 portrait of Nicolas Frutos | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nicolás Alejandro Frutos Cortino[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1981-05-10)10 May 1981 (age 44) | ||
| Place of birth | Santa Fe, Argentina | ||
| Height | 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Centre forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2000 | Unión de Santa Fe | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2000–2002 | Unión de Santa Fe | 41 | (8) |
| 2002–2003 | San Lorenzo | 26 | (4) |
| 2003 | Nueva Chicago | 1 | (0) |
| 2003–2004 | Las Palmas | 18 | (1) |
| 2004–2005 | Gimnasia y Esgrima | 18 | (7) |
| 2005–2006 | Independiente | 28 | (19) |
| 2006–2010 | Anderlecht | 69 | (41) |
| Total | 201 | (80) | |
| International career | |||
| 2001 | Argentina U20 | 4 | (2) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2011–2013 | Unión de Santa Fe II | ||
| 2014–2015 | Olimpia (assistant) | ||
| 2016 | Anderlecht (youth) | ||
| 2016–2017 | Anderlecht (assistant) | ||
| 2017 | Anderlecht (interim) | ||
| 2019 | San Luis de Quillota | ||
| 2020–2021 | Anderlecht (assistant) | ||
| 2021–2022 | D.C. United (assistant) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Nicolás Alejandro Frutos Cortino (born 10 May 1981) is an Argentinefootball coach and retired player. Astriker during his playing career, he is an assistant coach forMajor League Soccer clubD.C. United.[3]
Born inSanta Fe, Frutos started playing forUnión de Santa Fe and was later bought bySan Lorenzo. Later, Spanish clubLas Palmas signed him, but after an unsuccessful season of only one goal Argentina'sGimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata brought him back. He again found his level, catching Independiente's attention, whom he joined for theApertura 2004, scoring 19 goals in 28 matches.
Frutos was as of 23 October 2005 the top scorer of theApertura 2005 with nine goals in 11 matches, but he lost that position because he was not able to play for Independiente for the rest of the season.
Frutos obtained a transfer fromIndependiente on 21 October 2005 but was only allowed to play for Anderlecht starting in January 2006.
In his first season withR.S.C. Anderlecht, he scored nine goals in the second half of the season and won the2005–06 Belgian First Division.
The2006–07 season yielded more goals for Frutos, as he scored 17 goals in 27 appearances in both the Jupiler League and theUEFA Champions League. His goal-scoring was sorely missed in the early part of the2007–08 season, until his return in the 2–2 draw againstRoeselare, where he was a substitute and scored the goal that leveled the match. Frutos also scored two goals againstHapoel Tel Aviv FC in theUEFA Cup group stage.
At the start of the2009–10 season, he scored a goal againstSüper Lig sideSivasspor during the third-round qualifying match for theUEFA Champions League after coming on as a substitute.[4]
Frutos announced his retirement from professional football on 29 March 2010 at the age of 28 due to tendinopathy of theAchilles tendon, which prevents him from playing at a competitive level.[5]
One day after his retirement, it was announced that Frutos would work as ascout for his last club,R.S.C. Anderlecht.[6] In 2011 he worked forUnión de Santa Fe as a coordinator for the youth teams and manager of their reserve team. He left his position in June 2013.[7]
In 2015, he was a part of the technical staff atClub Olimpia.[8] On 1 January 2016, Frutos returned toAnderlecht and took charge of the U19 team.[citation needed] On 18 September 2017, he was appointed as caretaker manager for the first team.[9] He was in charge for four games, getting three victories and one defeat, before a new manager was appointed on 3 October 2017.
On 3 January 2019, he was appointed as manager ofSan Luis de Quillota.[10] After adding just four points out of 18 possible, he was fired on 2 April 2019.[11]
In February 2021, Frutos was appointed assistant coach ofD.C. United.[12]
