Gabriel Humberto Calderón (born 7 February 1960) is an Argentinian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player, who is currently the manager of UAE Pro League side, Khor Fakkan Club. Calderón played in several teams including Argentine Racing Club de Avellaneda and Club Atlético Independiente, La Liga, Spanish Real Betis and Ligue 1, French Paris Saint-Germain. He was part of the Argentina national under-20 football team, Argentina Under-20 team that won the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship, and also played in the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain and in the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. After his retirement, he managed Caen, Lausanne Sports and several teams in the Middle East including the Saudi Arabia national team, Omani national team, Ittihad FC, Al-Ittihad, Al-Hilal, Baniyas, Bahrain national team, Al-Wasl, Qatar SC and Persepolis F.C. He also managed La Liga side Real Betis.

Playing career

Calderón was born on 7 February 1960 in Rawson, Chubut Province. He began his football career in with Club El Porvenir B team in 1974 and was promoted to the original squad in 1976. He was promoted to the El Porvenir original team in 1976 and was transferred to the Racing Club de Avellaneda in the next year after good showing and played three seasons and a half season at Club Atlético Lanús as loan. Then, he played for Club Atlético Independiente for two seasons before moving to La Liga side, Real Betis. He played for Betis 131 times and scored 38 goals for them. In 1987, he moved to Ligue 1 Paris Saint-Germain and played for the club three seasons. He was one of the key players of PSG in his second season at the club. In 1990, he joined to FC Sion but returned to France to play for Stade Malherbe Caen in 1992. He moved back to Switzerland next year and finished his football career in FC Lausanne-Sport in 1994 at the age of 34.

International career

Calderón played for the Argentina Under-20 team and won the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship. In 1981, he was invited to the national team by coach César Luis Menotti. He made his debut in a match against Brazil national football team, Brazil and scored his only international goal in a match against Denmark national football team, Denmark. He was part of the national team in 1982 FIFA World Cup held in Spain and in the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy and played along with Diego Maradona. He was key player of the national team in 1990 FIFA World Cup where Argentina reached the final match of the tournament. After the tournament, he retired from international career at the age of 30 after collecting 23 caps and scoring 1 goal for the Argentina national team.

International goals

Coaching career

Early years

Calderón began his managerial career in 1997 as head coach of Stade Malherbe Caen where he had played between 1992 and 1993. He was appointed as head coach of Lausanne Sports, another former club in 2003 but resigned after just five weeks due to poor results.

Saudi Arabia national team

Calderón then took over as the coach for the Saudi Arabia national football team at the end of 2004, and successfully guided the Saudi team to 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC), qualification for the Football World Cup 2006 in Germany by beating Uzbekistan national football team, Uzbekistan 3–0 in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia was the only team in that qualification that lost no matches. Calderón said "Qualifying to the World Cup is the dream of every coach and I'm more than satisfied with our campaign in the qualifiers." "I'm very happy with the qualification since that was the goal I was aiming at when I first arrived in the Kingdom," he added. However, in December 2005, Calderón was fired by the Saudi Arabia Football Federation as they were dissatisfied by the team's poor showing in the Football at the 2005 West Asian Games, 2005 West Asian Games after a defeat to Iraq national football team, Iraq, and was replaced by Marcos Paqueta.

Oman national team

On 9 April 2007, Calderón signed as the coach of the Oman national football team and led the team at the 2007 AFC Asian Cup. Oman began the tournament with a 1–1 draw with Australia men's national soccer team, Australia but was defeated 0–2 against co-host Thailand national football team, Thailand, then made a 0–0 draw with the tournament's winner, Iraq and was eliminated in the Group Stage. On 30 June 2008, he resigned as head coach of Oman national team in order to become the new head coach of Saudi Premier League, Saudi Al-Ittihad.

Al-Ittihad

On 30 June 2008, he returned to Saudi Arabia to become new Al-Ittihad (Jeddah), Al-Ittihad head coach. In his first season at Al-Ittihad, he eventually won the Saudi Premier League by beating Al-Hilal 2–1 in the final match of the league played at King Fahad Stadium in Riyadh and finished the season in first place, five points ahead of runner-up, Al-Hilal. However, there was no success in the league, as Al-Ittihad were eliminated from the 2008 AFC Champions League, 2008 ACL and lost the final game of King Cup of Champions to Al-Shabab (KSA), Al-Shabab. In the second and final season at Al-Ittihad, he won King Cup of Champions which beat Al-Hilal in the final match. He also led the club to the final match of 2009 AFC Champions League, win the Group A and defeated compatriot Al-Shabab 2–1 in the Round of 16. Then, beat Uzbek FC Pakhtakor Tashkent, Pakhtakor 5–1 aggregate and Nagoya Grampus 8–3 to reach to the final. They faced Pohang Steelers in Tokyo, Japan but was beaten by Korean side 1–2 and finished the tournament as runner-up. Two months after that, Calderón was sacked on 13 January 2010. He was linked to Argentina national team to succeed Diego Maradona in 2010.

