Julio César "''El Pocho''" Cortés Lagos (born 29 March 1941) is an

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 ...

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 ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

and former

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 ...

who participated in three

World Cups 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 ...

with the Uruguay national team. At the club level, Cortés was most successful during the time he played for Uruguayan club

Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (), more commonly referred to as Peñarol, is a Uruguayan professional football club based in Montevideo. The club currently competes in the Uruguayan Primera División, the highest tier in Uruguayan football. The nam ...

, winning two league titles and the

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 ...

and the Intercontinental Cup in 1966. He has spent the majority of his coaching career in

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, managing several clubs, and having two tenures as coach of the Guatemala national team, which he led to win the

2001 UNCAF Nations Cup The 2001 UNCAF Nations Cup was played in Honduras. Participating teams Squads Venues First round Group 1 ---- ---- Group 2 ---- ---- Final round ---- ---- Champions *''Guatemala national football team, Guatemala ...

tournament.

Playing career

Cortés began his career with

Sud América Institución Atlética Sud América, usually known as Sud América or just IASA, is a football club from Montevideo. They currently play in the Uruguayan Segunda Division. History Sud América was formed from the team formerly known as the "Mo ...

, and in 1962 he joined C.A. Cerro. He left the club in 1965 to play 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 ...

for

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central (), more commonly referred to as Rosario Central, or simply Central, is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on 24 December 1889, ...

Peñarol and international success

After one season with Rosario, Cortés returned to Uruguay to join

in 1966, and became part of a

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

that included players like Pedro Rocha,

Alberto Spencer Alberto Pedro Spencer Herrera (6 December 1937 – 3 November 2006) was an Ecuadorian footballer who played as a forward, and is widely regarded as one of the best Ecuadorian men's footballers of all time. He is probably best known for his still ...

Julio César Abbadie Julio César Abbadie Gismero (7 September 1930 – 16 July 2014) was a Uruguayan footballer who played as a forward. During his career, he played for Peñarol, where he won the 1966 Copa Libertadores and the 1966 Intercontinental Cup. He was b ...

, and Omar Caetano. The team went on to win the

in 1966, with Cortés scoring a decisive goal against arch-rivals

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

in the semifinal playoff on April 23, 1966, which allowed the team to reach the final where they defeated Argentine's River Plate after three matches, obtaining their third Copa Libertadores. Later that year, Cortés helped Peñarol to defeat

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

champions

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

to win the Intercontinental Cup title. While Cortés was playing for the club, Peñarol also won the domestic league championship in 1967 and 1968. Cortés joined

Mexican Primera División Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divi ...

side

Atlante F.C. Atlante Fútbol Club, is a Mexican professional football club based in Mexico City, that competes in Liga de Expansión MX, the second level division of Mexican football. Founded in 1916 as Sinaloa, also later named as Lusitania, then as U-53 ...

in 1973.

Uruguay national team (1962–1970)

From 1962 to 1970, Cortés appeared in 30 international matches for Uruguay, scoring 3 goals. He made his international debut on 2 May 1962 in a 3–2 victory against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

shortly before the

1962 World Cup The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the 7th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held from 30 May to 17 June 1962 in Chile. The qualification rounds took place between ...

, at which he played in one match. He also appeared at the

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

and

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

finals, being one of six Uruguayan players to be part of three World Cup squads. At the 1966 World Cup, Cortés scored the eventual match-winning goal against

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 ...

, one of the two goals Uruguay scored in that match and in the entire tournament. Uruguay was eliminated in quarterfinals by

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. Four years later in

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 ...

, he played all of Uruguay's six matches, as the team reached semifinals, where they lost to

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 ...

. With the consolation match against West Germany, Cortés reached an overall total of 11 World Cup matches played, Uruguay's second-highest mark behind goalkeeper and Peñarol teammate

Ladislao Mazurkiewicz Ladislao Mazurkiewicz Iglesias (; 14 February 1945 – 2 January 2013) was a Uruguayan footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Career Mazurkiewicz helped the Uruguay national team qualify for the semifinals of the 1970 World Cup, where the ''c ...

's 13. The match against the Germans was also his last international match.

