Felipe Núñez

Felipe Núñez
Personal information
Full name Felipe Alejandro Núñez Becerra
Date of birth (1979-02-25) 25 February 1979 (age 45)
Place of birth Caracas, Venezuela
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Deportes Santa Cruz (manager)
Youth career
Santo Tomás de Villanueva
1993–1999 Colo-Colo
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005 Gabriela Mistral University
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2002 Colo-Colo 0 (0)
2000–2001 → Fernández Vial (loan) 32 (1)
2001 → Deportes Melipilla (loan) 0 (0)
2002–2004 Acapulco 13 (0)
2004–2014 Palestino 230 (0)
2015–2016 Huachipato 41 (0)
2016–2017 Deportivo La Guaira 13 (0)
2017 Santiago Wanderers 0 (0)
Total 328 (1)
International career
1998–1999 Chile U20 1 (0)
2000 Chile U23 0 (0)
Managerial career
2019 Colchagua (assistant)
2020–2023 Deportes Recoleta
2024 Herrera FC B [es]
2024 Herrera FC [es] (assistant)
2025– Deportes Santa Cruz
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Felipe Alejandro Núñez Becerra (born 25 February 1979) is a Venezuelan–born Chilean football manager, journalist and former goalkeeper well known for his spell at Palestino. He is the current manager of Deportes Santa Cruz.

Early life

Núñez was born in Caracas, Venezuela, to Chilean parents. During his stay at Caribbean country he played tournaments for his school team under the coaching of Lino Alonso, historic football-man in the Venezuelan football history. He lived there until 1991 when he moved to his homeland and settled in his grandfather’s house at Santiago commune of Estación Central after his parents divorce.[1]

Club career

He started his career at Colo-Colo youth set-up aged fifteen. After the club’s bankruptcy he left the club and joined second-tier side Arturo Fernandez Vial in 2000.[1] In Concepción–based side, Núñez was first-choice keeper, playing 32 games during his spell and even scoring one goal, after netting a free kick score in a 4–1 home win over Unión San Felipe.[2]

In mid-2002, he went to Mexico along Sebastián González who completed his move to top-level team Atlante. However Chamagol recommended him to play at the club’s filial Potros Neza, which Núñez successfully joined.[1]

In 2004 Núñez returned to his country and joined Palestino. As an anecdote, in 2005 he took part of the reality TV show Adidas Selection Team from Fox Sports Chile, where a squad made up by youth players from professional teams faced players from schools, standing out future professional footballers such as Felipe Seymour, Nelson Saavedra, Eduardo Vargas, among others.[3] In the same year, he also represented the Gabriela Mistral University team under Eduardo Bonvallet.[4][5] He was an undisputed started and captain during his ten-year spell in the Arab Palestininian community club. There he reached the 2008 Torneo Clausura runner-up (where was red carded in the first leg final) and was included in the league’s team of the tournament by football magazine El Gráfico.[6] On 5 September 2014, he resigned from Palestino after differences with the coach Pablo Guede.[7]

On 22 January 2015, Núñez signed for Huachipato, after reaching a 18-month contract.[8]

International career

Núñez was second-choice for the Chilean under-20 team that played the 1999 South American U-20 Championship and the under-23 team that reached the 2000 Summer Olympics. Previously, along with Chile U20, he won the L'Alcúdia Tournament in 1998.[9]

In 2012, he received an offer from the Venezuelan Football Federation to play for its national team, but this however didn’t thrived.[10]

Managerial career

In 2019, he worked as the assistant coach of Francisco Arrué in Chilean Segunda División side Colchagua.[11] In 2020, he became the manager of Deportes Recoleta in the same division.[12] He left the club in September 2023.[13]

In the second half of 2024, Núñez moved to Panama and assumed as the assistant coach of Ever Demaldé in Herrera FC [es] in the top division as well as the coach of the B-team in the second level.[14][15] At the end of 2024, he returned to Chile and assumed as manager of Deportes Santa Cruz.[16]

Outside of football

In the mid 2010s, he completed a Bachelor of Arts in journalism at the University of the Americas.[17]

Honours

Chile U20

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Entrevista con Felipe Nuñez, el "1" de la constancia". El Gráfico. 30 May 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  2. ^ "10 inolvidables goles de arqueros". Radio Cooperativa. 30 May 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  3. ^ Fernández, Denís (13 August 2015). "El reality que Eduardo Vargas no ganó" (in Spanish). La Tercera. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  4. ^ "Los recuerdos y anécdotas de ex dirigidos por Bonvallet: "Don Eduardo era único, impresionaba su cercanía"". Emol (in Spanish). El Mercurio. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  5. ^ Ramírez-Musella, Javier (19 September 2015). "EyN: De jugador dócil a técnico motivador y conflictivo". www.economiaynegocios.cl (in Spanish). El Mercurio. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  6. ^ "Felipe Núñez presentó su renuncia a Palestino tras perder la titularidad en el equipo". Emol.com. 5 September 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Audax Italiano triunfó en los Premios El Gráfico". Audax Italiano web site. 21 December 2010. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  8. ^ "Felipe Núñez continuará su carrera en Huachipato". La Tercera. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  9. ^ Roggero, José (19 August 2015). "¡La Roja sub 20 es campeona en L'Alcúdia!". El Mostrador (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  10. ^ "Felipe Núñez: "No me siento menos que nadie"". La Nación. 17 April 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  11. ^ "Francisco Arrué y Felipe Núñez son la nueva dupla técnica de Colchagua C.D." www.diarioviregion.cl (in Spanish). 22 January 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  12. ^ Ortega, Pablo (25 March 2021). "El DT más ofensivo de Chile: "Era lo que quería del equipo"" (in Spanish). AS Chile. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  13. ^ Echagüe, Patricio (6 September 2023). "Felipe Núñez DEJA de ser el entrenador de DEPORTES RECOLETA". RedGol (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  14. ^ Huerta, Rodrigo (6 July 2024). "El giro de un DT chileno en Panamá: "Es un proyecto a mediano plazo; todo fue rápido"". AS Chile (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  15. ^ Huerta, Rodrigo (6 July 2024). ""Siento que la eliminación de la Roja fue prematura, pero no hay que quemar todo"". AS Chile (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  16. ^ Rubio, Jorge (24 December 2024). "Felipe Núñez asume un nuevo club en el fútbol chileno: ¡reemplaza a un DT que va al norte!". RedGol (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  17. ^ "10 futbolistas que estudiaron una carrera universitaria". Universitarios.cl. 10 February 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2022.