Óscar Pareja

Óscar Pareja

Pareja while coaching FC Dallas.
Personal information
Full name	Óscar Alexander Pareja Gómez
Date of birth	(1968-08-10) 10 August 1968
Place of birth	Medellin, Colombia
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
	Atlético Nacional
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1987–1995	Independiente Medellín	263	(18)
1995–1998	Deportivo Cali	122	(11)
1998	New England Revolution	13	(0)
1998–2005	FC Dallas	170	(13)
National team
1991–1996	Colombia	11	(3)
Teams managed
2005–2011	FC Dallas (assistant)
2012-	Colorado Rapids
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Óscar Pareja (born August 10, 1968 in Medellín) was a Colombian football midfielder who is now head coach of Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer.

Playing career

Pareja came up through the youth system of Atlético Nacional; however, he began his professional career in 1987, debuting for renowned club Independiente Medellín, and assisted on the winning goal in a 1-0 victory on his debut. He played eight years with Independiente Medellín, from 1987 to 1995, helping them to be runners-up in 1993, and leading them to a respectable performance in the 1994 Copa Libertadores. In 1995, Deportivo Cali purchased Pareja from Independiente Medellín; Pareja paid immediate dividends, helping Cali to a championship in the 1995-1996 season, their first in 22 years. He would stay with them four years, before signing with Major League Soccer of the United States.

He was allocated to New England Revolution on May 26, 1998, but was soon traded to Dallas Burn for Mexican forward Damian Alvarez. This proved to be one of several poor trades that the Revolution would make at this time, as Pareja would go on to become a fixture in Dallas' midfield for years to come, and Damian would only play two games with the Revs before leaving the league. Although Pareja played little for Dallas in 1998, he earned himself a place at the center of Dallas's midfield for the 1999 season, playing 27 games and scoring four goals and six assists, while coordinating the Burn attack. Pareja remained in this position for eight years, playing in 189 regular season games for Dallas, while scoring 13 goals and 52 assists, and was named to the MLS Best XI in 2002. Pareja announced he would retire following the 2005 MLS season and took a job as an assistant coach with FC Dallas.

International

Pareja also played for the Colombia national football team, playing 11 games and scoring three goals, and playing in the 1991 Copa América. Pareja is nicknamed El Generalito, the Little General, but is now called Papi.

Coaching career

Pareja served as an assistant coach with the United States U-17 men's national soccer team at the IMG Soccer Academy in 2007-08. He then moved on to the coaching staff at FC Dallas for five seasons in a variety of roles.

On January 5, 2012, Colorado Rapids signed Pareja as head coach.

Coaching record

As of 1 September 2012

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %
Colorado Rapids	January 5, 2012	Present	700132000000000000032	700110000000000000010	70003000000000000003	700119000000000000019	700131250000000000031.25
Total			700132000000000000032	700110000000000000010	70003000000000000003	700119000000000000019	700131250000000000031.25

• 1.^ Includes league, playoffs, cup and CONCACAF Champions League.

External links

• Career stats at MLSsoccer.com
• (Spanish) Deportivo Cali
• (Spanish) Independiente Medellín