Mauricio Montero
Personal information
Full name Mauricio Antonio de la Trinidad
Montero Chinchilla
Date of birth (1963-10-19) 19 October 1963 (age 60)
Place of birth Grecia, Costa Rica, Costa Rica
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
Ramonense
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1981–1987 Ramonense 148 (8)
1987–1998 Alajuelense 408 (21)
Total 556 (27)
International career
1985–1996 Costa Rica 56 (3)
Managerial career
2001 Belén (assistant)
2003–2004 Municipal Grecia
2004–2005 Alajuelense (assistant)
2005–2007 Municipal Grecia
2007–2008 Carmelita
2010–2013 Alajuelense (assistant)
2017–present Alajuelense (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Mauricio Antonio Montero Chinchilla (born 19 October 1963 in Costa Rica[1]) is a retired Costa Rican footballer.

Nicknamed El Chunche (The Thing),a Montero is widely known for his humble origins, which molded his behavior and charisma.[2] His colloquial lexicon includes phrases such as chollarse las nalgas ("bust your buttocks"), which he uses as his motto to denote effort.[3]

Playing career

Club

Montero came through the youth ranks of Ramonense and debuted for the senior team in 1980. He moved to Alajuelense in 1987 and retired on 15 September 1998 after a game against Atlético Bucaramanga.[4] During that match, Alajuelense retired his #20 jersey that he had used throughout his tenure with the club. Montero, however, did not exclusively use #20 during his Alajuelense tenure as he used #12 on occasion between 1990 and 1991, and #3 (belonging to fellow defender Hernán Fernando Sossa) at least once during the 1990–91 season—Montero himself mentioned that he did this out of need due to the actual #20 shirts not being readily available. He totalled 556 league games,[5] 408 of them for Alajuelense.[6]

The nickname El Chunche ('The thing') comes from his answer to what he would buy with a prize he had won. He answered 'Voy a comprarme un chunche' ('I will buy a thing') meaning he would like to buy a vehicle (Costa Ricans use the word "chunche" to refer to pretty much anything). He is one of the most charismatic soccer players in Costa Rica. He is the creator of El tiro del zoncho (the vulture shot), a play in which Montero headed to goal line, dribbled goalkeeper and shot powerfully above large pole of goal line approximately by 6 feet length from scoring line, the term derives of exaggeration popular told happening that the ball smashed a vulture, bringing it to ground.

International

Nicknamed El Chunche, ('The Thing'), Montero made his debut for Costa Rica in 1985 and was part of the squad, that played in the 1990 FIFA World Cup held in Italy, and featured in all four games played.[7] The defender collected 56 caps, scoring 3 goals[8] He also represented his country at the 1991 and 1995 UNCAF Nations Cups as well as at the 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup.[9]

He played his final international on June 5, 1996 against Canada.

International goals

Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first.[10]
N. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 24 November 1991 Irving Stadium, Dallas, United States  United States 1–1 1–1 Friendly match
2. 27 May 1992 Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, San José, Costa Rica  Ecuador 2–1 Friendly match
3. 4 March 1992 Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, San José, Costa Rica  El Salvador 1–0 2–0 Friendly match

Managerial career

A few years after his retirement, Montero became assistant to manager Oscar Ramírez at Belén,[11] then coach with Municipal Grecia in the second division.[12][13] After two seasons there, he became assistant head coach in his beloved team, Alajuelense and gained the CONCACAF Champions' Cup in 2004 and the national tournament in 2005. He was the coach of Carmelita from 2007[14] to October 2008.[15] He returned to Alajuelense to become the first coach assistant, again under Oscar Ramírez' management.[4] He was dismissed in August 2013[16] and put in charge of the club's U-15 team.[17]

He was a commentator for Canal 7 Teletica Deportes during the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[18]

Personal life

Montero is married to Luxinia Ávila and they have three children.[19]

Notes

^a In Central American Spanish, the word chunche (IPA: ['tʃuntʃe]) refers to an "object whose name is unknown or not willing to be mentioned".[20]

References

  1. ^ "Figuras del ayer: Mauricio Montero". UNAFUT. 2008-11-11. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
  2. ^ "Humilde y carismático". La Nación (in Spanish). 15 September 1998. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  3. ^ Ramírez, Wender (29 April 2021). "´Chunche` en Marineros: "Si se van a chollar las nalgas, vamos a andar bien"". El Mundo CR (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  4. ^ a b El cuerpo técnico de la Liga en datos Archived 2014-12-07 at the Wayback Machine - Nación (in Spanish)
  5. ^ Géiner Segura está en el umbral de un histórico club Archived 2015-01-04 at the Wayback Machine - Nación (in Spanish)
  6. ^ Los caudillos de la alineación rojinegra Archived 2016-08-26 at the Wayback Machine - UNAFUT (in Spanish)
  7. ^ Mauricio Montero – FIFA competition record (archived)
  8. ^ Appearances for Costa Rica National Team Archived 2009-07-06 at the Wayback Machine - RSSSF
  9. ^ CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 1991 - Full Details Archived 2013-10-16 at the Wayback Machine - RSSSF
  10. ^ Mauricio Antonio Montero - International Appearances
  11. ^ Binomio mundialista•Mauricio Montero y Óscar Ramírez dirigen a Belén - Nación (in Spanish)
  12. ^ Cartagena adelante - Nación (in Spanish)
  13. ^ Grecia abandona el sótano - Nación (in Spanish)
  14. ^ Carmelita confirma a Mauricio Montero como su técnico - Nación (in Spanish)
  15. ^ Mauricio Montero fuera de Carmelita - Nación (in Spanish)
  16. ^ Alajuelense apartó del banquillo a Mauricio "Chunche" Montero - Al Día (in Spanish)
  17. ^ Mauricio Montero entrenará al equipo Sub-15 de Alajuelense - Nación (in Spanish)
  18. ^ Mauricio ‘Chunche’ Montero va para Brasil y Wálter “Paté” Centeno para canal 7 - Nación (in Spanish)
  19. ^ Vla y Chunche Muy clásicos•Desde 1991, Mauricio Montero y Vladimir Quesada iden fuerzas en finales del Futbol Nacional - Nación (in Spanish)
  20. ^ "chunche | Diccionario de la lengua española". «Diccionario de la lengua española» - Edición del Tricentenario (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Academy. Retrieved 16 January 2022.

External links

Mauricio Montero international tournaments
Authority control databases
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