Luis Perea
Perea playing for Atlético Madrid in 2010
Personal information
Full name Luis Amaranto Perea Mosquera
Date of birth (1979-01-30) 30 January 1979 (age 45)[1]
Place of birth Turbo, Colombia
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 Colombia (assistant)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2003 Independiente Medellín 117 (0)
2003–2004 Boca Juniors 16 (0)
2004–2012 Atlético Madrid 224 (0)
2012–2014 Cruz Azul 70 (5)
Total 427 (5)
International career
2002–2014 Colombia 72 (0)
Managerial career
2018 Atlético Madrid (youth)
2018–2019 Leones
2020 Atlético Junior (assistant)
2020–2021 Atlético Junior
2022– Colombia (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Luis Amaranto Perea Mosquera (born 30 January 1979) is a Colombian former footballer, currently assistant manager of the Colombia national team. Gifted with incredible stamina and pace,[2] the central defender could also be adapted at right-back.

He spent most of his senior career with Atlético Madrid, appearing in 314 competitive matches over eight La Liga seasons.[3] In 2012, he signed with Cruz Azul.

Perea earned 72 caps for the Colombia national team in more than one decade.

Club career

Perea was born in Turbo. He began his professional career with Independiente Medellín, moving in 2003 to Argentina with Boca Juniors, with whom he won that year's Intercontinental Cup.[4]

In June 2004, Perea signed for Atlético Madrid on a four-year deal,[5] as another centre-back, Pablo Ibáñez, also arrived that season.[6] Both were the starters as the Colchoneros returned to the UEFA Champions League in 2008–09 after a 12-year absence, with Perea appearing in 30 La Liga matches; after the campaign kicked off, he received his Spanish passport.[7]

After the signing of ACF Fiorentina's Tomáš Ujfaluši for the 2008–09, Perea saw some additional time at right-back, but eventually lost that place to another newly signed, John Heitinga.[8][9] From 2009 to 2011, with the latter departed to Everton,[10] he managed to total 56 league games, with qualification for the UEFA Europa League in his second season after a seventh-place finish.

On 29 September 2011, following a Europa League fixture against Stade Rennais FC, Perea became the foreign player with most competitive appearances for Atlético Madrid with 289, surpassing Argentine Jorge Griffa.[11] He left the club at the end of the 2011–12 campaign at the age of 33, after having contributed 34 official games and won the Europa League.

Perea joined Mexico's Cruz Azul in June 2012 as a free agent,[12] winning the following year's Copa MX[13] and the 2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League.[14][15] In December 2015, after one year out of football due to injury, the 36-year-old chose to retire, settling in Madrid and focusing on becoming a coach.[16]

In late August 2018, following a brief spell in Atlético's youth academy,[17] Perea was appointed at Leones F.C. in his country's Categoría Primera A for his first head coach experience.[18] on 28 May 2019, with the team back in the Primera B after relegation, he resigned.[19]

International career

A Colombia international since 20 November 2002, in a 1–0 friendly loss with Honduras in San Pedro Sula, Perea appeared at the 2007 and 2011 Copa América tournaments. He was named team captain before the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Bolivia in La Paz, in a first-ever win in that country (2–1),[20] and represented his nation for 12 years.[21]

Perea joined the national team's coaching staff in June 2022.[22]

Honours

Independiente Medellín

Boca Juniors

Atlético Madrid

Cruz Azul

References

  1. ^ a b "Luis Perea" (in German). German Football Association. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  2. ^ No hay peor astilla que la del mismo palo (Nothing worse than the apple who does not fall far from the tree); ESPN Deportes, 11 March 2004 (in Spanish)
  3. ^ La saga de los Perea sigue: "Estoy viviendo un sueño, el Atlético te hace vivir emociones" (The Perea saga continues: "I'm living a dream, Atlético makes you experience emotions"); Mundo Deportivo, 19 August 2022 (in Spanish)
  4. ^ a b c PERFIL – Luis Amaranto Perea ahora es campeón de Europa (PROFILE – Luis Amaranto Perea is now European champion); Caracol Radio, 12 May 2010 (in Spanish)
  5. ^ Atlético sign defender Perea; UEFA, 11 June 2004
  6. ^ Perea y Pablo firman su renovación hasta 2009 (Perea and Pablo sign their renewal until 2009); Diario AS, 10 February 2005 (in Spanish)
  7. ^ Atlético allowed to register Cléber; UEFA, 2 August 2007
  8. ^ Heitinga y Ujfalusi desplazan a Perea al lateral (Heitinga and Ujfalusi push Perea to full-back); El Mundo, 28 July 2008 (in Spanish)
  9. ^ Perea jugará de lateral para ayudar a Pablo y a Ujfalusi (Perea will play as full-back to help Pablo and Ujfalusi); Diario AS, 11 March 2009 (in Spanish)
  10. ^ La salida de Heitinga bloqueó la de Perea al Stoke City (Heitinga's departure blocked Perea's to Stoke City); Diario AS, 3 September 2009 (in Spanish)
  11. ^ Perea, el extranjero con más partidos (Perea, foreign with the most games); UEFA, 29 September 2011 (in Spanish)
  12. ^ Luis Amaranto Perea deja Atlético de Madrid y ficha por Cruz Azul (Luis Amaranto Perea leaves Atlético de Madrid and signs for Cruz Azul); Goal, 15 June 2012 (in Spanish)
  13. ^ a b Campeon Cruz Azul al derrotar 4–2 al Atlante – Copa MX – Vídeo con los goles (Cruz Azul champions after defeating Atlante 4–2 – MX Cup – Video with goals); Sitios Total, 11 April 2013 (in Spanish)
  14. ^ Cruz Azul, a Marruecos (Cruz Azul, to Morocco); Marca, 24 April 2014 (in Spanish)
  15. ^ Luis Amaranto Perea se siente agradecido con Cruz Azul (Luis Amaranto Perea shows appreciation towards Cruz Azul); Goal, 6 September 2015 (in Spanish)
  16. ^ Luis Amaranto Perea se retira del fútbol (Luis Amaranto Perea retires from football); Marca, 4 December 2015 (in Spanish)
  17. ^ Amaranto Perea es nombrado DT en inferiores del Atlético (Amaranto Perea named HC in Atlético's youth system); Diario AS, 12 January 2018 (in Spanish)
  18. ^ Luis Amaranto Perea nuevo entrenador de Leones (Luis Amaranto Perea new manager of Leones); ESPN Deportes, 27 August 2018 (in Spanish)
  19. ^ Amaranto Perea renuncia como técnico del Leones (Amaranto Perea resigns as Leones manager); Mundo Deportivo, 28 May 2019 (in Spanish)
  20. ^ Las lágrimas del capitán (The captain's tears); Fútbol Primera, 13 October 2011 (in Spanish)
  21. ^ Luis Amaranto Perea – International Appearances; at RSSSF
  22. ^ Luis Amaranto Perea será el asistente técnico de Néstor Lorenzo (Luis Amaranto Perea will be Néstor Lorenzo's assistant manager); El Heraldo, 2 June 2022 (in Spanish)

External links

Colombia squads
Atlético Junior – managers
Categories