Juan Carlos Álvarez Cárdenas (born 14 February 1966) is a Colombian

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 ...

and former player 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 ...

Playing career

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 ...

, Álvarez represented

Atlético Nacional Atlético Nacional S. A., best known as Atlético Nacional, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín. The club is one of only three clubs to have played in every first division tournament in the country's history, the other ...

and

Independiente Medellín Deportivo Independiente Medellín, also known as Independiente Medellín or DIM, is a Colombian professional football club (association football), football club based in Medellín that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their ...

as a youth, but made his senior debut with

Cúcuta Deportivo Cúcuta Deportivo Fútbol Club S. A. (Spanish ), commonly referred to as Cúcuta Deportivo, is a professional Colombian football club from the city of Cúcuta. Founded on 10 September 1924, it is one of the oldest active football clubs in the co ...

in 1988. After his contract ended in 1989, he worked at the before returning to football in 1991 with

Deportivo Rionegro Leones F.C., also known as Itagüí Leones, is a professional Colombian football team based in Itagüí playing in the Categoría Primera B starting from 2019. They play their home games at the Estadio Metropolitano Ciudad de Itagüí. History ...

. Álvarez subsequently played for ,

Deportes Quindío Deportes Quindío is a Colombian professional football club based in Armenia that currently plays in the Categoría Primera B. The club was founded on 8 January 1951, and its best achievement was winning the 1956 league tournament. They play thei ...

and

Atlético Bucaramanga Club Atlético Bucaramanga S.A., better known as Atlético Bucaramanga, is a Colombian professional football team based in Bucaramanga. The club plays its home games at the Américo Montanini stadium. The club was founded on 11 May 1949 by Rafa ...

before retiring with Cúcuta in 1999.

Managerial career

After retiring, Álvarez studied in the

Cooperative University of Colombia The Cooperative University of Colombia () is a private institution of higher education founded in 1983, as a successor of the ''Instituto de Economía Social y Cooperativismo'' (Indesco). Locations The Cooperative University is characterized by ...

before joining Florida Soccer as a manager of the under-15 squad. In 2004, he became the assistant of

Carlos Pachamé Carlos Oscar Pachamé (born 25 February 1944) is an Argentine former association football, football player and coach, who played as a midfielder. Playing career As a player, Pachamé was a defensive midfielder for the Estudiantes de La Plata tea ...

at Antioquia, before joining 's staff at Rionegro under the same role in 2006. Álvarez followed Aristizábal's staff to

Envigado Envigado () is a city and municipality due South of Medellín, Colombia in the department of Antioquia Department, Antioquia. It is located in the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley. It borders El Poblado, Medellín to the north, Sabaneta, An ...

in 2009, also as an assistant. In the following year, he remained at the club despite the managerial change with

Pedro Sarmiento Pedro Enrique Sarmiento Solís (26 October 1956 – 30 October 2024) was a Colombian football manager and player. Playing career Club Born in Medellín, Sarmiento played for Atlético Nacional and América de Cali during his professional ca ...

, and subsequently followed him to Independiente Medellín. In December 2015, after spending the previous year travelling in Spain, Álvarez became the manager of

Categoría Primera B Categoría Primera B, commonly referred to as Torneo BetPlay Dimayor due to Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is the second-division association football, football league in Colombia. The tournament was inaugura ...

side Leones. He led the club to a first-ever promotion to the top tier in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, Álvarez left Leones by mutual consent on 24 August 2018, with the club sitting bottom of the table. In the following year, he rejoined Sarmiento's staff at

Unión Magdalena Unión Magdalena () commonly known as El Unión, and nicknamed as El Ciclón Bananero (The Banana Cyclone) and also Los Samarios (The Samarios), is a Colombian football club from the city of Santa Marta, capital of the department of Magdalena De ...

, returning to an assistant role. In March 2022, Álvarez was appointed manager of the Antioquia regional team. He was also an assistant of

Jhon Jaime Gómez Jhon Jaime Gómez (born 5 July 1967) is a Colombian football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the current sporting manager of Boyacá Chicó. Gómez was nicknamed ''La Flecha'' (The Arrow) due to his speed. Playing care ...

Boyacá Chicó Boyacá is the name of a region in Colombia. It may refer to other connections to Colombia: * Battle of Boyacá * Boyacá Department (Gran Colombia) * Boyacá Department ** Boyacá, Boyacá, a municipality * Boyacá State, a former state * Puerto ...

in 2024, before becoming manager of the club on 27 October of that year. Álvarez was sacked by Boyacá Chicó on 23 February 2025.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez, Juan Carlos 1966 births Living people Footballers from Medellín Colombian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Cúcuta Deportivo footballers Leones F.C. footballers Deportes Quindío footballers Atlético Bucaramanga footballers Millonarios F.C. players Real Cartagena footballers Deportivo Pereira footballers Colombian football managers Categoría Primera A managers Boyacá Chicó managers 20th-century Colombian sportsmen