Sergio Apraham Markarián Abrahamián (born 1 November 1944) is a Uruguayan-Argentine 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 ...

coach of Armenian descent. In 2015, he was the head coach of the Greece national football team.

Early life

Markarián lived in Argentina during most of his childhood and adolescent years, from 7 to 18 years of age. He played football as a left center back defender until he was 17 years of age. Never making it to professional football, he entered into university studies and started working in a large fuel distribution company in Uruguay, eventually reaching the post of general manager. It was the Uruguay loss against Holland in the

1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the ...

which spurred Markarian to realise that coaching football was his vocation. Markarian abandoned his well-paid post as general manager, taking many risks, even when facing criticism from colleagues and friends, in order to dedicate his life to coaching professional football. Markarian lost status and spending power and endured ten difficult years at the beginning of his coaching career. As he stated, "I had to sell my Mercedes Benz and start catching the bus!" Markarián followed his heart and has become a well-respected professional coach. He is recognized for being a great tactician, which earned him the nickname, ''El Mago'' ("The Magician" in Spanish).

Coaching career

Even though he set out with the idea for the improvement of Uruguayan football, he never coached professionally in Uruguay. Markarian started his career in 1974 coaching the Reserves of Club Atlético Bella Vista of Uruguay and went on to coach the first team. Markarian made his professional coaching debut as a coach for the football club,

Olimpia Asunción Club Olimpia is a Paraguayan sports club based in the city of Asunción. The club promotes the practice of various sports with most importance given to the football, rugby and basketball sides, the former being the highest priority and most su ...

of Paraguay in 1983. He won the Paraguayan league with Olimpia the very same year he started coaching in 1983 and then again in 1985. After his four-year stay at Olimpia, he made the move to the Paraguayan club, Sol de America, leading them to win the Torneo Republica and to become the Paraguayan league runner-up in 1989. He then made the move to another Paraguayan giant, Cerro Porteño, winning the Torneo Republica in 1990. Markarian coached the Paraguay U-23 National Team in 1992, winning the South American Pre-Olympic Championships and a spot to compete in the

1992 Barcelona Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

. From 1993 to 1997, Markarian coached the Peruvian teams,

Universitario de Deportes Club Universitario de Deportes, popularly known as Universitario or simply as La "U", is a Peruvian football club located in Lima. The club was founded in 1924 under the name Federación Universitaria by students of the National University of S ...

and

Sporting Cristal Club Sporting Cristal S.A. is a Peruvian sports club located in the city of Lima, best known for its association football, football team. It was founded on 13 December 1955 in the Rímac District, Rímac district by engineer Richard Bentín Mujica ...

winning one Peruvian league title with each of them. Markarian is also recognized for taking

to the

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 ...

Final in which

was the runner-up. In 1998, Markarian coached the Greek team, Ionikos, reaching fifth place in the Greek league and qualifying them for the UEFA Cup. Markarian became the coach of the Paraguay National team from 1999 through 2001 qualifying Paraguay to the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

in Korea and Japan. He was fired by the Paraguayan Football Association in 2001 prior to the World Cup because he had lost his last two qualifier matches, a 3–1 away loss against Venezuela and a 4–0 home loss against

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. He was to be replaced by the Italian coach,

Cesare Maldini Cesare Maldini (; 5 February 1932 – 3 April 2016) was an Italian professional football manager and player who played as a defender. Father to Paolo Maldini and grandfather to Daniel Maldini, Cesare began his career with Italian side Triestin ...

.https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/28/sports/plus-soccer-maldini-to-coach-paraguay-in-cup.html "Maldini to coach Paraguay in Cup" The New York Times. Archives Soccer, 28 December 2001. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. After coaching the Paraguay National team, Markarian returned to Greece and became the head coach of

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

in 2002 reaching the quarter finals in the UEFA Champions League. Markarian resigned his post as head coach in May 2002 only to return in October saying that he "needed time off to collect his thought and relax". The following season, Markarian led them to the quarter finals of the UEFA Cup but lost to Jose Mourinho's

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

. In 2005, the

Iraklis Thessaloniki Gymnasticos Syllogos Iraklis ( el, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Ηρακλής, en, Gymnastics Club Heracles), commonly referred to as Iraklis, is a Greek multi-sports club based in Thessaloniki. The club was founded in 1908 as "Mace ...

Greek team hired him to help improve their first division standings. After coaching in Greece since 2002, Markarian returned to Paraguay to coach Libertad from 2005 to 2007, winning Paraguayan League titles in 2006 and 2007.http://especiales.latercera.cl/especiales/2009/campeon_uchile/tecnico.html "El Tecnico Sergio Markarian" LaTercera. LaTercera Especiales. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. Markarian was appointed coach of Mexico's Cruz Azul in June 2007 and took them to the Apertura final but lost to

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V. (), commonly known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club that competes in the Liga MX. It is located in northern Mexico and represents the urban area of La Comarca Lagunera, made up o ...

