Juan Carlos Sánchez Frías (born 1 September 1956 in

Formosa, Argentina Formosa () is the capital city of the Argentine province of Formosa, on the banks of the Paraguay River, opposite the Paraguayan city of Alberdi, about north from Buenos Aires, on National Route 11. The city has a population of about 234,000 ...

) is a 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 ...

striker who played most of his career in the Bolivian League. Born in Argentina, he played five matches for Bolivia national team. Sánchez started his career with Argentine club

Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy Club Atlético Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy , (usually known as Gimnasia de Jujuy or just GEJ) is an Argentine sports club based in San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy Province. The club was founded in 1931 and is best known for its football team, wh ...

in 1972. By 1979, he moved to

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

to play for Guabirá, where in 1980 he became the top-scorer in the Bolivian league for the first time by netting 21 goals; his scoring ability bought him a transfer to

Blooming Bloom or blooming may refer to: Science and technology Biology * Bloom, one or more flowers on a flowering plant * Algal bloom, a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in an aquatic system * Jellyfish bloom, a collective n ...

, where he spent the best years of his professional career. Playing for Blooming, he scored 136 goals in five seasons, including the league top-scorer in 1981 and 1983. In 1984, Sánchez helped Blooming win the Bolivian title, and in 1985 he became the Copa Libertadores topscorer with 11 goals, 6 of which came in an 8–0 victory over

Deportivo Italia Petare Fútbol Club (until summer 2010 called Deportivo Italia Fútbol Club and known as Deportivo Petare Fútbol Club until summer 2015) is a Venezuelan football club based in Caracas. Formed in 1948 as "Deportivo Italia F.C.", the club after ...

, which set a Copa Libertadores record. In 1986, he joined Jorge Wilstermann, but then returned to Blooming in 1987. Sánchez also had a spell with Deportivo Litoral before joining San José in 1990, where he became topscorer in the Bolivian league for the fourth time in his career. In 1991, he joined

Independiente Petrolero Club Independiente Petrolero is a football club from Sucre, Bolivia currently playing in the Bolivian Primera División, the top-tier football league in Bolivia. The club was founded on April 4, 1932 and plays its home games at the Estadio Olímpi ...

, and then returned to San José to retire at the end of the 1992 season. He scored a total of 263 goals during his professional career, becoming the second all-time top-scorer in Bolivian League history.rsssf: Bolivian league topscorers
/ref> Moreover, Sánchez played a total of 53

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 ...

games during his career, scoring 26 goals, which puts him in 8th place in the list of all-time scorers for that competition.

Club titles

Honours

After retirement

After retirement Sánchez has gone on to coach and manage several teams, he was a coach at Guabirá, assistant manager at Blooming and he has served as the manager of the Bolivia under-17 and under-20 teams. He currently resides in Montero,

where he runs his own youth football academy.

References

External links

Conmebol.com profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Juan Carlos 1956 births Living people Footballers from Formosa, Argentina Bolivian men's footballers Bolivia men's international footballers Argentine men's footballers Men's association football forwards Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy footballers Club Blooming players Club Deportivo Guabirá players Club Deportivo Litoral (Cochabamba) players C.D. Jorge Wilstermann players Club San José players Bolivian Primera División players Expatriate men's footballers in Bolivia Copa Libertadores top scorers Argentine football managers Bolivian football managers Argentine emigrants to Bolivia Naturalized citizens of Bolivia