César Alejandro Farías Acosta (born 7 March 1973) is a Venezuelan

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. Farías is known for having coached

Deportivo Táchira ''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to: * Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club * Déportivo, a French rock band * Deportivo (Mexicable) Mexicable is an aerial lift line in Ecatepec de ...

Mineros de Guayana Asociación Civil Club Deportivo Mineros de Guayana, known as Mineros de Guayana or simply Mineros, is a professional football club based in Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela. History The Colegio Loyola Gumilla's field, located in Puerto Ordaz, was us ...

, Deportivo Anzoátegui and the Venezuelan U-20 team. He is the first and only manager to ever have taken Venezuela to the semi-final stage of the Copa America. In 2009, he was in charge of Venezuela's U-20 team as it qualified for the first time in its history to the

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

Managerial career

Early career

Farías was born in Guiria. In 1998, he started his managerial career in Nueva Cádiz FC; that same year, his team went on to win the Venezuelan Segunda División. In 2002, he had his debut in the

Venezuelan Primera División The Primera División (; ), or Liga Venezolana (; ) is the top-flight professional football league of Venezuela. It was created in 1921 and turned professional in 1957. It is organized by the Federación Venezolana de Fútbol. Format Starting i ...

as the manager of Trujillanos FC. In 2003, he was appointed coach of

. In 2005, he was fired by the administrative board of Deportivo Tachira but was then hired, shortly after, by

. In 2007, after having had a very good season with Mineros de Guayana, he was hired by Deportivo Anzoátegui. That same year, the team went on to finish first within the Venezuelan Primera Division.

Venezuelan national U-20 football team

In April 2008, he was appointed coach of the Venezuelan U-20 team. The team went on to qualify for the first time ever to the

in 2009.

Venezuela national football team

On November 26, 2007, the

Venezuelan Football Federation The Venezuelan Football Federation ( or FVF) is the governing body of Association football, football in Venezuela. It was founded in 1925 and affiliated in 1952. It is a member of CONMEBOL as well as FIFA, and is in charge of the Venezuela nat ...

announced the departure of

Richard Páez Richard Alfred Mayela Páez Monzón known as Richard Páez (born 31 December 1953) is a Venezuelan football manager former coach of Deportivo Cuenca from Ecuador and of the Venezuela national football team. Playing career Club Born in Mér ...

as coach of the Venezuela national football team. After weeks of negotiations with several coaches, the Venezuelan Football Federation officially announced that Farías would replace Páez as coach. On February 3, 2008, Farías debuted as coach of the Venezuela national team with a 1–0 win over

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. Several months later, on June 6, during a friendly match in preparation for the

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

, Venezuela defeated

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for the first time in its history with a final score of 2–0. On June 14, 2008, Farías debuted in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers with a 1–1 draw 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 ...

at the

Estadio Centenario Centenario Stadium (, ; , named after the Constitution of Uruguay of 1830, centenary of Constitution of Uruguay, Uruguay's Constitution) is an association football stadium in Montevideo, Uruguay. Located in the Parque Batlle, Parque Battle neig ...

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. He nearly achieved qualification to the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

, after finishing only two points away from a highly disputed 5th place qualification spot. In the 2011

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 ...

held in

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, he became the second coach to ever guide Venezuela to the knockout stages of the tournament. He saw his team advance to the knockout stages following draws with Brazil (0–0) and

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 ...

(3–3) and a victory over

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(1–0). He also became the first coach to take Venezuela to the semi-final stage of the Copa America after his team defeated

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 ...

2–1 in the quarter finals.

Tijuana

Cesar Farias became Xolos manager in December 2013. In his first season in the Liga MX, he reached the playoffs only to be eliminated by Toluca in the quarter-finals. In the Concacaf Champions League, His team was eliminated in the semi-finals by eventual winners, Cruz Azul. At the end of the game as things were heating up, Farias came over to Amione but quickly lost his temper and shoved him then also shoved Perea and throwing punches with one of the medics of Cruz Azul. He was banned for 2 games after this incident.

NorthEast United

On July 1, 2015, he signed as the manager of

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

club

NorthEast United FC NorthEast United Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural sea ...

. He took the bottom placed team to the 5th position finish in the league, despite injury to some of his key players at the start of the tournament.

Bolivia

César Farías arrived in Bolivia in 2016 to manage

The Strongest Club The Strongest is a Bolivian professional football club based in La Paz, that currently plays in the Bolivian Primera División. Founded in 1908, their team colours are yellow and black. Although they have a home ground, Estadio Rafael Me ...

