José Milton Melgar Soruco (born September 20, 1959) is a retired

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

n football

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 ...

. In 2006, he was appointed by the Bolivian Government under President

Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma (; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to come ...

as Minister of Sports, but he resigned a year later. He currently runs his own youth football academy in his hometown.

Playing career

Club

At the club level, Melgar played for Blooming, Bolívar,

Oriente Petrolero Club Deportivo Oriente Petrolero () is a Bolivian football club based in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. They play at the 38,000-capacity Estadio Tahuichi Aguilera. Oriente have been Bolivian champions five times, Copa Aerosur winners two ti ...

and

Real Santa Cruz Club Real Santa Cruz is a 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'' ...

, as well as Everton (VdM) and

Cobreloa Club de Deportes Cobreloa S.A.D.P. (), commonly referred to as Cobreloa, is a professional Chilean football league system, Chilean football club based in Calama, Chile, Calama, Región de Antofagasta, Chile. They compete in the Primera B de Ch ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. He also played in Argentina for the two giants and fierce rivals

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

and River Plate. In addition, during his career, he also had 53

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

appearances with 2 goals scored.

International

Melgar was capped 89 times and scored 6 international goals for

between 1980 and 1997. His tally of 89 caps was a national record until January 31, 2002, when it was broken by

Marco Sandy Marco Antonio Sandy Sansusty (born 29 August 1971) is a Bolivian football manager and former player who played as a defender. He is the current assistant manager of Jorge Wilstermann. Playing career Club On club level he spent the majority o ...

who obtained his 90th cap in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against Brazil. Melgar played all three matches at the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

, and his club at that time was

The Strongest Club The Strongest is a Bolivian professional football club based in La Paz, that currently plays in the Bolivian Primera División. Founded in 1908, their team colours are yellow and black. Although they have a home ground, Estadio Rafael Me ...

Managerial career

Following his retirement, Melgar pursued a managerial career. In 2000, he made his official debut as manager with Oriente Petrolero. Later in the year he also managed Blooming. In October 2002 he assumed his duties as the U-17 and U-20 national teams, but his stint was unsuccessful.

Honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Melgar, Jose Milton 1959 births Living people Footballers from Santa Cruz de la Sierra Men's association football midfielders Bolivian men's footballers 20th-century Bolivian sportsmen Bolivia men's international footballers 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1983 Copa América players 1987 Copa América players 1989 Copa América players 1991 Copa América players 1993 Copa América players 1995 Copa América players 1997 Copa América players Club Blooming players Boca Juniors footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Club Bolívar players Oriente Petrolero players Everton de Viña del Mar footballers The Strongest players C.D. Cobreloa footballers Bolivian Primera División players Argentine Primera División players Bolivian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Expatriate men's footballers in Chile Bolivian expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Bolivian expatriate sportspeople in Chile Bolivian football managers Oriente Petrolero managers Club Blooming managers Sports ministers of Bolivia