Juan Antonio "Maquinita" Merlos Cabrera (December 3, 1941 – December 6, 2014) was a Salvadoran

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 ...

player and manager.

Club career

Nicknamed ''Maquinita'', Merlos was snapped up by Águila at Racing San Miguel and took part in their promotion to the

Primera División de Fútbol de El Salvador The Primera División de Fútbol Profesional de El Salvador (First Division of Professional Football of El Salvador), more commonly known as La Liga Mayor or La Primera, also known as Liga Pepsi for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional ...

in 1958. He also won his and the club's first league title in 1959, scoring one of the goals in the first leg of the Final. He still is one of Águila's all-time top goalscorers after forming a formidable frontline partnership in the 1960s with players like

Juan Francisco Barraza Juan Francisco Barraza Flores (March 12, 1935 – December 17, 1997) was a Salvadoran football player and manager. He is widely regarded one of the best Salvadoran footballers of all time. Career Born in the district of San Miguel as the s ...

and

Saúl Molina Saúl Victorino Molina (born 14 March 1938) is a retired Salvadoran professional footballer who later became a coach in El Salvador and Costa Rica. Club career Molina started his career at Dragón while at the same time studying to become a t ...

. He also played for

Municipal Limeño A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

and

Luis Ángel Firpo Luis Ángel Firpo (October 11, 1894 – August 7, 1960) was an Argentine boxer. Born in Junín, Argentina, he was nicknamed ''The Wild Bull of the Pampas''. He was the first Latin American in history to challenge for the world heavyweight titl ...

after leaving Águila.

Managerial career

After his playing career ended, Merlos coached Santiagueño and helped the team win the Primera division title. He also coached Luis Angel Firpo, Liberal and Municipal Limeno.

Personal life

He lived with his wife in Santiago de María. In July 2010 he spent three months in hospital and had his right foot and later his leg below the knee amputated due to

arteriosclerosis Arteriosclerosis, literally meaning "hardening of the arteries", is an umbrella term for a vascular disorder characterized by abnormal thickening, hardening, and loss of elasticity of the walls of arteries; this process gradually restricts th ...

. To cover the medical expenses, former teammates and colleagues organised a charity match between his old clubs Águila and Santiagueño. In January 2011 he was given a pension for life by the National Assembly for his contribution to Salvadoran football.Asamblea concede pensiones vitalicias a Gregorio Bundio y a “Maquinita” Merlos
- El Salvador Noticias.net

Honours

: 5 :: 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964

References

External links

LA FOTOGRAFÍA 10. ALEX CORDERO Y MAQUINITA MERLOS EN EL CD MUNICIPAL LIMEÑO
- short bio {{DEFAULTSORT:Merlos, Maquinita 1941 births 2014 deaths Sportspeople from San Miguel, El Salvador Men's association football forwards Salvadoran men's footballers El Salvador men's international footballers C.D. Águila footballers C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo footballers Salvadoran amputees C.D. Luis Ángel Firpo managers Salvadoran football managers