Bogotá -
The Colombian Reinaldo Rueda, 63 years old, was announced this Thursday as the new coach of his country replacing Portuguese Carlos Queiroz and after terminating his contract with Chile in the last hours.
"The Executive Committee of the Colombian Football Federation (FCF) announces that Professor Reinaldo Rueda is, from today, the new head coach of the Men's Colombian National Team", detailed the organization in a statement.
The Colombian strategist will have as main objectives to qualify the team for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and perform well in this year's Copa America, scheduled for mid-year in Argentina and Colombia.
"We wish Reinaldo Rueda and his team success, convinced that they will do an excellent job in the tasks to come. The first statements of the new coach will be in a press conference next Tuesday, January 19, at a time to be confirmed", added the federation.
Welcome Profe! @ReinaldoRuedaDT is the new Head Coach of the Men's Colombian National Team
Many successes in this new era leading the team of everyone ----
-- https://t.co/bJTlLsUvaE#VamosColombia ---- pic.twitter.com/nJVIOcEEaC
— Colombian National Team (@FCFSeleccionCol) January 14, 2021
Rueda will have his third experience with the Colombian team after being interim coach in 2002 and taking over the team in 2004 after Francisco Maturana's departure.
In the qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the coach received the team with one point out of twelve possible and was close to taking the team to the World Cup, but it was not enough as they fell one point short of the playoff spot.
However, he had a chance in the qualifiers for South Africa 2010 and took Honduras to that World Cup, while for the following qualifiers he coached Ecuador and also led them to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
His most successful period in his career was between 2015 and 2017 when he coached Atlético Nacional and won two leagues, one Copa Colombia, one super cup, the 2016 Copa Libertadores, and the 2017 Recopa Sudamericana.
He has also coached the Colombian Under-20 national team in the World Cups of Australia 1993 and the United Arab Emirates 2003, in which the team achieved its best historical result by finishing in third place.
He has also been the coach of Cortuluá, Deportivo Cali, and Independiente Medellín, as well as Flamengo from Rio de Janeiro, which he led in 2017 to their first continental final in 16 years, the Copa Sudamericana final they lost to Independiente de Avellaneda.
His last job was with the Chilean national team, which he joined in January 2018 and where he coached 27 matches with a record of nine wins, eight draws, and ten losses.
"The FCF thanks the Chilean Football Federation and its president, Pablo Milad, with whom there was dialogue and communication at all times on this matter", added the information. (D)