hermann Hurni (or Hurny in some documents), who played for the early Crystal Palace am ...

, team from the

Serie C2 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consisted of 36 teams, but in the 2011–12 season, there were 41 teams divided geographically into two divisions of 2 ...

in Italy.

Managerial career

In 2016, he began his managerial career at the youth categories of

. After managing ASD Aurora Reggio and working as the assistant of

Roberto Donadoni Roberto Donadoni (; born 9 September 1963) is an Italian football manager and former midfielder. Donadoni was capable of playing on either flank, or in the centre. He began his career with Atalanta, and he later became a pillar of the powerhous ...

for

Shenzhen F.C. Shenzhen Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club that competes in the Chinese Super League. The team is based in Shenzhen, Guangdong and their home stadium is the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre that has a seating capacity of ...

, in 2021 he became the manager of

Vigor Lamezia Vigor Lamezia is an Football in Italy, Italian association football club, based in Lamezia Terme, Calabria. Vigor Lamezia currently plays in Promozione, 6th level of the Italian football league system. History The club was founded in 1919 and ...

in the

Eccellenza Calabria Eccellenza Calabria is the regional Eccellenza football division for clubs in the Southern Italian region of Calabria, Italy. It is competed among 16 teams, in one group. The winners of the Groups are promoted to Serie D. The club who finishes sec ...

. After leaving Vigor Lamezia by the end of the season, on 30 June 2022 he was unveiled as the new head coach of

Serie C The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega Pro ...

club Pro Patria.

National team

Vargas made his international debut for Chile on 28 April 1999. He cemented a starting role during his countries 4th-place finish during

1999 Copa América The 1999 Copa América was a football tournament held in Paraguay, from 29 June to 18 July. It was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. There was no qualifying for the final tournament. Mexico and Japan were invited to ...

. During the latter months of 2006 and early 2007 Vargas was captain of the Chile national team. In July 2007 he was penalised by the Chilean Football Federation with a 20 match ban for his role in the unruly celebrations for qualifying to the second round of

2007 Copa América The 2007 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, known simply as the 2007 Copa América or 2007 Copa América Venezuela, was the 42nd edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The c ...

, in which several members of the team in a drunken state caused problems at the teams camp. Vargas to this day denies his role. Vargas has represented

52 times, scoring a lone goal versus

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

from the

penalty spot The penalty area or 18-yard box (also known less formally as the penalty box or simply box) is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends 16.5m (18 yd) to each side of the goal and 16.5m (18 yd) in front of it. Wit ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vargas, Jorge 1976 births Living people Footballers from Santiago Chilean footballers Chilean expatriate footballers Club Deportivo Universidad Católica footballers C.D. Huachipato footballers Coquimbo Unido footballers Reggina 1914 players Empoli F.C. players U.S. Livorno 1915 players FC Red Bull Salzburg players Spezia Calcio players San Luis de Quillota footballers Deportes La Serena footballers Chilean Primera División players Serie A players Serie B players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Expatriate footballers in Italy Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Austria Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Austria Association football defenders Chile under-20 international footballers Chile international footballers 2007 Copa América players Chilean football managers Aurora Pro Patria 1919 managers Eccellenza managers Serie C managers Chilean expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in China Chilean expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate football managers in Italy Chilean emigrants to Italy