Gabriel Ochoa Uribe

Gabriel Ochoa Uribe (born November 20, 1929 in Medellin - † August 8, 2020 ) was a Colombian football player and coach. With 14 national championships, El Médico is not only one of the great coaches in the world, but he is also the most successful coach who was a player in goal.

Career

Player career

Club coat of arms from CD Los Millonarios

From 1946 to 1948 he was in goal with América de Cali . Then he moved to the capital Bogotá to CD Los Millonarios . That was also when the heyday of this club began. Under coach Adolfo Pedernera he played with the legendary Alfredo Di Stéfano in a team. During this time, he had a share in winning the four Colombian championships that the club won between 1949 and 1953. In 1952 he was once in the storm for the injured Di Stéfano and scored a goal.

In 1954 he was only the second Colombian goalkeeper to move abroad and joined América FC in Rio de Janeiro . In Rio he also did sports medicine studies. In 1955 he returned once again to the Millonarios, where he ended his playing career in 1958 with a runner-up.

Coaching career

Immediately after he had hung up the goalkeeper gloves, he began his coaching career at Millonarios and immediately won five Colombian championships in a row from 1959 to 1964. In 1960 he first introduced the 4-4-2 system in Colombia. After the championship in 1964, he left the club after disagreements over a player transfer.

In the meantime he was also in charge of the Olympic selection in Colombia. In this capacity he led a Colombian national team to a victory over Brazil for the first time in 1959. In March 1963 he led the Colombian senior team through the Copa América . However, Colombia finished last with just one draw from six games.

In 1965 he joined the arch-rivals of Millonarios, Independiente Santa Fe , and led the club to the championship after finishing fourth in the first year of 1966.

After he retired from football for the first time in 1968, he returned to Millonarios in 1970 and won the 1972 championship there. He also led the Millonarios into the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores and was twice runner-up. In 1976 he withdrew again from the coaching business, but was persuaded to make a comeback in 1977.

In 1978 he devoted himself entirely to sports medicine, but in 1979 he took over the reins at América de Cali . In the first year, he led the club, which had not been highly valued until then, to its first championship. Another five championships in a row followed between 1982 and 1986, which has been a record ever since. After the championship was canceled in 1989 due to activities of the drug cartel, he won another championship with América de Cali in 1990. He led the club between 1985 and 1987 three times in a row in the Libertadores final, but failed each time just to win the title. In 1992 he finally said goodbye to the dugout.

In 1985, he took over the national team again in the meantime by qualifying for the soccer world championship in 1986 , but where he was not granted any success.

Gabriel Ochoa Uribe, who is also known as El Médico , the doctor, has worked as a columnist since the end of his career. He is considered the most important Colombian football coach.

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ Casa Editorial El Tiempo: Fallce Gabriel Ochoa Uribe, el DT más ganador del fútbol colombiano. In: El Tiempo. August 8, 2020, accessed August 9, 2020 (Spanish).

personal data
SURNAME	Ochoa Uribe, Gabriel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Medico, El (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Colombian soccer player and coach
DATE OF BIRTH	November 20, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH	Medellin
DATE OF DEATH	August 8, 2020

[1] Casa Editorial El Tiempo: Fallce Gabriel Ochoa Uribe, el DT más ganador del fútbol colombiano. In: El Tiempo. August 8, 2020, accessed August 9, 2020 (Spanish).