José Luis Sierra (footballer, born 1968)

José Luis "Coto" Sierra Pando (born 5 December 1968) is a Chilean football coach and former player. He is the manager of Unión Española.

José Luis Sierra
Personal information
Full name José Luis Sierra Pando
Date of birth (1968-12-05) 5 December 1968 (age 55)
Place of birth Santiago, Chile
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11+12 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
Unión Española (head coach)
Youth career
1985–1988 Unión Española
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1994 Unión Española 124 (29)
1989–1990Valladolid (loan) 3 (0)
1995 São Paulo 8 (0)
1996–2001 Colo-Colo 144 (42)
1999UANL (loan) 13 (1)
2002–2009 Unión Española 217 (51)
Total 509 (123)
International career
1991–2000 Chile 53 (8)
Managerial career
2010–2015 Unión Española
2015–2016 Colo-Colo
2016–2018 Al-Ittihad
2018 Shabab Al-Ahli
2019 Al-Ittihad
2020–2021 Palestino
2021–2022 Al-Tai
2022–2023 Al-Wehda
2024– Unión Española
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing in the midfield, he retired in 2009, and one year later he became the coach of his long-time team Unión Española.

Club career

edit

Unión Española

edit

Sierra made his debut in professional soccer with Unión Española in November 1988 against the Universidad de Chile. After two solid campaigns with Unión Española, Sierra was transferred to Real Valladolid in Spain. However, during Sierra's short time in Spain, the team had economic problems which caused him to return to Unión Española. After more success he made his debut with the Chile national team. Sierra won the Copa Chile with Unión Española in 1992 and 1993.

Colo-Colo

edit

After an unsuccessful stint in Brazil playing for São Paulo, he went on to spend three successful years with Colo-Colo, which saw his team capture the championship in all three seasons. Currently Sierra has found his way back to Unión Española, making a stop in between to play with UANL Tigres in Mexico for one season. He captured the Golden Boot in Chile (awarded to the best professional football player in Chile) in 2004 and 2005.

In 1997, it was widely rumoured that then Premier League side Everton manager Howard Kendall had made an approach to bring Sierra to Goodison Park. However, for unknown reasons, possibly relating to lack of sufficient capital, Kendall decided to pull the plug on the deal.

Return to Unión Española

edit

Sierra announced his retirement in December 2008 and accepted the position of manager with his beloved Unión Española. He will continue on the position until the end of the Clausura 2009 tournament.

International career

edit

Sierra was capped 53 times and scored eight goals for the Chile national team between 1991 and 2000. He played four games at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, scoring a goal on a free-kick against Cameroon.

International goals

edit
Scores and results list Chile's goal tally first.[1]
No Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 31 March 1993 Estadio Carlos Dittborn, Arica, Chile   Bolivia 2–1 2–1 Friendly
2. 13 June 1993 Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz, Bolivia   Bolivia 1–0 3–1 Friendly
3. 21 June 1993 Estadio Alejandro Serrano Aguilar, Cuenca, Ecuador   Brazil 1–0 3–2 1993 Copa América
4. 31 May 1998 Stade Municipal Tropenas, Montélimar, France   Tunisia 2–2 3–2 Friendly
5. 23 June 1998 Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes, France   Cameroon 1–0 1–1 1998 FIFA World Cup
6. 3 July 1999 Estadio Antonio Oddone Sarubbi, Ciudad del Este, Paraguay   Venezuela 2–0 3–0 1999 Copa América
7. 12 February 2000 Estadio Municipal de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile   Bulgaria 3–0 3–2 Copa Ciudad de Valparaíso
8. 22 March 2000 Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chile   Honduras 2–1 5–2 Friendly

Coaching career

edit

Sierra started coaching in 2010 of Chilean club Unión Española and spent five years there. He won the 2013 Torneo Transición with them. Unión won the Apertura Tournament of 2013, after defeating Colo-Colo 1–0 in the final match. In 2015, he became the coach of Colo-Colo. In only one season, he won the 2015 Torneo Apertura title with and also led them into the 2015 Copa Chile. On July 22, 2016, he signed a one-year contract with eight-time Saudi champions Al-Ittihad with an option to sign for another season.

On 7 November 2021, Sierra was appointed as the manager of Saudi Arabian club Al-Tai.[2]

On 20 October 2022, Sierra was appointed as manager of Al-Wehda.[3]

Personal life

edit

His parents, Domingo Sierra and Pilar Pando, are Spanish immigrants in Chile of Galician and Asturian origin, respectively.[4]

He studied in the Colegio Hispano Americano, which belongs to Spanish residents in Chile.[4]

Belonging to a football family, his father was a director of Unión Española[4] and his great uncle, Félix Cantín, was a doctor and midfielder of Unión Deportiva Española from 1928 to 1932.[5]

His son of the same name, José Luis Jr., was a Chile international at under-20 level[6] and his brother-in-law, Sebastián Miranda, is a football manager and former professional footballer in Chile and abroad. His nephew, Benjamín Sierra, who is also the nephew of Sebastián Miranda, plays at the Spanish Kings League.[7]

Managerial statistics

edit
As of 9 November 2024
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Unión Española   14 October 2010 18 May 2015 247 111 54 82 410 320 +90 044.94
Colo-Colo 18 May 2015 20 July 2016 49 28 11 10 76 45 +31 057.14
Al-Ittihad   22 July 2016 1 June 2018 63 34 14 15 118 91 +27 053.97
Shabab Al Ahli   28 May 2018 14 October 2018 7 3 0 4 13 12 +1 042.86
Al-Ittihad   24 February 2019 19 October 2019 32 18 5 9 68 45 +23 056.25
Palestino   11 November 2020 16 August 2021 46 19 10 17 74 62 +12 041.30
Al-Tai   7 November 2021 7 July 2022 21 9 3 9 27 30 −3 042.86
Al-Wehda 21 October 2022 1 June 2023 26 9 8 9 27 36 −9 034.62
Unión Española   4 September 2024 present 7 4 0 3 12 9 +3 057.14
Career totals 498 235 105 158 825 650 +175 047.19

Honours

edit

Player

edit

He played in Chile on the national soccer team for nine years, from 1991 to 2000.

Club

edit
Colo-Colo
Unión Española

Individual

edit

Manager

edit

Club

edit
Unión Española
Colo-Colo
Ittihad FC

Individual

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Chile - International Results - Details". RSSSF. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  2. ^ "خوسيه سييرا مدربا الطائي". 7 November 2021.
  3. ^ "الوحدة يقيل أكرابوفيتش.. والبديل سييرا".
  4. ^ a b c "José Luis Sierra Pando". excha.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  5. ^ Llanos Ibarra, Heriberto (29 March 2021). "Andrés García y las generaciones doradas de Unión Española". Asifuch (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  6. ^ "José Luis Sierra, el hijo del "Coto" que salvó a Chile de una derrota frente a Ecuador en el Sub 20". emol.com. 23 January 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  7. ^ Parker, Matías (29 January 2023). "La historia de Benjamín Sierra, un chileno suelto en la Kings League" (in Spanish). La Tercera. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  8. ^ "Saudi Arabia - Crown Prince Cup 2016/17 - Football News, Results, Fixtures, Standings, Tables, Live Scores | Hailoo Sport". hailoosport.com. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  9. ^ "Siera, Hamdalla named the best in April". Retrieved 1 May 2019.
edit