.http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=437624&cc=5901 "Markarian appointed coach of Mexico's Cruz Azul" ESPN Soccernet, Primera Division de Mexico. 9 June 2007. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. He walked away a year later because of differences he had with the club's board regarding how to reinforce the squad.http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=543588&cc=5901 "Markarian resigns as coach of Cruz Azul" ESPN Soccernet, Primera Division de Mexico. 7 June 2008. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. He had the option to be the head coach of

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

national team, but the Costa Rican Football Federation picked Rodrigo Kenton as their head coach. Markarian coached Universidad de Chile in 2009, winning the Chilean Torneo Apertura- the first title the Universidad de Chile had won in the last 5 years- before then terminating his contract due to differences with the club's management only six months into the year.http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=659733&sec=global&cc=5901 "Universidad de Chile send Markarian off in style" ESPN Soccernet, Primera Division de Chile. 8 July 2009. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. In July 2010, Markarian was appointed as the new head coach of the Peru national team for the

2011 Copa America Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''El ...

and the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

Qualifiers. Markarian succeeded

José del Solar José Guillermo del Solar Alvarez-Calderón (born 28 November 1967) is a Peruvian football manager and former player who played as a defensive midfielder. During his playing career, spent in four countries – mainly in Spain, where he amassed ...

who led the Peruvian team in a disastrous campaign, finishing last during the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.http://www.conmebol.com/conmebol/mainMedia.html?id=15797&viewpage='full' ,"Sergio Markarian, new coach of Peru" Conmebol. Centro de Noticias. 4 July 2010. Web. 14 November 2010. Under great expectations from the media, Markarian stated in a press conference, "I expect from my heart that this will be my best work in my career as a coach".http://www.conmebol.com/conmebol/mainMedia.html?id=16016&viewpage='full' ,"Sergio Markarian was presented as the new head coach of Peru" Conmebol. Centro de Noticias. 26 July 2010. Web. 14 November 2010. Markarian's objective was to qualify Peru to the 2014 World Cup and recover the luster that Peruvian football once had. This would prove to be a great challenge, as Peru had missed out on all editions of the World Cup since its last appearance in 1982. Nonetheless, Markarian set out to overcome this challenge with the help of his assistants

Pablo Bengoechea Pablo Javier Bengoechea Dutra (born 27 June 1965) is a Uruguayan former professional footballer, who is currently a manager. A midfielder of exquisite technique, he played for several clubs in Uruguay and Spain. He was the captain of the club C. ...

and

Óscar Aguirregaray Óscar Osvaldo Aguirregaray Acosta (born 25 October 1959) is a former Uruguayan footballer who played as a defender for Uruguay national team. At club level, he has played for Nacional, Defensor Sporting, Internacional de Porto Alegre, Palmeir ...

and Physical Coach Gonzalo Barreiro. In 2010, Markarian was the third best paid coach in South America earning a year.http://archivo.elcomercio.pe/deporte-total/seleccion/sergio-markarian-tercer-tecnico-mejor-pagado-sudamerica-noticia-618046 "Sergio Markarian es el tercer tecnico mejor pagado de Sudamerica" RPP. Futbol Nacional. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. Only Mano Menezes and Marcelo Bielsa had higher salaries than Markarian at the time. After a 1–0 loss in a friendly game with Panama in October, Markarian excluded players Reimond Manco, Jefferson Farfán, and

John Galliquio John Christian Galliquio Castro (born 1 December 1979) is a retired Peruvian footballer. He was a centre-back. He was called to play for the Peru national football team for the Copa America 2007, where he played 4 games with a regular performanc ...

from the squad because they reportedly went to a Panama City club despite orders not to go out. He managed Peru in a successful 2011 Copa América campaign with the team finished third after beating Venezuela 4–1, leaving fans to be enthusiastic about a possible football revival for Peru. However, the 2014 World Cup qualification became another disappointing campaign, with a 2–1 of Peru over his home ancestral team Uruguay in Lima meant that the Peruvians would miss another World Cup. In October 2013, Markarián resigned as head coach of the Peru national team. Peru would eventually qualify for World Cup four years later.

Honours

Olimpia * Paraguayan Primera División: 1983, 1985 Universitario de Deportes * Peruvian Primera División: 1993 Sporting Cristal * Peruvian Primera División: 1996 *

: runner-up 1997 Libertad * Paraguayan Primera División:

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, 2007 Universidad de Chile * Torneo Apertura:

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 ...

Paraguay U23 * CONMEBOL Men Pre-Olympic Tournament:

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 ...

Peru *

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 ...

: third place 2011

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Markarian, Sergio 1944 births Living people Uruguayan people of Armenian descent Ethnic Armenian sportspeople Sportspeople from Montevideo Uruguayan football managers C.A. Bella Vista managers Danubio F.C. managers River Plate Montevideo managers Club Olimpia managers Club Sol de América managers Cerro Porteño managers Club Universitario de Deportes managers Sporting Cristal managers Ionikos F.C. managers Paraguay national football team managers Panathinaikos F.C. managers Club Libertad managers Cruz Azul managers Universidad de Chile managers Peru national football team managers Greece national football team managers Uruguayan Primera División managers Peruvian Primera División managers Paraguayan Primera División managers Super League Greece managers Liga MX managers Chilean Primera División managers 2001 Copa América managers 2011 Copa América managers Uruguayan expatriate football managers Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Paraguay Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Peru Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Greece Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Chile Expatriate football managers in Paraguay Expatriate football managers in Peru Expatriate football managers in Greece Expatriate football managers in Mexico Expatriate football managers in Chile