Al-Hilal

On 5 November 2010, Calderón was announced as the new head coach of Al-Hilal FC, Al-Hilal. Calderón would succeed Eric Gerets who departed to take charge of the Morocco national football team, Moroccan national team. He led the club to become 2010–11 Saudi Professional League, 2010–11 league champions without any loss, and to the Crown Prince Cup title. He also led the club to the knockout stage of 2011 AFC Champions League, 2011 ACL but was defeated by his former club, Al-Ittihad in the Round of 16. Despite his achievements at the club, he was dismissed at the end of the season and on 19 July 2011 following the club's 3–0 defeat to league rivals Al Ittihad in the first leg of 2011 King Cup of Champions.

Baniyas

On 23 November 2011, he was appointed as UAE Pro-League side Baniyas SC's head coach. Baniyas was in 11th place before his arrival and was at the bottom of the league along with Sharjah SC, Sharjah but he saved the club from relegation and finished the league in 9th place. He also led the club to the final match of the 2011-12 UAE President's Cup, UAE President's Cup but was defeated by Al-Jazeera Club, Al-Jazira. Under his management, Baniyas reached the knockout stage of the 2012 AFC Champions League, AFC Champions League for the first time in the club's history but was defeated by Al-Hilal, Calderón's former side in the Round of 16. After this defeat, he announced that he would not renew his contract with Baniyas. He officially left the club on 30 May 2012. He was linked to Persepolis F.C., Persepolis in June 2012 but that job went to Manuel José de Jesus, Manuel José.

Bahrain national team

On 28 October 2012, Calderón was announced as head coach of Bahrain national football team to succeed Peter Taylor (footballer born 1953), Peter Taylor after the latter's dismissal. His first taste as manager came on 9 December 2012 in match with Yemen national football team, Yemen in 2012 West Asian Football Federation Championship. He was sacked on 13 August 2013.

Real Betis

On 19 January 2014, he was appointed as head coach of La Liga side Real Betis, replacing Juan Carlos Garrido. He separated after the end of season.

Al-Wasl

In October 2014, Calderón was named the head coach of Al-Wasl F.C., Al-Wasl. In May 2016, he left the club by mutual consent.

Qatar SC

On 5 July 2017, he signed a two-year contract with Qatar SC. he was sacked on 22 November 2017.

Persepolis

On 1 July 2019, Calderón was appointed manager of reigning Persian Gulf Pro League and Iranian Hazfi Cup title-holders Persepolis F.C., Persepolis, a post that was left vacant by the departure of Branko Ivanković, who left to manage Al-Ahli Saudi FC. On 12 January 2020, he resigned from his position as Persepolis coach due to financial troubles.

Managerial statistics

Honours

As a player

;Real Betis *Copa de la Liga runner-up: 1986 Copa de la Liga, 1986 ;Paris Saint-Germain *Ligue 1 runners-up: 1988–89 French Division 1, 1988–89 ;FC Sion *Swiss Super League: 1991–92 Nationalliga A, 1991–92 *Swiss Cup: 1991 ;Argentina *FIFA World Youth Championship: 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship, 1979 *FIFA World Cup runner-up: 1990 FIFA World Cup, 1990

As a manager

;Saudi Arabia *Qualifying to the FIFA World Cup: 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC third round#Group 1, 2006 ;Al-Ittihad *AFC Champions League runner-up: 2009 AFC Champions League, 2009 *Saudi Professional League: 2008–09 Saudi Professional League, 2008–09 *King Cup of Champions, King Cup: 2010 King Cup of Champions, 2010 ;Al-Hilal *Saudi Professional League: 2010–11 Saudi Professional League, 2010–11 *Saudi Crown Prince Cup, Crown Prince Cup: 2010–11 Saudi Crown Prince Cup, 2011

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Calderón, Gabriel 1960 births Living people Argentine men's footballers Argentine sportspeople of Spanish descent La Liga players Real Betis players Paris Saint-Germain FC players Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Club Atlético Independiente footballers Club Atlético Lanús footballers Racing Club de Avellaneda footballers Stade Malherbe Caen players FC Sion players FC Lausanne-Sport players Argentine football managers 1982 FIFA World Cup players 1990 FIFA World Cup players 1989 Copa América players People from Rawson, Chubut Footballers from Chubut Province Argentina men's youth international footballers Argentina men's international footballers Argentina men's under-20 international footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Ligue 1 players Argentine Primera División players Stade Malherbe Caen managers FC Lausanne-Sport managers Saudi Arabia national football team managers Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah) managers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in France Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate football managers in Switzerland Expatriate football managers in the United Arab Emirates 2007 AFC Asian Cup managers Al-Hilal Saudi FC managers Qatar SC managers Bahrain national football team managers Baniyas SC managers Oman national football team managers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates UAE Pro League managers Men's association football midfielders La Liga managers Real Betis managers Saudi Pro League managers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Oman Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Bahrain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Iran Expatriate football managers in Bahrain Expatriate football managers in Iran Expatriate football managers in Oman Expatriate football managers in Qatar Persepolis F.C. managers Persian Gulf Pro League managers 20th-century Argentine sportsmen