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.
 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Roberto Meléndez Lara | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 31 March 1912 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Barranquilla, Colombia | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 20 May 2000 (aged 88) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Barranquilla, Colombia | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1930–1939 | Junior | ||||||||||||||||
| 1939 | Centro Gallego | ||||||||||||||||
| 1940–1947 | Junior | ||||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1937–1947 | Colombia | ||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1945 | Colombia | ||||||||||||||||
| 1948 | Junior | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
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 Colombia 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
edit- International
References
edit- ^ Aguirre Acuña, Ahmed (2003). Junior: Una historia de diamantes, Barranquilla: Fama Producciones.
- ^ "Cinco años del triunfo colombiano en la Copa América". Arco triunfal. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
- ^ "Reseña histórica del Junior". Club Atlético Junior de Barranquilla. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
- ^ "Murió en Barranquilla Roberto "El Flaco" Meléndez". El Tiempo. 21 May 2000. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
- ^ "Roberto Meléndez". El Tiempo. 25 March 1991. Retrieved 25 February 2011.