| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nelson Antonio Tapia Ríos | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1966-09-22)22 September 1966 (age 59) | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Molina, Chile | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.82 m (5 ft11+1⁄2 in) | |||||||||||||
| Position | Goalkeeper | |||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||
Current team | Constitución Unido (manager) | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| 1984–1987 | O'Higgins | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 1987–1992 | O'Higgins | 100 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 1993 | Deportes Temuco | 17 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 1994–2000 | Universidad Católica | 183 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | Vélez Sársfield | 3 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2001 | Deportes Puerto Montt | 7 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2002 | Unión Española | 21 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2003 | Cobreloa | 35 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2004 | Santos | 18 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2005 | Cobreloa | 7 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2005 | Junior | 12 | (0) | |||||||||||
| Total | 403 | (0) | ||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||
| 2000 | Chile Olympic (O.P.) | 6 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 1994–2005 | Chile | 73 | (0) | |||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||
| 2015 | Chile U17 (gk coach) | |||||||||||||
| 2016 | Independiente Cauquenes | |||||||||||||
| 2018 | Cobreloa (assistant) | |||||||||||||
| 2019 | Barcelona SC (gk coach) | |||||||||||||
| 2019 | Barcelona SC (interim) | |||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | Guayaquil Sport | |||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | Libertad FC | |||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Aampetra [es] | |||||||||||||
| 2023 | Olmedo | |||||||||||||
| 2024 | Audax Italiano (assistant) | |||||||||||||
| 2024 | Audax Italiano (interim) | |||||||||||||
| 2025 | Rangers (gk coach) | |||||||||||||
| 2025– | Constitución Unido | |||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||
Nelson Antonio Tapia Ríos (born 22 September 1966) is a former Chileanfootballgoalkeeper and currentfootball manager. He is the current manager of Constitución Unido.
He made his debut for theChile national team in 1994 againstFrance. After his last match thus far, a 0–5 loss against Brazil in 2005, the tally is at 73caps. He played all four games for Chile at the1998 FIFA World Cup, and he also won an Olympic bronze medal with Chile at the2000 Summer Olympics.
While he was studying at theINAF (National Football Institute) to become a football manager, he worked as a goalkeeping coach ofC.D. Universidad Católica at under-10 level and as the coach of theMolina football team, in his birthplace.[1] In addition to this, he worked as coach at school and university level and as the Technical Director of bothUnión Temuco andColchagua.[2] In 2015, he worked as a goalkeeping coach ofChile U17[3] and next he became the manager ofIndependiente de Cauquenes in thethird category of the Chilean football.[4]
After a time as an assistant coach inCobreloa,[5] in 2019 he moved toEcuador and joinedBarcelona S.C. as a goalkeeping coach. Next he joinedGuayaquil Sport as manager, winning the2020 Segunda Categoría.[6] In2021 season, he won again the same title along withLibertad FC[7] Tapia was sacked by Libertad on 22 September 2022.[8]
In December 2022, he signed withAampetra [es] in theEcuadorian third division.[9][10] In February 2023, he switched toOlmedo in theSerie B.[11][12]
In 2024, Tapia returned to Chile and joined the technical staff ofAudax Italiano, serving as assistant coach ofWalter Erviti. After Erviti quit having led the team for four matches, Tapia assumed as interim coach.[13]
In 2025, Tapia assumed as the goalkeeping coach forRangers de Talca.[14] On 22 July of the same year, he was appointed as the manager of Constitución Unido in theChilean Tercera A.[15][16]
He is nicknamedSimpson because during his career he wore a hair style similar to cartoon characterBart Simpson.
In 2012, Tapia took part in the Chileanreality showMundos Opuestos.[17]
Universidad Católica
Cobreloa
Santos
Chile
Guayaquil Sport
Libertad
Entre ellos hubo una gran cantidad de ex deportistas como Nelson Tapia, Francisco Huaiquipán y Francisco Rojas.