Javier Alvarez: “I think it would be a great challenge and a great opportunity for me to be in the United States because I think I have the experience, the knowledge of working with young players.” (Photo courtesy of Andres Gomez)
Available: Veteran and successful soccer coach from Colombia who has directed teams at the domestic and international levels. Is knowledgeable about U.S. soccer, Major League Soccer and the national team. Extensive resume. Speaks fluent Spanish and English. Inquire within.
By Michael Lewis
FrontRowSoccer.com Editor
Javier Ignacio Alvarez would love to coach in the United States.
The former coach of the Colombian national team and several domestic sides felt he was positioned to guide a professional team north of the border and impart some wisdom from his decades in the game.
“I think it would be a great challenge and a great opportunity for me to be in the United States because I think I have the experience, the knowledge of working with young players,” he said in a recent telephone interview. “I think it’s very important that the young players know more about the game, to be more informed about wheat they have to do, to have more technical skills. The United States young soccer players are very good athletes. They have a very good endurance, physically they are very fit. I want to communicate to transfer the knowledge and experience I have that I acquired during my career.”
Alvarez is seeking a coaching position in the United Soccer League or the North American Soccer League, if the league comes back in 2019, and eventually Major League Soccer.
“I think it would be great if I would have the opportunity if it would be the NASL, to show work, to gain confidence, the USL … and then to be a coach of one of the MLS teams.”
So, who is Javier Alvarez?
He directed the Colombian national team and the country’s Under-23 side from 1999-2000.
Most recently, he has coached in Colombia Primera A Division, with Deportivo Independiente Medellin, Club Athletic Huila, Millionarios Futbol Club and Once Caldas, winning one league title and qualifying twice for the Copa Libertadores. He also has guided teams in Ecuador.
One thing in Alvarez’s favor is that he speaks fluent English, so nothing would be lost in the translation.
“I think it’s an advantage because a coach has to have knowledge of the game and he also has to communicate with all the players,” he said. “If he has a great communication he can get himself the most understanding. … The players will understand better and easier. I also think a great coach has to be a great communicator. He has to transfer it to his players.”
Two Colombian natives direct teams in MLS — former national team defender Wilmer Cabrera (Houston Dynamo), who coached at B.W. Gottschee, and Oscar Pareja (FC Dallas).
“They started with youth teams and academies and they worked their way up,” he said. “They have done a very good job. Dallas and Houston Dynamo are doing a good campaign.”
Like Pareja and Cabrera, speaks fluent English.
“I think it’s an advantage because a coach has to have knowledge of the game and he also has to communicate with all the players,” he said. “If he has a great communication he can get himself the most understanding. … The players will understand better and easier. I also think a great coach has to be a great communicator. He has to transfer it to his players.”
For someone who has done the majority of his work in South America, Alvarez has much knowledge about the U.S. game, international and domestic.
Among the other topics Alvarez touched on in the interview:
* The state of soccer in the U.S.:
“From outside, my view is that U.S. soccer has progressed a lot. I think the USA is more open-minded right now. It is more open minded because not qualifying for the World Cup in Russia. … So, I think the owners and the managers of the team have changed their mindset and their criteria. For example, many teams in the United States are thinking in young players in young South American players. I think that’s a good thing. They want to have a model for American players. They want to get good use and if it is possible, since they are so young, to sell them again.
“I was amazed because for example, MLS has never spent so much money for one player. Ezequiel Barco is a great player. Independiente for Argentina. He is only 18 years. You see the other teams are doing [the same]. Miguel Almiron [Paraguay] is also playing in Atlanta. Josue Colman of Paraguay plays for Orlando City. He is only 19-years-old. Eduardo Sosa of Venezuela plays for the Columbus Crew. Columbus is the best one in the conference. 10 of 12 possible points. they are doing a great job. Diego Rossi is 20-years-old and he is from Uruguay and plays for the Los Angeles Football Club. Santiago Mosquera [Colombia] is playing for FC Dallas.
“They are trying to get young people to be used as a model for the other players to [use] more tactical skills. They can grow and develop as great players and the teams can sell them abroad. I think it’s a good thing. I think they’re changing their minds.”
On Borussia Dortmund midfielder Christian Pulisic:
“I admire his great progress in a short period of time. He has learned a lot about the way the Germans play and he has enriched and added to all his knowledge and his talent. He knows more about the game. He knows the way to win one in man-to-man. He knows what part of the pitch when to go and get it and he knows when he has to just touch the ball. I think he has learned a lot. He is always improving. If not the best, one of the best players America has right now.”
On Colombia, reaching the World Cup for the second time in a row:
“I think the consequences are very good for Colombian soccer. Colombia was the third country in South America exporting soccer players. Now we have more that have good fame, that are well known. Most of our great players are doing a good job in their clubs. It opened the possibility for other young Colombian soccer players to go abroad. It’s also easier right now because they didn’t have a model, didn’t have someone to imitate. Now we have great players. We have James Rodriguez, in 2014 the first time a Colombian soccer player was the champion [Golden Boot winner as the top goal-scorer at the World Cup]. Radamel Falcao, what he has done. We have Davinson Sanchez, a very young player and he is playing in Tottenham. Yerry Mina. He is only 23-years-old, and he is playing now for Barcelona. All of those things remind those players that we have the technical skill that is appreciated all over the world. The fact we have gone to three World Cups shows that we are progressing, that we are having a better way of playing with the young people. It’s a good thing for our country, for our players and for our coaches.”
On the impact of the U.S. hosting the 2026 World Cup:
“I think it would be a great impact. I think you have what is necessary. You don’t have to construct or make great changes. You have a very good infrastructure. It would be a great thing for young players. It’s a great event. It is very hard to compare something with this kind of tournament. I think it would be a great especially, for young soccer players, young American soccer players. I think it would be a great event and it would also motivate young people to practice and to learn more about soccer.”
Michael Lewis can be reached at [email protected]
