Manuel Gerardo Ureña Picado (born 6 July 1955) is a retired

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

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 who played most of his career with

Deportivo Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its Association football, football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, Costa Rica, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aym ...

, during the 1970s and 1980s. He is the current manager of

Costa Rican Primera División The Primera División of Costa Rica, commonly known as Liga de Fútbol de Primera División (Liga FPD), and Liga Promerica for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional association football division in Costa Rica. It is administered by the Uni ...

side Belén.

Club career

With Saprissa, he won three national championships, starting off as part of the

Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. Their colours are burgundy and white. It ...

team that won 6 national championships in a row during the 70's. He later had spells at San Carlos and Pérez Zeledón.

International career

Nicknamed '' el Puro'', Ureña played for

, earning 7 caps.Gerardo Ureña ‘Vinimos bien preparados’- Puro en datos
- Nación He represented his country in 3

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

matches in 1980.

Managerial career

He has also coached

Costa Rica national football team The Costa Rica national football team () represents Costa Rica in men's international Association football, football. The national team is administered by the Costa Rican Football Federation, Federación Costarricense de Fútbol (), the governi ...

, at the U-17 level but was fired in October 2008 after coaching different national age group teams for over 100 matches. In September 2010 he was announced manager of second division Aserrí. He became minor league coordinator at Saprissa in 2012. In February 2015, Ureña was appointed manager of Belén.Manuel Gerardo 'Puro' Ureña es el nuevo técnico de Belén
- Nación

References

1955 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Costa Rican men's footballers Costa Rica men's international footballers Deportivo Saprissa players A.D. San Carlos footballers A.D. Municipal Pérez Zeledón footballers Costa Rican football managers Deportivo Saprissa non-playing staff {{CostaRica-footy-bio-stub