Marco Antonio Figueroa Montero (; born 21 February 1962) is a Chilean former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

, currently

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

for

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

. He is commonly known as "El Fantasma" ( Spanish word: "The phantom"). Figueroa played as a striker and spent the majority of his playing career at

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, after retiring in 1998, at the Chilean powerhouse Universidad Católica, aged 36.

Club career

Figueroa is considered an idol of

Morelia Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid) is a city and municipal seat of the municipality of Morelia in the north-central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. The city is in the Guayangareo Valley and is the capital and lar ...

after playing for the club between 1986 and 1990. He and his Chilean fellows Juan Carlos Vera and Ángel Bustos are well remembered as an prolific attacking trident.

Coaching career

In January 2001, he debuted as

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

at the Guatemalan successful club

Comunicaciones Comunicaciones Fútbol Club S.A., better known as Comunicaciones F.C. or Comunicaciones, are a football club based in Guatemala City. They compete in the Liga Nacional, the top tier of Guatemalan football. The most popular and successful footba ...

, signing the next season for

Atlético Celaya The Club Atlético Celaya was a Mexican football club from Celaya, Guanajuato. The club was formed in 1994 when the two second-division clubs Atletico Cuernavaca (Morelos) and Escuadra Celeste de Celaya (Guanajuato) merged. Another team, Atlét ...

of the

Liga de Ascenso Liga or LIGA may refer to: People * Līga (name), a Latvian female given name * Luciano Ligabue, more commonly known as Ligabue or ''Liga'', Italian rock singer-songwriter Sports * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Lig ...

, in where Figueroa had two spells, after of direct to Salamanca F.C. of the same country in the 2003 season. Three years later, with adobe steps at Querétaro and UAG Tecos, in September 2006, he signed a contract with Monarcas Morelia, his old club when was player, team in where also was an historic goalscorer during the 1980s and 90s. Figueroa came back to his homeland in July 2008 signing for

Cobreloa Club de Deportes Cobreloa S.A.D.P. (), commonly referred to as Cobreloa, is a Chilean football professional club based in Calama, Región de Antofagasta, Chile. That competes in the Primera B. The club's home ground is the Estadio Zorros del ...

, another old club in his career, of this form returning to his country after ten years out in

and Guatemala. After a successful season at the team of Calama, reaching the Clausura Tournament semi–finals, in December of that year, he reached an agreement with Universidad Católica for direct to that team in the next season. At Católica, Figueroa was runner–up in the 2009 Clausura Tournament, after a regular season in the last semester, despite reaching the semi–finals of the Apertura Tournament, being also named as the coach of the year according to El Gráfico. The next season, after a regular campaign with Católica in the first part of the league tournament and in the

2010 Copa Libertadores The 2010 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2010 Copa Santander Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 51st edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, CONMEBOL's premier international club tournament. The tournament began on ...

, he was fired of the club, but signed months later for O'Higgins. On 11 April 2011, Figueroa signed a contract with the Primera B side Everton, replacing to Diego Osella, because the bad results that the Argentine coach reached in the first weeks of the Apertura Tournament of that division. At the club based in Viña del Mar, he was champion of the Clausura Tournament of that level, but not achieved the promotion, after of loss against

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. They were the Copa Chile champions, and played the 2010 C ...

and Rangers. The next season, he was fired from the club. On 25 September 2018, Figueroa was re-appointed as head coach for O'Higgins.Bienvenido Marco Antonio Figueroa
ohigginsfc.cl, 25 September 2018

Honours

Player

;Cobreloa *

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 Alí Rafael Primera Rosel ...

(1): 1992

Individual

* Primera División de Chile Top–scorer (1):

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

* Monarcas Morelia all-time top scorer (130 goals)

Manager

;Universidad Católica * Torneo Clausura (1): Runner–up 2009 ;Everton * Primera B (1): 2011 Apertura * Promotion playoffs (1): Runner-up 2011

Individual

* ANFP Golden Ball (1): Best coach 2009

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Figueroa, Marco Antonio 1962 births Living people People from San Felipe, Chile Chilean footballers Chile international footballers Chilean expatriate footballers Association football forwards Unión La Calera footballers Everton de Viña del Mar footballers Atlético Morelia players Club América footballers Cobreloa footballers Atlético Celaya footballers Club Deportivo Universidad Católica footballers Primera B de Chile players Chilean Primera División players Liga MX players Expatriate footballers in Mexico Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Chile 1993 Copa América players Chilean football managers Chilean expatriate football managers Comunicaciones F.C. managers Chiapas F.C. managers Club Celaya managers Querétaro F.C. managers Tecos F.C. managers Atlético Morelia managers Cobreloa managers Club Deportivo Universidad Católica managers O'Higgins F.C. managers Everton de Viña del Mar managers Unión San Felipe managers Universidad de Chile managers San Marcos de Arica managers Nicaragua national football team managers Chilean Primera División managers Primera B de Chile managers Liga MX managers Expatriate football managers in Mexico Expatriate football managers in Guatemala Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Guatemala Expatriate football managers in Nicaragua Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Nicaragua