Óscar Pareja

Óscar Pareja
Pareja while coaching FC Dallas.
Personal information
Full name Óscar Alexander Pareja Gómez
Date of birth (1968-08-10) 10 August 1968
Place of birth Medellin, Colombia
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 FC Dallas (head coach)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1995 Independiente Medellín 263 (18)
1995–1998 Deportivo Cali 122 (11)
1998 New England Revolution 13 (0)
1998–2005 FC Dallas 170 (13)
Total 568 (42)
National team
1991–1996 Colombia 11 (3)
Teams managed
2005–2007 FC Dallas (assistant)
2007–2008 United States U-17 (assistant)
2008–2011 FC Dallas (assistant)
2012–2014 Colorado Rapids
2014– FC Dallas
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Óscar Alexander Pareja Gómez (born 10 August 1968) is a former Colombian football midfielder. He is currently the head coach of FC Dallas of Major League Soccer. Pareja is nicknamed El Generalito, the Little General, but is now called Papi.

Playing career

Pareja came up through the youth system of Atlético Nacional; however, he began his professional career in 1987, debuting for renowned club Independiente Medellín. In his debut, he assisted on the winning goal in a 1-0 victory. He played eight years with the club, from 1987 to 1995, helping them to be Categoría Primera A runners-up in 1993, and leading them to a respectable performance in the 1994 Copa Libertadores. In 1995, Deportivo Cali purchased Pareja from Independiente Medellín; he paid immediate dividends, helping Cali to a championship in the 1995-1996 season, their first in 22 years. He would stay with them four years.

Pareja then signed with Major League Soccer (MLS) of the United States. After joining MLS, Pareja was allocated to the New England Revolution on 26 May 1998, but was soon traded to the Dallas Burn for Mexican forward Damian Alvarez. Although Pareja played little for Dallas in 1998, he earned himself a place at the center of Dallas's midfield for the 1999 season, playing 27 games and scoring four goals and six assists, while coordinating the Burn attack.[1] He remained in this position for six more years, playing in 189 regular season games for Dallas, while scoring 13 goals and 52 assists, and was named to the MLS Best XI in 2002. He announced he would retire following the 2005 MLS season and remained with the club, now renamed as FC Dallas, as an assistant coach.

International

Pareja also played for the Colombia national football team. In 11 caps, he scored three goals and played in the 1991 Copa América.

Coaching career

Pareja spent two seasons as an assistant coach with FC Dallas in 2006 and 2007. He then left the club to join the United States U-17 men's national soccer team as an assistant coach at the IMG Soccer Academy in 2007-08.[2] He then returned to the coaching staff at FC Dallas as a director and coach in their youth system. He was praised for the system's achievements and was named the U-18 Academy Coach of the Year for the 2010-11 season.[3] For the 2011 MLS season, Pareja returned to the first team as an assistant coach. He was also head coach for the reserve team.[3]

The Colorado Rapids signed Pareja as head coach on 5 January 2012.[4] He led the Rapids into the playoffs in 2013. During the following offseason, he resigned as Colorado head coach on 4 January 2014.[5]

Pareja was announced as the head coach of his former club, FC Dallas, on 10 January 2014, after Dallas traded a first-round 2015 MLS SuperDraft pick and allocation money to Colorado.[6] He led the club into the playoffs in both of his first two seasons as head coach. In 2015, Dallas was the regular season Western Conference champions and runners-up for the Supporters' Shield. The following year the club won both the Supporters Shield and the U.S. Open Cup.

Coaching record

As of 29 July 2018
Team From To Record1
GWDLWin %
Colorado Rapids 5 January 2012 4 January 2014 69 25 13 31 036.23
FC Dallas 10 January 2014 present 185 91 42 52 049.19
Total 253 115 54 84 045.45
  • 1.^ Includes league matches only.

Coaching honors

FC Dallas

See also

References

  1. ↑ , MLSNET.com official player stats
  2. ↑ , USsoccer.com 26 November 2007
  3. 1 2 "OSCAR PAREJA FC Dallas Head Coach". FC Dallas. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
  4. ↑ Andrew Wiebe (5 January 2012). "Rapids hire FC Dallas assistant Pareja as head coach". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  5. ↑ "Report: Oscar Pareja steps down as Colorado Rapids head coach". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  6. ↑ "Oscar Pareja joins FC Dallas". Colorado Rapids. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
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