Luis Arturo Mena Irarrázabal (born 28 August 1979) is a retired Chilean professional footballer. He is the only player in Chilean football history to win more than 10 domestic league titles. He also holds more than 300 appearances for Colo-Colo, with 7 goals. Because of this, Mena has been dubbed by Chilean press and Colo Colo fans as the "historic one" (el historico).

Football career

He made his professional debut with Colo-Colo more than a decade ago on November 26, 1996, in the final of the

Copa Chile The Copa Chile (''Chile Cup'') is an annual cup competition for Chilean football teams. Due to time constraints and club pressure, the trophy was cancelled in 2000, but returned in 2008. Its precursor was the Campeonato de Apertura (''Opening Ch ...

against Rangers. He has spent his entire career, except one year when he was playing on loan at Puerto Montt, playing with Colo-Colo as a defender. In the 2000s, and whilst he was playing for

Colo-Colo Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo () is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano they play in the Chilean Primera División, from which they have never been relegated. The team has pla ...

, he also studied a technical-professional career in physical activity at the University of the Americas, where also was classmate of his teammates

Claudio Bravo Claudio Andrés Bravo Muñoz (; born 13 April 1983) is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Real Betis and captains the Chile national team. He started playing with Colo-Colo and moved to Real Sociedad ...

Fernando Meneses Fernando Andrés Meneses Cornejo (born 27 September 1985) is a Chilean footballer who last played for Chilean Segunda División side Rodelindo Román as a midfielder. Football career In 2004, he debuted in Colo-Colo. In those years, he also stu ...

and

Miguel Riffo Miguel Augusto Riffo Garay (born 21 June 1981) is a Chilean former professional football player and the current assistant manager of Coquimbo Unido. Club career Product of Colo-Colo youth ranks, he won eight titles in his career with that clu ...

. Mena was the captain of the Under-20 Chile national team between 1998 and 1999, also winning the L'Alcúdia Tournament in 1998. He has been described as "not the most flashiest or talented footballer", but Mena is known for his loyalty to Colo-Colo and his calm leadership on the field.

Managing career

Luis Mena became the interim head coach for Colo-Colo women in January 2021, replacing Vanessa Arauz. On 24 February 2021, he was officially appointed as the head coach.

Honours

;Colo-Colo *

Primera División de Chile Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera Alí Rafael Primera Rosel ...

(11): 1996, 1997–C,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, 2002–C, 2006–A, 2006–C, 2007–A, 2007–C, 2008–C, 2009–C, 2014–C *

: 1996 ;Chile U20 * L'Alcúdia International Tournament (1):

References

External links

* 1979 births Living people People from Puente Alto Chilean people of Basque descent Chilean footballers Chile international footballers Chile under-20 international footballers Colo-Colo footballers Puerto Montt footballers Chilean Primera División players University of the Americas (Chile) alumni Association football defenders Footballers from Santiago Chilean football managers {{Chile-footy-defender-stub