Jorge Cristian Acuña Concha (born 31 July 1978 in

Ovalle Ovalle is a city in the Coquimbo Region of Chile, founded in 1831 as a settlement. It has a population of more than 113,000 people. The name Ovalle was chosen to honor to Chile's vice-president, José Tomás Ovalle. Ovalle is the capital of th ...

), also known by his nickname Kike Acuña, is a Chilean football manager and former footballer who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

Born in

, IV Region of Coquimbo, Acuña joined

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

–based club

Unión Española Club Unión Española S.A.D.P. is a professional football club based in the Independencia neighborhood, commune of Santiago, Chile currently participating in the Primera División de Chile. History Foundation, Amateur Era and First seasons ...

youth set-up where was promoted to the first adult team in 1999. After spending a season with the Spaniards, in January 2000, he moved to powerhouse Universidad Católica where he helped the club to win the 2002 Torneo Apertura, being a key playing in the title earning. In 2002, Acuña signed a contract with Dutch club

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

. Following a Feyenoord Reserve match on 15 April 2004, he and other Feyenoord players, including

Robin van Persie Robin van Persie (; born 6 August 1983) is a Dutch football coach and former professional association football, footballer who is the head coach of Eredivisie club Feyenoord. He is regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and was ...

, were attacked by

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...

hooligans. Acuña was taken to the hospital with head, neck and rib injuries. Then he joined on loan to

RBC Roosendaal RBC, previously known as RBC Roosendaal, is a football club based in Roosendaal, Netherlands. RBC currently plays in the fifth-tier Vierde Divisie after bankruptcy in 2011, restarting the club in the tenth tier Vijfde Klasse. History 1912– ...

to play the 2005–06 Eredivisie season. After completing 24 league appearances, Acuña finished his spell at

North Brabant North Brabant ( ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, Dutch Brabant or Hollandic Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to ...

and later was released from Feyenoord in January 2006 which didn't renew his contract. After months as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

he was on trial at English clubs

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

and

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

. However, on 23 January 2007, Acuña finally signed for

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile () is a public research university in Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the co ...

, Católica's cross town rivals. He arrived to the club during an institutional crisis, only playing 16 league games and then being fired by coach Arturo Salah after missing a training. On 8 August 2007, it was reported that Acuña moved to South African side

Mamelodi Sundowns Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premiership, the first tier of South African football league syste ...

of the

Premier Soccer League The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is the administrative body for professional soccer leagues and cups in South Africa. It is based in Johannesburg, and was founded in 1996 following an agreement between the National Soccer League and the remnant ...

. After two seasons playing at ''The Brazilians'', he decided to left them after differences with club's chairman

Patrice Motsepe Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe (born 28 January 1962) is a South African billionaire businessman and football administrator. Patrice Motsepe was born to Kgosi Augustine Motsepe, a chief of the Mmakau branch of the Tswana people. Since March 2021, ...

who according Acuña discriminated him for be white. After leaving Unión San Felipe, on 2018 he played for both Rebeldes F.C. and Las Higueras de Santa María at amateur level.

Managerial career

After coaching the under-17 football team of the commune Santa María, on 2020 he began his managerial career as manager of

Unión San Felipe Unión San Felipe is a Chilean football club, their hometown is San Felipe in the V Región of Valparaíso. They play in the second level of the Chilean football league, the Primera B. The club was founded on October 16, 1956 with the merger ...

at under-17 level. In November 2020, after Unión San Felipe changed his technical staff, Acuña became

assistant coach An athletic coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction, and training of a sports team or athlete. History The original sense of the word ''Coach'' is that of a Coach (carriage), horse-drawn carriage, deriving ul ...

of Héctor Roco, the manager of the first team. On 28 April 2021, he took the challenge of coaching Unión San Felipe as a caretaker manager after Tomás Arrotea was released, being later ratified on 26 May 26, 2021, and released on August of the same year. For the 2023 season, he signed with Santiago City FC in the Chilean Tercera A.

Personal life

His cousin, Diego Abarca, is an American soccer player who is the son of his cousin, Sandra Ramírez, and the former Chilean professional footballer José Abarca.

Honours

Club

;Universidad Católica *

Primera División de Chile Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

: 2002 Apertura

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Acuna, Jorge Living people 1978 births People from Ovalle Footballers from Coquimbo Region Chilean men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Chile men's international footballers Unión Española footballers Club Deportivo Universidad Católica footballers Feyenoord players RBC Roosendaal players Club Universidad de Chile footballers Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. players Ñublense footballers Unión San Felipe footballers Rangers de Talca footballers C.D. Cobresal footballers Chilean Primera División players Eredivisie players Primera B de Chile players Chilean expatriate men's footballers Chilean expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Chilean expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa Chilean football managers Primera B de Chile managers Unión San Felipe managers Santiago City managers