Roberto Meléndez Lara, nicknamed El Flaco, (born in

Barranquilla Barranquilla () is the capital district of Atlántico Department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean Coast region; as of 2018 it had a population of 1,206,319, making it Col ...

, 31 March 1912 - died 20 May 2000) was a Colombian

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 ...

player and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

who played in the 1930s and 1940s, in the amateur era of the sport. As a player, Melendez played primarily as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He was a player for Barranquilla Juventud Junior who, in large part due to his efforts, became the most powerful amateur club in Colombia during that period. He was the first Colombian player to play for a foreign team in 1939 when was hired by the team 'Hispano Centro Gallego' in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. When playing, he was considered the best Colombian footballer of his era. Meléndez was also head coach of the Colombia national team and coached them to a fifth-place finish in the

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

1945 and in 1947 to an 8th-place finish. He was also head coach of Atletico Junior in the early 1940s, who were runners-up in the first championship league football in 1948. Meléndez died on 20 May 2000. The

main metropolitan stadium Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez was officially renamed after Meléndez, on the initiative of journalist Chelo de Castro on 17 March 1991.

Honours

;International * Central American and Caribbean Games Bronze Medal (1):

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melendez, Roberto Colombian footballers Colombian expatriate footballers Colombia international footballers Colombia national football team managers Atlético Junior footballers Atlético Junior managers Sportspeople from Barranquilla 1912 births 2000 deaths Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalists for Colombia Competitors at the 1938 Central American and Caribbean Games Association football forwards Colombian football managers Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in football 20th-century Colombian people