Mauricio Antonio Montero Chinchilla (born 19 October 1963 in Costa Rica) is a retired Costa Rican footballer and current manager of COFUTPA.
Nicknamed El Chunche (The Thing), Montero is widely known for his humble origins, which molded his behavior and charisma. His colloquial lexicon includes phrases such as chollarse las nalgas ("bust your buttocks"), which he uses as his motto to denote effort.
Playing career
Club Montero came through the youth ranks of Ramonense and debuted for the senior team in 1980. He moved to Alajuelense in 1987 and retired on 15 September 1998 after a game against Atlético Bucaramanga.El cuerpo técnico de la Liga en datos - Nación During that match, Alajuelense retired his #20 jersey that he had used throughout his tenure with the club. Montero, however, did not exclusively use #20 during his Alajuelense tenure as he used #12 on occasion between 1990 and 1991, and #3 (belonging to fellow defender Hernán Fernando Sossa) at least once during the 1990–91 season—Montero himself mentioned that he did this out of need due to the actual #20 shirts not being readily available. He totalled 556 league games,Géiner Segura está en el umbral de un histórico club - Nación 408 of them for Alajuelense.Los caudillos de la alineación rojinegra - UNAFUT
The nickname El Chunche ('The thing') comes from his answer to what he would buy with a prize he had won. He answered 'Voy a comprarme un chunche' ('I will buy a thing'), meaning he would like to buy a vehicle (Costa Ricans use the word "chunche" to refer to pretty much anything). He is one of the most charismatic soccer players in Costa Rica. He is the creator of (the vulture shot), a play in which Montero headed to goal line, dribbled goalkeeper and shot powerfully above large pole of goal line approximately by 6 feet length from scoring line, the term derives of exaggeration popular told happening that the ball smashed a vulture, bringing it to ground.
International Nicknamed El Chunche, ('The Thing'), Montero made his debut for Costa Rica in 1985 and was part of the squad, that played in the 1990 FIFA World Cup held in Italy, and featured in all four games played. The defender collected 56 caps, scoring 3 goalsAppearances for Costa Rica National Team - RSSSF He also represented his country at the 1991 and 1995 UNCAF Nations Cups as well as at the 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup.CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 1991 - Full Details - RSSSF
He played his final international on June 5, 1996 against Canada.
International goals Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first.Mauricio Antonio Montero - International Appearances Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 24 November 1991 Irving Stadium, Dallas, United States 1–1 1–1 Friendly match 2. 27 May 1992 Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, San José, Costa Rica 2–1 Friendly match 3. 4 March 1992 Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, San José, Costa Rica 1–0 2–0 Friendly match
Managerial career A few years after his retirement, Montero became assistant to manager Oscar Ramírez at Belén,Binomio mundialista•Mauricio Montero y Óscar Ramírez dirigen a Belén - Nación then coach with Municipal Grecia in the second division.Cartagena adelante - Nación Grecia abandona el sótano - Nación After two seasons there, he became assistant head coach in his beloved team, Alajuelense and gained the CONCACAF Champions' Cup in 2004 and the national tournament in 2005. He was the coach of Carmelita from 2007Carmelita confirma a Mauricio Montero como su técnico - Nación to October 2008.Mauricio Montero fuera de Carmelita - Nación He returned to Alajuelense to become the first coach assistant, again under Oscar Ramírez' management. He was dismissed in August 2013Alajuelense apartó del banquillo a Mauricio "Chunche" Montero - Al Día and put in charge of the club's U-15 team.Mauricio Montero entrenará al equipo Sub-15 de Alajuelense - Nación In August 2017, Montero was promoted back to the first team as assistant coach to newly hired manager Wílmer López.Wilmer López nuevo técnico del Alajuela de Costa Rica, tiempo.hn, 22 August 2017 Alongside this position, Montero still acted as coach for the club's U17 team. He was only in that role on the first team for just under two months before another shake-up at the end of October 2017, and Montero returned to coaching only the club's U17 team.Mauricio “Chunche” Montero queda fuera del cuerpo técnico de la Liga, larepublica.net, 31 October 2017Mauricio Montero no seguirá como asistente técnico de Wílmer López, monumental.co.cr, 31 October 2017 In 2019, Montero became the coach of Alajuelense's travel team, Once de Abril.Once abril llega a la cima de su grupo, luisenriquebolanos.com, 10 February 2019
Ahead of the 2020-21 season, Montero became coach of Juventud Escazuceña.‘Chunche’ Montero explica objetivo de alianza La Liga- Escazuceña, teletica.com, 7 October 2020 At the end of December 2021, it was confirmed that Montero would be the coach of Jicaral from the new year.Mauricio “El Chunche” Montero es el nuevo entrenador de Jicaral Sercoba, observador.cr, 21 December 2021 After just three months, Montero was sacked in March 2022 after a poor run, with just 2 wins in 10 games.Mauricio Montero deja de ser técnico de Jicara, hoyeneldeportecr.com, 10 March 2022 Just over a month later, he was hired as an assistant coach for Guanacasteca.📄Comunicado Oficial:, facebook.com, 29 April 2022
In June 2022, Montero was announced as the new coach for COFUTPA.Cofutpa tiene el agrado de comunicar que se ha llegado a un..., facebook.com, 22 June 2022
Personal life Montero is married to Luxinia Ávila and they have three children.Vla y Chunche Muy clásicos•Desde 1991, Mauricio Montero y Vladimir Quesada iden fuerzas en finales del Futbol Nacional - Nación
He was a commentator for Canal 7 Teletica Deportes during the 2014 FIFA World Cup.Mauricio ‘Chunche’ Montero va para Brasil y Wálter “Paté” Centeno para canal 7 - Nación
Notes In Central American Spanish, the word chunche () refers to an "object whose name is unknown or not willing to be mentioned".
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