Luis Arturo Mena Irarrázabal (born 28 August 1979) is a retired Chilean professional footballer. He is the only player in Chilean football history to win more than 10 domestic league titles. He also holds more than 300 appearances for Colo-Colo, with seven goals. Because of this, Mena has been dubbed by Chilean press and Colo Colo fans as the "historic one" (el historico).

Football career

Mena made his professional debut with Colo-Colo on November 26, 1996, in the final of the

Copa Chile The Copa Chile (''Chile Cup'') is an annual cup competition for Chilean football teams. Due to time constraints and club pressure, the trophy was cancelled in 2000, but returned in 2008. Its precursor was the Campeonato de Apertura (''Opening Ch ...

against

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

. He has spent his entire career, except one year when he was playing on loan at

Puerto Montt Puerto Montt (Mapuche: Meli Pulli) is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region, 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago. The commune ...

, playing with Colo-Colo as a defender. In the 2000s, and whilst he was playing for

Colo-Colo Colo-Colo (), officially Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo, is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano, it competes in the Chilean Primera División, from which the club has never been ...

, he also studied a technical-professional career in physical activity at the University of the Americas, where also was classmate of his teammates

Claudio Bravo Claudio Andrés Bravo Muñoz (; born 13 April 1983) is a Chilean former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Bravo began his career with Colo-Colo and moved to Real Socied ...

, Fernando Meneses and

Miguel Riffo Miguel Augusto Riffo Garay (born 21 June 1981) is a former Chilean professional association football, football player and the current Manager (association football), manager of Curicó Unido's youth categories. Club career Product of Colo-Colo ...

. Mena was the captain of the Under-20 Chile national team between 1998 and 1999, also winning the L'Alcúdia Tournament in 1998. He has been described as "not the most flashiest or talented footballer", but Mena is known for his loyalty to Colo-Colo and his calm leadership on the field.

Managing career

Luis Mena became the interim head coach for Colo-Colo women in January 2021, replacing Vanessa Arauz. On 24 February 2021, he was officially appointed as the head coach.

Honours

;Colo-Colo *

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 ...

(11):

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, 1997–C,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, 2002–C, 2006–A, 2006–C, 2007–A, 2007–C, 2008–C, 2009–C, 2014–C *

;Chile U20 * L'Alcúdia International Tournament (1):

References

External links

* 1979 births Living people People from Puente Alto Footballers from Santiago Metropolitan Region Chilean people of Basque descent Chilean men's footballers Chile men's international footballers Chile men's under-20 international footballers Colo-Colo footballers Deportes Puerto Montt footballers Chilean Primera División players University of the Americas (Chile) alumni Men's association football defenders Footballers from Santiago, Chile Chilean football managers {{Chile-footy-defender-stub