Roberto Meléndez

Roberto Meléndez Lara, nicknamed El Flaco, (born in Barranquilla, 31 March 1912 - died 20 May 2000) was a Colombian football player and coach who played in the 1930s and 1940s, in the amateur era of the sport.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Meléndez and the second or maternal family name is Lara.
Roberto Meléndez
Personal information
Full name Roberto Meléndez Lara
Date of birth (1912-03-31)31 March 1912
Place of birth Barranquilla, Colombia
Date of death 20 May 2000(2000-05-20) (aged 88)
Place of death Barranquilla, Colombia
Playing position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1930–1939 Junior
1939 Centro Gallego
1940–1947 Junior
National team
1937–1947 Colombia
Teams managed
1945 Colombia
1948 Junior
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

As a player, Melendez played primarily as a forward. He was a player for Barranquilla Juventud Junior who, in large part due to his efforts, became the most powerful amateur club in Colombia during that period. He was the first Colombian player to play for a foreign team in 1939 when was hired by the team 'Hispano Centro Gallego' in Cuba. When playing, he was considered the best Colombian footballer of his era.[1]

Meléndez was also head coach of the Colombian national team and coached them to a fifth-place finish in the Copa América 1945 and in 1947 to an 8th-place finish.[2] He was also head coach of Atletico Junior in the early 1940s, who were runners-up in the first championship league football in 1948.[3] Meléndez died on 20 May 2000.[4]

The Barranquilla main metropolitan stadium Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez was officially renamed after Meléndez, on the initiative of journalist Chelo de Castro on 17 March 1991.[5]

Honours
International
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References
  1. Aguirre Acuña, Ahmed (2003). Junior: Una historia de diamantes, Barranquilla: Fama Producciones.
  2. "Cinco años del triunfo colombiano en la Copa América". Arco triunfal. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  3. "Reseña histórica del Junior". Club Atlético Junior de Barranquilla. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  4. "Murió en Barranquilla Roberto "El Flaco" Meléndez". El Tiempo. 21 May 2000. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  5. "Roberto Meléndez". El Tiempo. 25 March 1991. Retrieved 25 February 2011.


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