Marvin Rodríguez

Marvin Rodríguez

Personal information
Full name	Marvin Rodríguez Ramírez
Date of birth	26 November 1934
Place of birth	San José, Costa Rica
Date of death	16 October 2017 (aged 82)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1952–1959	Saprissa
1960	Alajuelense
1961–1964	Municipal
1965–1966	Saprissa
International career
1955–1961	Costa Rica	43	(7)
Managerial career
1964–1965	Municipal
1968–1970	Cartaginés
1969	Costa Rica
1971–1976	Saprissa
1978	Aurora
1978–1980	Herediano
1981–1984	Real España
1984–1986	Puntarenas
1989	Costa Rica
1990–1991	FAS
1995–1996	Xelajú
1999–2000	Costa Rica
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Rodríguez and the second or maternal family name is Ramírez.

Marvin Rodríguez Ramírez (26 November 1934 – 16 October 2017) was a Costa Rican football coach and midfielder.

He coached the Costa Rica national football team to its debut at the World Cup in 1990.

Career

Club

Born in barrio Don Bosco, San José,^[1] Rodríguez was a local star playing for Deportivo Saprissa back in the 1950s and 1960s. He was part of the Saprissa team that went on a world tour in 1959, becoming the first Latin American team to do such a trip. He also played for Municipal of Guatemala between 1961 and 1964, where he became player-manager. He retired as a player with Saprissa in 1966 after breaking his ankle.^[1]

International

In addition to his club career, Rodríguez made 43 playing appearances for the Costa Rica national football team,^[2] scoring 7 goals.^[1] In the 1950s, he was part of the team known as Chaparritos de Oro,^[3] which against all odds won a silver medal at the Pan-American Games held in Buenos Aires. He represented his country in 14 FIFA World Cup qualification matches.^[4]

Managerial

As a coach, Rodríguez managed his former playing club Saprissa during different stints in the 1970s and early 1980s. He won four national championships coaching Saprissa in the 1970s,^[5] to add to the several championships that he had won previously with the team as a player. Most significantly, he led unfashionable Puntarenas to the 1986 league title. As of August 2013, he had coached 683 matches and won 6 Costa Rican league games.^[6]

In 1988, he coached Costa Rica's national squad, guiding the team to its first World Cup qualification. Despite such success, he did not coach the team during the 1990 World Cup finals, as Bora Milutinovic was assigned that duty^[7] by the Costa Rican Football Federation. Later, Rodríguez coached Municipal, Aurora and Xelajú in Guatemala, winning the national league title with each team as well.^[8]

Personal life

Rodríguez was married to Flor de María Vega Durán until his death and they had 4 children together.^[9]

Death

Rodríguez died on 16 October 2017.^[10]

References

1. Breve historial de Marvin Rodríguez - Nación (in Spanish)
2. Mamrud, Roberto. "Costa Rica - Record International Players". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 2009-07-06. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
3. La Selección de los ‘Chaparritos de Oro’ en 1956 Archived 2014-10-22 at the Wayback Machine - Nación (in Spanish)
4. Marvin Rodríguez – FIFA competition record (archived)
5. Saprissa ganó 16 de sus títulos con gente de la casa - Nación (in Spanish)
6. Marvin Rodríguez es el técnico más ganador de todos - Nación (in Spanish)
7. Los de Italia 90 no tuvieron despedida - Al Día (in Spanish)
8. Marvin Rodríguez Coleccionista de títulos - Nación (in Spanish)
9. Marvin aspira a seguir - Nación (in Spanish)
10. Muere técnico que llevó a la Sele a Italia 1990 (in Spanish)