Mateo Bravo

Mateo Bravo
Personnel
Surname	Mateo Bravo Carrillo
birthday	May 31, 1949
place of birth	Mexico City ,  Mexico
position	goalkeeper
Juniors
Years	station
	UNAM Pumas
	Club America
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1971-1974	CF Pachuca
1974-1986	UANL Tigres
1986-1987	Cobras Querétaro
1987-1988	CF Atlante
1 Only league games are given.

Mateo Bravo (born May 31, 1949 in Mexico City ), also known by various nicknames ( San Mateo , El Portero Volador and El Parador de Penales ), is a former Mexican football player in the position of goalkeeper who worked with his long-time club UANL Tigres won the Mexican soccer championship twice and the Mexican cup competition once .

career

Mateo Bravo began his football career as a left winger in the youth division of the UNAM Pumas , for which he worked for three years before moving to city ​​rivals America . When both goalkeepers were absent due to injuries during a guest tour of his new club, Bravo was in goal for the first time and convinced in this position, so that he then acted as goalkeeper.

Bravo received his first professional contract in 1971 with CF Pachuca , with whom he was relegated to the second division in 1973 . In 1974 he moved to the UANL Tigres , with which he was under contract for twelve years and with whom he celebrated his greatest successes. Although Bravo was only a substitute goalkeeper most of the time, he was featured in some of the most important games and mastered them with flying colors.

In the 1977/78 season, the goalkeeper José Pilar Reyes usually guarded the goal of the Tigres, so that Bravo had no chance of missions under normal circumstances. But when the championship moved into its decisive phase, Reyes was appointed to the squad of the national team in preparation for the football World Cup in 1978 and was therefore not available for the Liguillas . So Bravo was able to enjoy these important games, in which the Tigres prevailed in the quarterfinals with an overall result of 4: 2 against UAG Tecos and in the semifinals with an overall result of 3: 1 against CD Cruz Azul and for qualify for the finals. In these, the Tigres prevailed (also with an overall result of 3: 1) against Bravo's first club UNAM Pumas and won the championship title for the first time in the club's history.

In the 1981/82 season, which crowned the Tigres with their second championship title, history repeated itself in a similar way. This time Mexico did not qualify for the World Cup , but Reyes was injured and had to be replaced by Bravo again. With the victories in the championship finals against Club Universidad de Guadalajara (1-1 and 2-1 in the quarter-finals) and his former club América (2-0 and 0-1 in the semifinals), Bravo again showed a first-class performance with which he was his Team again helped to reach the finals and earned the nickname " San Mateo ". In the finals against the favored team of Club Atlante , which was still based in the capital at the time , the Tigres saved themselves to the penalty shoot-out , where “San Mateo” saved two penalties and played a decisive role in the 3-1 success of his team. In this penalty shootout, he earned the nicknames "El Portero Volador" (German "The flying goalkeeper") and "El Parador de Penales" (German "The penalty killer").

In 1986 he left the Tigres and spent his last two seasons as a professional footballer with the Cobras Querétaro and Club Atlante.

After his active career, he returned to the Tigres, where he worked as a goalkeeper coach for a long time. After the club separated from head coach Francisco Avilán at the end of the 1993/94 season, Bravo was briefly employed as an interim coach for the Tigres.

successes

• Mexican champion: 1978, 1982
• Mexican cup winner: 1976

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The Mexican season 1977/78 at RSSSF
2. ^ The Mexican season 1981/82 on RSSSF
3. ↑ cf. List of coaches of the UANL Tigres

Web links

• Player profile at Delirio-AuriAzul.es.tl (spanish)
• Mateo Bravo, el héroe felino por accidente (Spanish; article of December 12, 2011)