Rómulo Cortez is a

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 ...

n former football coach and player. Starting professional football at 17 with C.D. Jorge Wilstermann of the domestic league, he took part in first-ever Copa Libertadores, the premier club tournament for South American countries. He was joint top scorer in the 1968 American Soccer League with 10 goals for the

Washington Darts The Washington Darts were an American association football, soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that played in the American Soccer League (1933-1983), American Soccer League from 1967 to 1969 and the North American Soccer League (1968-1984), N ...

, sharing the honor with teammate Gerry Brown.

Coaching career

Plying his trade abroad in Germany and North America (for the

), Cortez began to develop an interest in coaching, doing courses in Mexico and Brazil as well as training in Spain, getting a master's degree in sports science in Germany. Later, the former footballer coached a host of clubs, including top teams in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

where he won individual awards. Managing the

Maldives national team Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

on their

1998 FIFA World Cup qualification 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 ...

campaign, Cortez led his charges to a poor run of results, losing 17-0 to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

in the first round, 12-0 to

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

twice in the second and fourth rounds, and 9-0 to Iran again in the fifth. Including 3-0 and 6-0 defeats to

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...

in the third and sixth rounds, the combined scoreline in their campaign was 59 goals conceded. In response, the Bolivian stated that half his players wanted to quit following the first fixture as they were timorous about possible traducement from their supporters back home and said that the situation was unfair. Hired by the Real Cochabamba Football Academy board to become their technical director and manage their under-15 and under-17 squads, Cortez also was instructed to use his experience to teach their coaches in 2011. Expatiating and dilating on the state of Bolivian football, Cortez explained that it requires fundamental knowledge of the game, both technically and tactically but lacks professionals and that 95 percent of coaches are former players. Back in 2014, the former coach proposed a project for the restructuring of Bolivian football, which included ideas for a unified amateur second division and a creation of a coaching school; he also specified that the

Bolivian Football Federation The Bolivian Football Federation ( es, Federación Boliviana de Fútbol, ; FBF) is the governing body of football in Bolivia. It was founded in 1925, making it the eighth oldest South American federation. It affiliated to CONMEBOL and FIFA in 192 ...

should be the only body responsible for managing the national football team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cortez, Romulo Bolivian men's footballers Bolivia men's international footballers Bolivian football managers Living people Maldives national football team managers Bolivian expatriate sportspeople in the Maldives Men's association football forwards Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Club Always Ready players Year of birth missing (living people) Bolivian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Bolivian expatriate sportspeople in West Germany Bolivian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Bolivian expatriate men's footballers Bolivian expatriate football managers Expatriate men's footballers in West Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate football managers in the United Arab Emirates