José del Solar

José del Solar
Personal information
Full name	José Guillermo del Solar Alvarez-Calderón
Date of birth	28 November 1967 (age 56)
Place of birth	Lima, Peru
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
	Universitario
Senior career*
Years	Team
1986–1989	Universitario
1986–1987	→ San Agustín (loan)
1990–1992	Universidad Católica
1992–1995	Tenerife
1995–1996	Salamanca
1996–1997	Celta
1997–1998	Valencia
1998–1999	Beşiktaş
1999–2000	Universitario
2000–2001	Mechelen
2001–2002	Universitario
Total
International career
1986–2001	Peru
Managerial career
2003	Villarreal B
2004	Villarreal B
2005	Colón
2005–2006	Sporting Cristal
2007	Universidad Católica
2007–2009	Peru
2010–2011	Universitario
2014	Universitario
2016	Universidad San Martín
2017	Sporting Cristal
2018–2022	Universidad César Vallejo
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

José Guillermo del Solar Alvarez-Calderón (born 28 November 1967) is a Peruvian football manager and former player who played as a defensive midfielder.

During his playing career, spent in four countries – mainly in Spain, where he amassed La Liga totals of 149 matches and ten goals during six seasons – he was nicknamed Chemo. He started and finished it at Universitario.^[1]

Del Solar was a Peruvian international for 15 years. He started working as a manager in 2005, also being in charge of the national team late into the decade.

Playing career

Club

Born in Lima, Del Solar developed at the youth system of Universitario de Deportes, but played his first professional match with Asociación Deportiva San Agustín after he was loaned by Universitario to continue his development as a player. He won his first Peruvian Primera División championship with San Agustín, defeating Alianza Lima in December 1986.

Del Solar's last official appearance was a 0–0 draw against traditional rivals Alianza Lima for the Apertura on 7 July 2002, playing for his first club which won 1–0 in the first game, with 0–0 in Trujillo.

Del Solar competed in Spain from 1992 to 1998, always in La Liga. He started at CD Tenerife – where he partnered Argentine Fernando Redondo in central midfield, and also his compatriot Percy Olivares – helping the Canary Islands side rob Real Madrid of the league title in the last round in his first season, playing in 30 matches and scoring once (the team also qualified for the first time ever to the UEFA Cup); this dramatic league scenario also happened in the following year, but his presence was much more testimonial.^[2]^[1]

In 1996, after suffering relegation with UD Salamanca, del Solar was a starter at RC Celta de Vigo but appeared rarely for Valencia CF, after which he left the country, resuming his career in Turkey and Belgium (one season apiece, interspersed with spells in his country) and finally retiring at his very first club at the age of 34.^[3]^[1]

International

Del Solar earned 74 caps for Peru, in which he scored nine goals. He made his debut on 28 January 1986 against China (1–3), playing his last international match on 8 November 2001 against Argentina (0–2), 20 days before his 34th birthday.^[4]

Del Solar was selected to six Copa América tournaments, netting three times in four matches – twice through penalties – as the national team reached the quarter-finals in the 1993 edition, in Ecuador.^[5]

International goals
#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	20 August 1989	La Paz, Bolivia	Bolivia	0–1	2–1	1990 World Cup qualification
2.	8 July 1991	Concepción, Chile	Chile	3–2	4–2	1991 Copa América
3.	12 July 1991	Concepción, Chile	Venezuela	4–1	5–1	1991 Copa América
4.	21 June 1993	Cuenca, Ecuador	Paraguay	1–1	1–1	1993 Copa América
5.	24 June 1993	Cuenca, Ecuador	Chile	1–0	1–0	1993 Copa América
6.	27 June 1993	Quito, Ecuador	Mexico	1–4	2–4	1993 Copa América
7.	15 August 1993	Asunción, Paraguay	Paraguay	2–1	2–1	1994 World Cup qualification
8.	19 February 2000	Miami, United States	Honduras	1–3	3–5	2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup
9.	12 July 2001	Cali, Colombia	Paraguay	3–2	3–3	2001 Copa América

Coaching career

Del Solar began working as a coach with Villarreal CF's reserves in Tercera División, in 2003,^[6] but left in December to acquire his coaching license. He returned to the side in June 2004, but resigned on 4 October.^[7]

In 2005, del Solar worked at Club Atlético Colón, aided by former Tenerife teammate Juan Antonio Pizzi as the pair was sacked after only three matches and as many losses.^[8] He was named manager of Sporting Cristal afterwards, leading the team to the domestic league in 2005.^[9]

In 2007, del Solar was appointed at former club Club Deportivo Universidad Católica, finishing second behind Colo-Colo in Apertura 2007.^[10] On 3 August of that year, he replaced Julio César Uribe as manager of the national side;^[11] he went on to be part of the disastrous 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, as they only won three times and ranked last.^[12]^[13]

Honours

Player

San Agustín

Peruvian Primera División: 1986

Universitario

Universidad Católica

Copa Chile: 1991

Manager

Sporting Cristal

Peruvian Primera División: 2005

Managerial statistics

As of 13 August 2012^[14]

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
Team	Nat	From	To	G	W	D	L	Win %
Sporting Cristal		January 2005	July 2006	87	43	25	19	49.43
Universidad Católica		January 2007	July 2007	20	14	4	2	70
Peru		July 2007	December 2009	23	5	5	13	21.74
Universitario		August 2010	May 2012	53	19	22	12	35.85
Total				183	81	56	46	44.26