Coaching career

After having played in Costa Rica in the late 1970s, Cortés became a coach, and has spent since almost three decades managing several clubs in

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

, and

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

. In 1983, Cortés led Deportivo Suchitepéquez to their only national title to date. Other Guatemalan clubs he coached in the 1980s and 1990s are

Juventud Retalteca Club Social y Deportivo Juventud Retalteca was a Guatemalan professional football club based in Retalhuleu is in south-west Guatemala who competed in the '' Liga Nacional'', the nation's top footballing division. History Nicknamed ''Los Algod ...

CSD Comunicaciones Comunicaciones Fútbol Club S.A., better known as Comunicaciones F.C. or Comunicaciones, is a professional football club based in Guatemala City. They compete in the Liga Nacional, the top tier of Guatemalan football. One of the most popular a ...

Xelajú MC Quetzaltenango (, also known by its Maya name Xelajú or Xela ) is a municipality and namesake department in western Guatemala. The city is located in a mountain valley at an elevation of above sea level at its lowest part. It may reach above ...

, and

Aurora F.C. Aurora Fútbol Club is a Guatemalan professional Association football, football club. They are based in Guatemala City and play their home matches in the ''Estadio Cementos Progreso''. Once one of the most powerful teams in the country and a tra ...

In Costa Rica, he coached ''Turrialba F.C'' and

Deportivo Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its Association football, football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, Costa Rica, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aym ...

in the 1990s, and in the 2000s, he has coached C.D. Águila of El Salvador, Deportivo Jalapa of Guatemala, and A.D. San Carlos of Costa Rica (2007)He is currently coaching football classes on the "San Jose Indoor Club" Costa Rica .

Guatemala national team (1987–88 and 2000–03)

In 1987, Cortés was named head coach of the Guatemala national team, managing it at that year's Pan American Games. This tenure lasted just over one year until he was replaced by

Jorge Roldán Jorge Roldán Popol (16 November 1940 – 8 June 2023), known popularly as ''El Grillo'' ("cricket"), was a Guatemalan football coach and player. A midfielder, Roldán played almost his entire career for the local team Aurora F.C., being perh ...

in April 1988. Cortés' second period as Guatemala's manager began in June 2000, and ended three years later, in what is one of the longest uninterrupted tenures for a coach of the Guatemalan team. During that time, Guatemala failed to qualify to the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, but won the

– its first international title in 34 years – and finished runner up of that tournaments two years later. Dispute with the Guatemalan Federation After being removed from the charge of national coach in April 2003, Cortés sued the Guatemalan football federation (FEDEFUT) for

breach of contract Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other part ...

, demanding payment of part of his remuneration as national team coach. The coach took the case before

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 ...

, whom in 2006 ruled that the FEDEFUT pay him part of what he demanded. In September 2006, the FEDEFUT reacted against the coach, accusing him of fraud before a local

court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

, whom dictated that Cortés – who was at the time living in Costa Rica and was at the moment in Guatemala – remained in the country.

Honours

Player *

winner: 1966 * Uruguayan ''Primera División'' winner: 1967, 1968 *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

fourth place: 1970 Manager * Guatemalan ''Liga Mayor'' winner: 1983 (with Suchitepéquez) *Guatemalan domestic cup winner: 1984–85 (with

) and 2005 (with

Jalapa Xalapa or Jalapa (, ), officially Xalapa-Enríquez (), is the capital city of the Mexican state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In 2020 census the city reported a population of 443,063 and the municipality of which it ...

) *

winner (with the Guatemala national team)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cortes, Julio Cesar 1941 births Living people Footballers from Montevideo Uruguayan men's footballers Uruguay men's international footballers 1962 FIFA World Cup players 1966 FIFA World Cup players 1970 FIFA World Cup players Uruguayan Primera División players Argentine Primera División players Liga MX players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata footballers Rosario Central footballers Sud América players Centro Atlético Fénix players C.A. Cerro players Peñarol players Atlante F.C. footballers Club Universidad Nacional footballers C.S.D. Municipal players Alianza F.C. (El Salvador) footballers Los Angeles Aztecs players Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in El Salvador Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in El Salvador Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Guatemala Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in the United States Uruguayan football managers C.D. Suchitepéquez managers Expatriate football managers in Costa Rica Deportivo Saprissa managers Expatriate football managers in El Salvador Expatriate football managers in Guatemala Guatemala national football team managers Comunicaciones F.C. managers C.D. Águila managers Men's association football midfielders Expatriate men's footballers in Guatemala A.D. Guanacasteca players Copa Libertadores–winning players 20th-century Uruguayan sportsmen Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Argentina