Oscar Alcides Mena Fernández (born 30 November 1970), nicknamed "El Mencho", is an Argentine former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He played as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Playing career

Born in

Luján, Buenos Aires Luján (pronounced ) is a city in the Buenos Aires province of Argentina, located northwest of the city of Buenos Aires. The city was founded in 1755 and has a population of 106,899 (per the ). Luján is best known for its large, neo-gothic ...

, Mena started his career playing for Club Luján and then Club Defensores de Cambaceres, both in the third division. In 1994, he made his debut in the Primera División with

Club Atlético Platense Club Atlético Platense is an Argentine sports club based in Florida, Buenos Aires. The club nickname is (Squid) after the journalist Palacio Zino said that the team moved "like a squid in its ink". Although the club hosts many activities, Pla ...

, moving to

Club Atlético Lanús Club Atlético Lanús () is an Argentina, Argentine sports club based in Lanús, a city of the Buenos Aires Province. Founded in 1915, the club's main sports are association football, football and basketball. In both sports, Lanús plays in Arge ...

for a further season. In 1997–98, both Mena and

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Carlos Roa Carlos Ángel Roa (born 15 August 1969) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently the goalkeeper coach of Greek Super League club AEK Athens. Most of his professional career was spent with Racing ...

were bought by

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

. Eminently a defensive-minded player, the former scored seven

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

goals during the campaign, helping the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

team finish fifth straight from the second level as well as to a runner-up finish in the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

. Subsequently, Mena signed with

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

, where he faced stiff competition for a starting job and also suffered from injuries. He resumed his career in Spain in its second,

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

and fourth tiers, with a quick return to Argentina with

Olimpo de Bahía Blanca Club Olimpo, usually referred to as Olimpo de Bahía Blanca, is an Argentine sports club based in the city of Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires Province. The club was founded October 15th, 1910. Its primary activity is soccer. The club is recognized in ...

in between.

Coaching career

Mena retired from the game in February 2005, making a return to Atlético Madrid later on, appearing for its

indoor soccer Indoor soccer or arena soccer is a form of five-a-side football, five-a-side or six-a-side version of minifootball. It is derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arenas. It differs from the FIFA, FIFA ...

side. Subsequently, he began his coaching career, first with the ''Colchoneros youths then acting as assistant to the C-team. On 10 February 2014, following a division three loss at

CD Sariñena Club Deportivo Sariñena is a Spanish football team based in Sariñena, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded in 1945 it plays in , holding home games at ''Estadio El Carmen'', with a 4,500-seat capacity. History Club background *''Clu ...

which left

Atlético Madrid B Atlético de Madrid B is a Spanish football team based in Madrid. Founded on 17 September 1963, it is the reserve team of Atlético Madrid and currently plays in Primera Federación – Group 2. They play their home games at Cerro del Espin ...

in the relegation zone, Mena replaced

Alfredo Santaelena Alfredo Santaelena Aguado (born 13 October 1967), known simply as Alfredo as a player, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, currently manager of Toledo. He amassed La Liga totals of 211 games and seven goals o ...

, who had also played for the club in the 90s, as head coach.Mena releva a Alfredo en el banquillo del Atlético B (Mena relieves Alfredo in Atlético B bench)
Marca, 10 February 2014 (in Spanish)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mena, Oscar 1970 births Living people Argentine sportspeople of Spanish descent Argentine men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Argentine Primera División players Defensores de Cambaceres footballers Club Atlético Platense footballers Club Atlético Lanús footballers Club Olimpo footballers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players RCD Mallorca players Atlético Madrid footballers Racing de Santander players CD Toledo players UD Las Palmas players Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine football managers Segunda División B managers Atlético Madrid B managers AD Alcorcón B managers Argentine expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Spain Sportspeople from Luján, Buenos Aires Footballers from Buenos Aires Province