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

. Later he was appointed as caretaker coach of the team, following Bolivia's failure to qualify for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

. As a caretaker coach, he went on an Asian tour, where he managed only one win over

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

3–0, but also only suffered one minimal loss against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. After the tour, he returned to coach

. After the

2019 Copa América The 2019 Copa América was the 46th edition of the Copa América, the international men's association football championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. It was held in Brazil and took place between 14 June and 7 Ju ...

, in which Bolivia had a disappointing campaign (with three straight defeats), Farías was officially appointed as coach of Bolivia, tasked with helping Bolivia to qualify for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. Farías was in charge of the U-23 team as well. In his first major competition for Bolivia as coach, for the

2020 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament The 2020 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament was the 13th edition of the CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament, the quadrennial, international, age-restricted association football, football tournament organised by the CONMEBOL, Confederación Sudamericana ...

, the Bolivian team would have an outstanding performance, including two shock wins over powerhouses

and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

; however, Bolivia did not place in the final round due to ultimately losing to the Brasil team.

Aucas

Farías became Aucas manager in 2022. In his first season with the Ecuadorian team, he won undefeated the second stage of the 2022 Ecuadorian Serie A and eventually ended the trophy drought for Aucas by beating

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in the final. With their first

Ecuadorian Serie A The Liga Pro Ecuador Serie A, simply known as the Liga Pro or the Serie A (or the Ecuadorian Serie A to distinguish it from the Italian Serie A and the Brazilian Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Série A), or as Liga Pro Ecuabet for sponsorship re ...

championship, Aucas automatically qualified for the 2023

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

. On 5 April 2023, Aucas defeated the incumbent Copa Libertadores champions,

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

2–1. Not only was this Aucas's Copa Libertadores debut, but it was the first time a defending champion lost their first Copa Libertadores game. On 11 June 2023, during a league game against Delfín, Farías assaulted two Delfín players when he was allegedly pushed accidentally, pushing one to the ground as they covered their head with their hands. Another player could be seen restraining Farías. He was sent off in the 14th minute, and received more severe sanctions from the Ecuadorian League. Ultimately, Farías was suspended for 14 months and would not be eligible to manage Aucas until September 2024. On 15 June, Aucas announced that the Venezuelan manager would no longer be in charge of the team.

Colombia

On 28 June 2023, Farías arrived in Colombia as he was presented as the new manager of Águilas Doradas, in the country's top tier. In the 2023 Finalización, Farías led Águilas to become the first team to go unbeaten in the first stage of the Colombian league tournament, but the team was eliminated in the semifinals. He resigned from the club on 29 December 2023. On 23 January 2024, Farías signed as the new manager of

América de Cali América de Cali S. A., best known as América de Cali or América, is a Colombian professional football club based in Cali. It competes in the Categoría Primera A, the top-flight league of Colombian football. The team plays its home games at ...

, but he left the club by mutual agreement four months later after failing to reach the semifinals of the 2024 Apertura. On 3 September 2024, Farías became manager of fellow Primera A club Junior, replacing Arturo Reyes. He was fired from Junior on 20 June 2025, after the club failed to advance to the group stage of the 2025 Copa Sudamericana, losing to Farías's former club América de Cali on penalties, and only collected one point in six matches of the 2025 Apertura's semifinal stage.

Personal life

Farías's younger brother Daniel Farías was also a footballer.

Honours

Nueva Cádiz * Venezuelan Segunda División: 1998 Aucas *

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

The Strongest * División Profesional: 2016-A Venezuela U20 * Copa Gobernación del Zulia: 2009 * L'Alcúdia youth tournament runner-up 2009 Individual * 2009 L'Alcúdia youth tournament: Best coach

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farias, Cesar 1973 births Living people People from Cumaná Venezuelan football managers Trujillanos FC managers Deportivo Táchira F.C. managers Mineros de Guayana managers Deportivo Anzoátegui managers Venezuela national football team managers Club Tijuana managers Cerro Porteño managers The Strongest managers Bolivia national football team managers Venezuelan Segunda División managers Venezuelan Primera División managers Liga MX managers Indian Super League managers Paraguayan Primera División managers Bolivian Primera División managers 2011 Copa América managers Venezuelan expatriate football managers Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in India Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Paraguay Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Bolivia Expatriate football managers in Mexico Expatriate football managers in India Expatriate football managers in Paraguay Expatriate football managers in Bolivia NorthEast United FC managers 2021 Copa América managers S.D. Aucas managers Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Ecuador Expatriate football managers in Ecuador Águilas Doradas managers Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Colombia Expatriate football managers in Colombia América de Cali managers Atlético Junior managers Categoría Primera A managers