Carlos Fernando Navarro Montoya (born 26 February 1966) is a retired

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 lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. Born in Colombia, Navarro Montoya represented the Colombia national team three times, and gained Argentine citizenship later in his career. During a professional career which spanned 25 years, he represented teams in Argentina, Colombia, Spain,

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 ...

, Brazil and

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, appearing for 15 clubs (mainly

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 totalling more than 800 games across all competitions.

Club career

Nicknamed ''El Mono'' (

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...

) whilst in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, Navarro Montoya was born in

Medellín Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, and he started playing professionally in the former country at only 18, with

Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield () is an Argentine sports club based in Liniers, Buenos Aires. Its football team plays in Argentine Primera División, Primera División, the highest level of the Argentine football league system, Argentine league ...

. In 1988, after one year in his homeland with

Independiente Santa Fe Club Independiente Santa Fe, known simply as Santa Fe, is a Colombian professional Association football, football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Estadio El Campín, El Cam ...

, he joined

, where he would rarely miss a game in nearly ten years – never played in fewer than 35 matches in his full seasons – also setting club records of consecutive games (180) and minutes without conceding a goal (824), and eventually appearing in 396 official games for the ''Xeneizes''. His last appearance, however, ended in defeat, 1–3 at

Club Atlético Banfield Club Atlético Banfield is an Argentine sports club based in the Banfield, Buenos Aires, Banfield city of Greater Buenos Aires. It was founded on 21 January 1896, by the British–origin inhabitants of that city (mostly English people, English, ...

. In January 1997, aged almost 31, Montoya joined

CF Extremadura Club de Fútbol Extremadura was a Spanish football team based in Almendralejo, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 1924, it played two seasons in La Liga, and held home games at '' Estadio Francisco de la Hera'', with a cap ...

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

, suffering relegation with that and his following two teams,

CP Mérida Club Polideportivo Mérida was a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Mérida, Spain, Mérida, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Having played twice in La Liga (1995–96 La Liga, 1995–96 and 1997–98 La Li ...

and

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1922, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez L� ...

, also in the first division. After a brief spell in

with Club Deportes Concepción, he returned to Argentina and played top-flight football for

Chacarita Juniors Club Atlético Chacarita Juniors (usually known simply as Chacarita) is an Argentine association football, football club headquartered in Villa Crespo, Buenos Aires, while the stadium is located in Villa Maipú, General San Martín Partido of Gre ...

Club Atlético Independiente () is an Argentine professional sports club, which has its headquarters and stadium in Avellaneda, a city of the Buenos Aires Province. The club is best known for its Association football, football team, which plays in the Argentine Primera Divi ...

(after the promotion of youngster Óscar Ustari, the 39-year-old did not see his contract renewed) and

Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata (; ''La Plata Gymnastics and Fencing Club''), also known simply as Gimnasia, is an Argentine professional sports club based in the city of La Plata, Buenos Aires Province. Founded in 1887 as "Club de Gimnasia ...

, during five seasons combined. Montoya rarely settled with a team in the following years, playing in his country of adoption but also in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and Uruguay. On 10 July 2009, at the age of 43, he announced his retirement from professional football, stating: "It is 'goodbye', but also 'thank you'".

International career

As a naturalized Argentine, Navarro wanted to represent its national team, but was denied from doing so by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

because he had already played for

in three

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

qualifiers – two against the same opponent,

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

– conceding four goals. In 1998 FIFA relented and allowed the player a special dispensation to play for Argentina but, at the age of 32, he was considered too old and never represented his adopted nation.

Coaching career

Montoya's first managerial experience was in

, from where he was sacked after only one win in six matches. In December 2013 he returned to Boca Juniors, this time as deputy director of the youth divisions and youth coach. He covered several roles, until he left his position on 16 September 2020. On 23 September 2020 he took over the Club Deportivo Guadalajara of the

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

in Spain, but was dismissed on 24 November after only five league games.Termina la aventura del 'Mono' Navarro Montoya como entrenador del CD Guadalajara
elespanol.com, 24 November 2020

Honours

Club

;Vélez Sarsfield * Primera División runner-up: 1985 Nacional ;Boca Juniors * Primera División (1): 1992 Apertura *

Supercopa Sudamericana The Supercopa Libertadores (English: ''Libertadores Supercup''), also known as the Supercopa Sudamericana, Supercopa Libertadores João Havelange, Supercopa João Havelange or simply Supercopa, was a football club competition contested annually be ...

(1):

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana (), also known as Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club Association football, football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1988. It ...

(1):

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

Copa Master de Supercopa The Copa Master de Supercopa was a football competition contested by clubs that had previously won the Supercopa Libertadores. It was organized by CONMEBOL and only played in 1992 and 1995. A third edition was scheduled to be played in 1998 but ...

(1):

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

* Copa de Oro (1):

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

Individual

* Player of the Year of Argentina: 1994

References

External links

* at Fútbol XXI * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Navarro Montoya, Carlos 1966 births Living people Footballers from Medellín Colombian men's footballers Colombia men's international footballers Colombian people of Argentine descent Sportspeople of Argentine descent Argentine men's footballers Colombian emigrants to Argentina Argentine people of Colombian descent Sportspeople of Colombian descent Men's association football goalkeepers Argentine Primera División players Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers Boca Juniors footballers Chacarita Juniors footballers Club Atlético Independiente footballers Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata footballers Categoría Primera A players Independiente Santa Fe footballers La Liga players Segunda División players CF Extremadura footballers CP Mérida footballers CD Tenerife players Club Atlético Nueva Chicago footballers Club Olimpo footballers Tacuarembó F.C. players Chilean Primera División players Deportes Concepción (Chile) footballers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Club Athletico Paranaense players Colombian expatriate men's footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Chile Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in Uruguay Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Chile Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Chile Colombian football managers Argentine football managers Chacarita Juniors managers CD Guadalajara (Spain) managers 20th-century Argentine sportsmen 20th-century Colombian sportsmen