Marco Antonio Figueroa Montero (; born 21 February 1962) is a Chilean former

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 ...

, currently

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 ...

for

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

. He is commonly known as "El Fantasma" ( Spanish word: "The

phantom Phantom, phantoms, or the phantom may refer to: * Spirit (metaphysics), the vital principle or animating force within all living things ** Ghost, the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear to the living Aircraft * Boeing Phanto ...

"). Figueroa played as a striker and spent the majority of his playing career at

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 ...

, after retiring in 1998, at the Chilean powerhouse Universidad Católica, aged 36.

Club career

Figueroa is considered an idol of

Morelia Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid; Otomi language, Otomi: ) is a city and municipal seat of the municipalities of Mexico, municipality of Morelia in the north-central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. It is both th ...

after playing for the club between 1986 and 1990. He and his Chilean fellows Juan Carlos Vera and

Ángel Bustos Juan Ángel Bustos Pizarro (born 16 January 1961), known as Ángel Bustos, is a Chilean former professional footballer who played as a winger for clubs in Chile and Mexico. Club career Born in Antofagasta, Chile, he represented the city team ...

are well remembered as a prolific attacking trident.

Coaching career

In January 2001, he debuted as

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

at the

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 ...

n successful club

Comunicaciones Comunicaciones Fútbol Club S.A., better known as Comunicaciones F.C. or Comunicaciones, is a professional association football, football club based in Guatemala City. They compete in the Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala, Liga Nacional, th ...

, signing the next season for

Atlético Celaya The Club Atlético Celaya was a Mexican football club from Celaya, Guanajuato. The club was formed in 1994 when the two second-division clubs Atletico Cuernavaca (Morelos) and Escuadra Celeste de Celaya (Guanajuato) merged. Another team, Atléti ...

of the

Liga de Ascenso Liga (Spanish and Portuguese: ''League'') or LIGA may refer to: Sports Basketball * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Liga Femenina de Baloncesto, women's professional basketball league in Spain Football Latin Ameri ...

, in where Figueroa had two spells, after of direct to Salamanca F.C. of the same country in the 2003 season. Three years later, with adobe steps at

Querétaro Querétaro, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Querétaro, 18 municipalities. Its capital city is Querétaro Cit ...

and

UAG Tecos Tecos Fútbol Club, simply known as Tecos, is a Mexican professional football club based in Zapopan, Jalisco, and associated with the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara (UAG). It competes in Liga Premier, the third level division of Mexican ...

, in September 2006, he signed a contract with Monarcas Morelia, his old club when was player, team in where also was an historic goalscorer during the 1980s and 90s. Figueroa came back to his homeland in July 2008 signing for

Cobreloa Club de Deportes Cobreloa S.A.D.P. (), commonly referred to as Cobreloa, is a professional Chilean football league system, Chilean football club based in Calama, Chile, Calama, Región de Antofagasta, Chile. They compete in the Primera B de Ch ...

, another old club in his career, of this form returning to his country after ten years out in

and

. After a successful season at the team of Calama, reaching the Clausura Tournament semi–finals, in December of that year, he reached an agreement with Universidad Católica for direct to that team in the next season. At Católica, Figueroa was runner–up in the 2009 Clausura Tournament, after a regular season in the last semester, despite reaching the semi–finals of the Apertura Tournament, being also named as the coach of the year according to El Gráfico. The next season, after a regular campaign with Católica in the first part of the league tournament and in the

2010 Copa Libertadores The 2010 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2010 Copa Santander Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 51st edition of the Copa Libertadores de América The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de Améric ...

, he was fired of the club, but signed months later for O'Higgins. On 11 April 2011, Figueroa signed a contract with the

Primera B 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 Ely Rafael Primera Ros ...

side Everton, replacing to Diego Osella, because the bad results that the

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

coach reached in the first weeks of the Apertura Tournament of that division. At the club based in

Viña del Mar Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune on Zona Central, Chile, central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located withi ...

, he was champion of the Clausura Tournament of that level, but not achieved the promotion, after of loss against

Unión San Felipe Unión San Felipe is a Chilean football club, their hometown is San Felipe in the V Región of Valparaíso. They play in the second level of the Chilean football league, the Primera B. The club was founded on October 16, 1956 with the merger ...

and

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

. The next season, he was fired from the club. On 25 September 2018, Figueroa was re-appointed as head coach for O'Higgins.

Personal life

His son, Mateo, is a player from the

Atlético Morelia Club Atlético Morelia is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Morelia, Michoacán de Ocampo, Michoacán, that competes in Liga de Expansión MX, the second level division of Mexican football. The club plays their ...

youth system.

Honours

Player

;Cobreloa *

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 ...

(1):

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

Individual

* Primera División de Chile Top–scorer (1):

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

* Monarcas Morelia all-time top scorer (130 goals)

Manager

;Universidad Católica * Torneo Clausura (1): Runner–up

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

;Everton *

(1): 2011 Apertura *

Promotion playoffs Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

(1): Runner-up

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Individual

* ANFP Golden Ball (1): Best coach

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Figueroa, Marco Antonio 1962 births Living people Footballers from San Felipe, Chile Chilean men's footballers Chile men's international footballers Chilean expatriate men's footballers Men's association football forwards Unión La Calera footballers Everton de Viña del Mar footballers Atlético Morelia players Club América footballers C.D. Cobreloa footballers Atlético Celaya footballers Club Deportivo Universidad Católica footballers Primera B de Chile players Chilean Primera División players Liga MX players Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Chile 1993 Copa América players Chilean football managers Chilean expatriate football managers Comunicaciones F.C. managers Jaguares F.C. managers Celaya F.C. managers Querétaro F.C. managers Tecos F.C. managers Atlético Morelia managers C.D. Cobreloa managers Club Deportivo Universidad Católica managers O'Higgins F.C. managers Everton de Viña del Mar managers Unión San Felipe managers Club Universidad de Chile managers San Marcos de Arica managers Nicaragua national football team managers Chilean Primera División managers Primera B de Chile managers Liga MX managers Expatriate football managers in Mexico Expatriate football managers in Guatemala Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Guatemala Expatriate football managers in Nicaragua Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Nicaragua 20th-century Chilean sportsmen