Luis Zubeldía

Luis Zubeldía

End of the first stage of Ecuadorian Championships 2015
Personal information
Full name	Luis Francisco Zubeldía
Date of birth	(1981-01-13) 13 January 1981
Place of birth	Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina
Height
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Santos Laguna (manager)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1998–2004	Lanús	57	(3)
International career
1997	Argentina U-17	0	(0)
1999–2001	Argentina U-20	0	(0)
Managerial career
2008–2010	Lanús
2011–2012	Barcelona SC
2012–2013	Racing Club
2013–2015	LDU Quito
2016–	Santos Laguna
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Luis Francisco Zubeldía (born 13 January 1981) is an Argentine former footballer and current manager of Mexican club Santos Laguna. Zubeldía played for Lanús from 1998 to 2004, but retired early at the age of 23 due to osteochondritis. Immediately after retiring, he started working in Lanús as an assistant coach to Ramón Cabrero. When Cabrero left the team, Zubeldía was appointed head coach, becoming the youngest manager ever to take charge of an Argentine Primera División team. He would go on to manage clubs in his native Argentina, as well as in Ecuador.

Playing career

Club

Zubeldía made his league debut for Lanús on 30 October 1998 in a 2–2 home draw against Independiente. He went on to make 57 appearances scoring 3 goals. In 2004, he retired from football at the age of 23 due to osteochondritis of the knee.

International

Zubeldía played for Argentina at the under-17 and under-20 level. He played in the 1997 Under-17 World Cup and the 1999 Under-20 World Cup.

Managerial career

In June 2008, Zubeldía was appointed as the new manager of Lanús, at the age of 27. This made him the youngest manager in the history of the Argentine Primera División. Zubeldía led the team to a 4th place finish in the 2008 Apertura (also qualifying them to the 2009 Copa Libertadores) and a third place in the 2009 Clausura. However, after lower subsequent league finishes and a series of four matches lost in a row in the 2010 Apertura, he resigned from the managerial position. On June 1, 2011, Zubeldía took charge of the Spanish club Almería. On June 17, it was announced that Zubeldía does not meet the requirement to coach in the Liga BBVA because he has not coached a team for 3 years or more, therefore he will not coach Almería.

Barcelona SC

On June 23, 2011 it was announced that Zubeldía would be the new head coach of the most popular team in Ecuador, Barcelona.

On April 9, 2011 after 9 months of a regular and positive season (16-7-8) he quits from Barcelona due to differences with current Chairman. Ecuador, Barcelona.

Racing Club De Avellaneda

On 2012, Zubeldia joined Racing Club as manager, replacing Alfio Basile. He was sacked 15 months later, in August 2013.

Liga De Quito

In January 2014, he was appointed manager of Liga De Quito.

Managerial statistics

Managerial statistics

As of 31 May 2016

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Atlas		2015	Present	23	9	6	8	29	25	+4	39.13
Total				23	9	6	8	29	25	+4	39.13

External links

• Luis Zubeldía -- The Rising Star of Coaches at Argentina Football World
• Argentine Primera managerial statistics at Fútbol XXI (Spanish)
• Argentine Primera playing statistics (Spanish)
• A ritmo de Tango: Luis Zubeldía, el exitoso técnico precoz at Notas de Futbol (Spanish)