Clárence Williams Acuña Donoso (born 8 February 1975 in

Rancagua Rancagua () is a city and commune in central Chile and part of the Rancagua conurbation. It is the capital of the Cachapoal Province and of the O'Higgins Region, located south of the national capital of Santiago. It was originally named Sa ...

) is a

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 ...

an former professional

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

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 ...

Club career

Chilean league

He started his career at

an club O'Higgins, whom he began playing for in 1994 at the age of nineteen. He played at O'Higgins until 1996, scoring eight goals in eighty-one games. He then caught the eye of professional club

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile () is a public research university in Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the co ...

. They signed him, and he played ninety games for them between 1997 and 1999, again scoring eight goals.

Newcastle United

After impressive domestic and international performances, Acuña was attracting attention from many big clubs. He eventually signed for

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

, after manager

Bobby Robson Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English football player and coach. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich Town. ...

beat off competition from

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

to clinch Acuña's signature, earning him a £900,000 move to Newcastle United in October 2000, after receiving a work permit. He made his debut for Newcastle on Saturday 28 October 2000 in a 1-0 away defeat to

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

. Two months later he scored his first goal for the club and the winner in the 2-1 victory against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

. The goal was later voted "Goal of the Week" by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. He was at Newcastle for four seasons, playing forty-six league games (including eleven as substitute), scoring six times. His contract was terminated by mutual consent in October 2003 so he could return home to care for his mother.

International career

His performances in the ''Copa Banco Estado'' attracted the attention of the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

and he was given his first international cap in 1995. Acuña managed to keep up his good form and was included in the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

squad for the 1998 event held in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Here, he impressed players and pundits alike and helped his country to the last 16 stage of the tournament, where they bowed out in a 4-1 defeat to favourites

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 ...

. Acuña was seen as one of the breakthrough players of the tournament and he also had his first experience of playing in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, which would prove not to be his last. A year later he was involved in another international tournament. This time his services were required in the

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

. He started four games as Chile reached the semi-finals but were knocked out 5-3 on penalties against

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 ...

after a 1-1 draw. They also lost the third place playoff 2-1 against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

four days later.

Managerial career

Following his retirement as footballer, Acuña joined O'Higgins as sports advisory and, later,

technical manager A technical director (TD) is usually a senior technical person within e.g. a software company, engineering firm, film studio, theatre company or television studio. They are responsible for overseeing and coordinating all of the technical aspect ...

. From 2015 to 2016, he worked as technical manager of

Coquimbo Unido Coquimbo Unido is a Chilean football club based in the city of Coquimbo. The club was founded in 1958 and has played in the Chilean Primera División since being promoted in 2022. Their home games are played at the Estadio Municipal Francisco Sán ...

. From 2016 to 2018, he and his fellow Pedro Reyes worked as assistant coaches of José Luis Sierra in

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad may refer to: Sports Football Men Teams * Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia * Al Ittihad SCSC (Tripoli), Tripoli, Libya * Al Ittihad Gheryan, Gharyan, Libya * Al Ittihad Misurata SC, Misurata, Libya * Al Ittihad SC ...

and Shabab Al-Ahli. In 2019, he joined

CONMEBOL CONMEBOL ( ) or CSF (; ; ), is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Parag ...

as head of technical development of the program ''Evolución Conmebol''.

Honours

Universidad de Chile *

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 ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

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 ...

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 ...

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Acuna, Clarence 1975 births Living people Footballers from Rancagua Chilean men's footballers Chilean expatriate men's footballers Chile men's international footballers 1995 Copa América players 1997 Copa América players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1999 Copa América players 2004 Copa América players Chilean Primera División players O'Higgins F.C. footballers Club Universidad de Chile footballers Club Deportivo Palestino footballers Unión Española footballers Deportes Concepción (Chile) footballers Deportes La Serena footballers Premier League players Newcastle United F.C. players Argentine Primera División players Rosario Central footballers Chilean expatriate sportspeople in England Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Men's association football midfielders Doping cases in association football Chilean football managers Chilean expatriate football managers Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Chilean expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate football managers in the United Arab Emirates 20th-century Chilean sportsmen