Marco Antonio Figueroa Montero (; born 21 February 1962) is a Chilean former

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 ...

, currently

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 ...

for

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

. He is commonly known as "El Fantasma" ( Spanish word: "The

phantom Phantom may refer to: * Spirit (animating force), the vital principle or animating force within all living things ** Ghost, the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear to the living Aircraft * Boeing Phantom Ray, a stealthy un ...

"). Figueroa played as a striker and spent the majority of his playing career at

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, after retiring in 1998, at the Chilean powerhouse Universidad Católica, aged 36.

Club career

Figueroa is considered an idol of

Morelia Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid) is a city and municipal seat of the municipality of Morelia in the north-central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. The city is in the Guayangareo Valley and is the capital and larg ...

after playing for the club between 1986 and 1990. He and his Chilean fellows

Juan Carlos Vera Juan Carlos Vera Rivera (born 5 July 1960) is a Chilean former professional footballer who played as a attacking midfielder for clubs in Chile, Mexico and the United States. Club career Born in La Calera, Chile, in 1975 Vera moved to Spain and ...

and

Ángel Bustos Juan Ángel Bustos Pizarro (born 16 January 1961), known as Ángel Bustos, is a Chilean former professional footballer who played as a winger for clubs in Chile and Mexico. Club career Born in Antofagasta, Chile, he represented the city team ...

are well remembered as an prolific attacking trident.

Coaching career

In January 2001, he debuted as

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

at the

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

n successful club

Comunicaciones Comunicaciones Fútbol Club S.A., better known as Comunicaciones F.C. or Comunicaciones, are a football club based in Guatemala City. They compete in the Liga Nacional, the top tier of Guatemalan football. The most popular and successful footba ...

, signing the next season for

Atlético Celaya The Club Atlético Celaya was a Mexican football club from Celaya, Guanajuato. The club was formed in 1994 when the two second-division clubs Atletico Cuernavaca (Morelos) and Escuadra Celeste de Celaya (Guanajuato) merged. Another team, Atléti ...

of the

Liga de Ascenso Liga or LIGA may refer to: People * Līga (name), a Latvian female given name * Luciano Ligabue, more commonly known as Ligabue or ''Liga'', Italian rock singer-songwriter Sports * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Lig ...

, in where Figueroa had two spells, after of direct to

Salamanca F.C. Salamanca F.C. is a Mexican Association football, football club based in Salamanca, Guanajuato, Salamanca, Guanajuato, Mexico, México which is playing in the Tercera División de México. History The club was founded in the 1950s and soon after, ...

of the same country in the 2003 season. Three years later, with adobe steps at

Querétaro Querétaro (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro, links=no; Otomi language, Otomi: ''Hyodi Ndämxei''), is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. I ...

and

UAG Tecos Tecos Fútbol Club (often referred to by its nickname "Tecos") is a Mexican professional football club associated with the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara AC. It plays its home games in the ''Estadio 3 de Marzo'' (March 3 Stadium, named for ...

, in September 2006, he signed a contract with Monarcas Morelia, his old club when was player, team in where also was an historic goalscorer during the 1980s and 90s. Figueroa came back to his homeland in July 2008 signing for

Cobreloa Club de Deportes Cobreloa S.A.D.P. (), commonly referred to as Cobreloa, is a Chilean football professional club based in Calama, Región de Antofagasta, Chile. That competes in the Primera B. The club's home ground is the Estadio Zorros del ...

, another old club in his career, of this form returning to his country after ten years out in

and

. After a successful season at the team of Calama, reaching the Clausura Tournament semi–finals, in December of that year, he reached an agreement with Universidad Católica for direct to that team in the next season. At Católica, Figueroa was runner–up in the 2009 Clausura Tournament, after a regular season in the last semester, despite reaching the semi–finals of the Apertura Tournament, being also named as the coach of the year according to El Gráfico. The next season, after a regular campaign with Católica in the first part of the league tournament and in the

2010 Copa Libertadores The 2010 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2010 Copa Santander Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 51st edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, CONMEBOL's premier international club tournament. The tournament began on ...

, he was fired of the club, but signed months later for O'Higgins. On 11 April 2011, Figueroa signed a contract with the Primera B side Everton, replacing to Diego Osella, because the bad results that the

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

coach reached in the first weeks of the Apertura Tournament of that division. At the club based in

Viña del Mar Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a city and commune on central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located within the Valparaíso Region, and it is Chile's fourth largest city w ...

, he was champion of the Clausura Tournament of that level, but not achieved the promotion, after of loss against

Unión San Felipe Unión San Felipe is a Chilean Football club, their hometown is San Felipe in the V Región of Valparaíso. They play in the second level of the Chilean football league, the Primera B. They were the Copa Chile champions, and played the 2010 Co ...

and Rangers. The next season, he was fired from the club. On 25 September 2018, Figueroa was re-appointed as head coach for O'Higgins.Bienvenido Marco Antonio Figueroa
ohigginsfc.cl, 25 September 2018

Honours

Player

;Cobreloa *

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 ...

(1):

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

Individual

* Primera División de Chile Top–scorer (1):

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

* Monarcas Morelia all-time top scorer (130 goals)

Manager

;Universidad Católica * Torneo Clausura (1): Runner–up

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

;Everton * Primera B (1): 2011 Apertura *

Promotion playoffs Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or ...

(1): Runner-up

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Individual

* ANFP Golden Ball (1): Best coach

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Figueroa, Marco Antonio 1962 births Living people People from San Felipe, Chile Chilean footballers Chile international footballers Chilean expatriate footballers Association football forwards Unión La Calera footballers Everton de Viña del Mar footballers Atlético Morelia players Club América footballers Cobreloa footballers Atlético Celaya footballers Club Deportivo Universidad Católica footballers Primera B de Chile players Chilean Primera División players Liga MX players Expatriate footballers in Mexico Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Chile 1993 Copa América players Chilean football managers Chilean expatriate football managers Comunicaciones F.C. managers Chiapas F.C. managers Club Celaya managers Querétaro F.C. managers Tecos F.C. managers Atlético Morelia managers Cobreloa managers Club Deportivo Universidad Católica managers O'Higgins F.C. managers Everton de Viña del Mar managers Unión San Felipe managers Universidad de Chile managers San Marcos de Arica managers Nicaragua national football team managers Chilean Primera División managers Primera B de Chile managers Liga MX managers Expatriate football managers in Mexico Expatriate football managers in Guatemala Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Guatemala Expatriate football managers in Nicaragua Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Nicaragua