 Markarián in 2012 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sergio Apraham Markarián Abrahamián | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1944-11-01)1 November 1944 (age 81) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Montevideo, Uruguay | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||
| 1976–1979 | Bella Vista | ||||||||||||||||
| 1980 | Danubio | ||||||||||||||||
| 1981 | River Plate Montevideo | ||||||||||||||||
| 1982 | Danubio | ||||||||||||||||
| 1983–1984 | Olimpia | ||||||||||||||||
| 1986 | Olimpia | ||||||||||||||||
| 1987–1989 | Sol de América | ||||||||||||||||
| 1990–1991 | Cerro Porteño | ||||||||||||||||
| 1992–1993 | Paraguay U23 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1993–1994 | Universitario | ||||||||||||||||
| 1995–1996 | Universitario | ||||||||||||||||
| 1996–1997 | Sporting Cristal | ||||||||||||||||
| 1998–1999 | Ionikos | ||||||||||||||||
| 1999–2001 | Paraguay | ||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2002 | Panathinaikos | ||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | Panathinaikos | ||||||||||||||||
| 2004 | Iraklis Thessaloniki | ||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2007 | Libertad | ||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Cruz Azul | ||||||||||||||||
| 2009 | Universidad de Chile | ||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | Danubio | ||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2013 | Peru | ||||||||||||||||
| 2015 | Greece | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Sergio Apraham Markarián Abrahamián (born 1 November 1944) is a Uruguayan-Argentine formerfootball coach of Armenian descent. In 2015, he was the head coach of theGreece national team.[1]
Markarián lived in Argentina during most of his childhood and adolescent years, from 7 to 18 years of age. He played football as a left center back defender until he was 17 years of age. Never making it to professional football, he entered into university studies and started working in a large fuel distribution company in Uruguay, eventually reaching the post of general manager.[2] It was the Uruguay loss against Holland in the1974 FIFA World Cup which spurred Markarian to realise that coaching football was his vocation.[3] Markarian abandoned his well-paid post as general manager, taking many risks, even when facing criticism from colleagues and friends, in order to dedicate his life to coaching professional football. Markarian lost status and spending power and endured ten difficult years at the beginning of his coaching career. As he stated, "I had to sell my Mercedes Benz and start catching the bus!"[4]
Markarián followed his heart and has become a well-respected professional coach. He is recognized for being a great tactician, which earned him the nickname,El Mago ("The Magician" in Spanish).
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(May 2018) |
Even though he set out with the idea for the improvement of Uruguayan football, he never coached professionally in Uruguay. Markarian started his career in 1974 coaching the Reserves ofClub Atlético Bella Vista of Uruguay and went on to coach the first team.[2] Markarian made his professional coaching debut as a coach for the football club,Olimpia Asunción ofParaguay in 1983. He won the Paraguayan league with Olimpia the very same year he started coaching in 1983 and then again in 1985. After his four-year stay at Olimpia, he made the move to the Paraguayan club,Sol de America, leading them to win theTorneo Republica and to become the Paraguayan league runner-up in 1989. He then made the move to another Paraguayan giant,Cerro Porteño, winning theTorneo Republica in 1990. Markarian coached theParaguay U-23 National Team in 1992, winning the South American Pre-Olympic Championships and a spot to compete in the1992 Barcelona Olympics.[3] From 1993 to 1997, Markarian coached the Peruvian teams,Universitario de Deportes andSporting Cristal winning one Peruvian league title with each of them. Markarian is also recognized for takingSporting Cristal to theCopa Libertadores Final in whichSporting Cristal was the runner-up.[2]In 1998, Markarian coached the Greek team,Ionikos, reaching fifth place in the Greek league and qualifying them for theUEFA Cup.[3]
Markarian became the coach of the Paraguay National team from 1999 through 2001 qualifying Paraguay to the2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan. He was fired by theParaguayan Football Association in 2001 prior to the World Cup because he had lost his last two qualifier matches, a 3–1 away loss againstVenezuela and a 4–0 home loss againstColombia. He was to be replaced by the Italian coach,Cesare Maldini.[5]
After coaching the Paraguay National team, Markarian returned to Greece and became the head coach ofPanathinaikos in 2001, reaching the quarter-finals in theUEFA Champions League. Markarian resigned his post as head coach in May 2002 only to return in October saying that he "needed time off to collect his thought and relax".[3] The following season, Markarian led them to the quarter-finals of theUEFA Cup but lost toJosé Mourinho'sFC Porto.[6] In June 2004, he was hired byIraklis Thessaloniki, replacingMats Jingblad. Having fallen out with star signingGiuseppe Signori, he was fired on 20 December that year due to indifferent results. Iraklis were sitting at 11th place in theAlpha Ethniki with 15 points in 12 games at the time of his dismissal. He was succeeded bySavvas Kofidis.[3]
After coaching in Greece since 2002, Markarian returned toParaguay to coachLibertad from 2005 to 2007, winning Paraguayan League titles in 2006 and 2007.[2] Markarian was appointed coach of Mexico'sCruz Azul in June 2007 and took them to the Apertura final but lost toSantos Laguna.[7] He walked away a year later because of differences he had with the club's board regarding how to reinforce the squad.[8]
He had the option to be the head coach ofCosta Rica national team, but theCosta Rican Football Federation pickedRodrigo Kenton as their head coach.Markarian coachedUniversidad de Chile in 2009, winning the Chilean Torneo Apertura- the first title theUniversidad de Chile had won in the last 5 years- before then terminating his contract due to differences with the club's management only six months into the year.[9]
In July 2010, Markarian was appointed as the new head coach of the Peru national team for the2011 Copa America and the2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. Markarian succeededJosé del Solar who led the Peruvian team in a disastrous campaign, finishing last during the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.[10] Under great expectations from the media, Markarian stated in a press conference, "I expect from my heart that this will be my best work in my career as a coach".[11] Markarian's objective was to qualify Peru to the 2014 World Cup and recover the luster that Peruvian football once had. This would prove to be a great challenge, asPeru had missed out on all editions of the World Cup since its last appearance in 1982. Nonetheless, Markarian set out to overcome this challenge with the help of his assistantsPablo Bengoechea andÓscar Aguirregaray and Physical Coach Gonzalo Barreiro.[11] In 2010, Markarian was the third best paid coach in South America earning a year.[12] OnlyMano Menezes andMarcelo Bielsa had higher salaries than Markarian at the time.[12] After a 1–0 loss in a friendly game withPanama in October, Markarian excluded playersReimond Manco,Jefferson Farfán, andJohn Galliquio from the squad because they reportedly went to a Panama City club despite orders not to go out.[13]
He managed Peru in a successful 2011 Copa América campaign with the team finished third after beatingVenezuela 4–1, leaving fans to be enthusiastic about a possible football revival for Peru. However, the 2014 World Cup qualification became another disappointing campaign, with a 2–1 of Peru over his home ancestral teamUruguay inLima meant that the Peruvians would miss another World Cup.[14] In October 2013, Markarián resigned as head coach of the Peru national team.[15] Peru would eventually qualify for World Cup four years later.
On 12 February 2015 Markarian was appointed as the new head coach of theGreece national team.[16] In July 2015, after a2–1 loss against theFaroe Islands in qualifying for the2016 European Championship, Markarian resigned.[17]
Olimpia
Universitario de Deportes
Sporting Cristal
Libertad
Universidad de Chile
Paraguay U23
Peru
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