*** Welcome to piglix ***

Sergio Markarian

Sergio Markarián
Personal information
Full name Sergio Apraham Markarián Abrahamian
Date of birth (1944-11-01) 1 November 1944 (age 72)
Place of birth Montevideo, Uruguay
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Teams managed
Years Team
1976–1979 Bella Vista
1980 Danubio
1981 River Plate Montevideo
1982 Danubio
1983–1984 Olimpia
1986 Olimpia
1987–1989 Sol de América
1990–1991 Cerro Porteño
1992–1993 Paraguay U23
1993–1994 Universitario
1995–1996 Universitario
1996–1997 Sporting Cristal
1998–1999 Ionikos
1999–2001 Paraguay
2001–2002 Panathinaikos
2005–2007 Libertad
2007–2008 Cruz Azul
2009 Universidad de Chile
2010 Danubio
2010–2013 Peru
2015 Greece

Sergio Apraham Markarián Abrahamian (born 1 November 1944) is a Uruguayan football coach of Armenian descent. In 2015, he was the head coach of the Greece national football team.

Markarián lived in Argentina during most of his childhood and adolescent years, from 7 to 18 years of age. He played football as a left center back defender until he was 17 years of age. Never making it to professional football, he entered into university studies and started working in a large fuel distribution company in Uruguay, eventually reaching the post of general manager. It was the Uruguay loss against Holland in the 1974 FIFA World Cup which spurred Markarian to realise that coaching football was his vocation. Markarian abandoned his well-paid post as general manager, taking many risks, even when facing criticism from colleagues and friends, in order to dedicate his life to coaching professional football. Markarian lost status and spending power and endured 10 difficult years at the beginning of his coaching career. As he stated, "I had to sell my Mercedes Benz and start catching the bus!"

Markarián followed his heart and has become a well-respected professional coach. He is recognized for being a great tactician, which earned him the nickname, El Mago ("The Magician" in Spanish).

Even though he set out with the idea for the improvement of Uruguayan football, he never coached professionally in Uruguay. Markarian started his career in 1974 coaching the Reserves of Club Atlético Bella Vista of Uruguay and went on to coach the first team. Markarian made his professional coaching debut as a coach for the football club, Olimpia Asunción of Paraguay in 1983. He won the Paraguayan league with Olimpia the very same year he started coaching in 1983 and then again in 1985. After his four-year stay at Olimpia, he made the move to the Paraguayan club, Sol de America, leading them to win the Torneo Republica and to become the Paraguayan league runner-up in 1989. He then made the move to another Paraguayan giant, Cerro Porteño, winning the Torneo Republica in 1990. Markarian coached the Paraguay U-23 National Team in 1992, winning the South American Pre-Olympic Championships and a spot to compete in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. From 1993 to 1997, Markarian coached the Peruvian teams, Universitario de Deportes and Sporting Cristal winning one Peruvian league title with each of them. Markarian is also recognized for taking Sporting Cristal to the Copa Libertadores Final in which Sporting Cristal was the runner-up. In 1998, Markarian coached the Greek team, Ionikos, reaching fifth place in the Greek league and qualifying them for the UEFA Cup.


...
Wikipedia

...