José Alí Cañas Navas (born 19 June 1960) is a Venezuelan football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the current manager of Zamora.

Alí Cañas
Personal information
Full name José Alí Cañas Navas
Date of birth (1960-06-19) 19 June 1960 (age 64)
Place of birth Mérida, Venezuela
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
Zamora (manager)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1976 Portuguesa
1976–1980 Estudiantes de Mérida
1985–1986 ULA
1987 Estudiantes de Mérida
Managerial career
1992–2000 Venezuela (assistant)
1998 Zulia (assistant)
1998 Monagas
2001–2002 Estudiantes de Mérida (assistant)
2003 Maracaibo
2003–2005 Monagas
2006 Ghana (assistant)
2007 Monagas
2008 Mineros
2009 Estrella Roja
2010–2011 Monagas
2012–2013 Yaracuyanos
2014–2015 Deportivo Lara (assistant)
2016–2017 Deportivo Lara
2017–2019 Zamora
2020–2022 Portuguesa
2023 Estudiantes de Mérida
2024– Zamora
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Cañas is the youngest Venezuelan to feature in a Copa Libertadores match, playing at the age of 15 in the 1976 edition. He is also the only Venezuelan manager to take part of a FIFA World Cup, after being an assistant of Ratomir Dujković in the Ghana national team for the 2006 edition.

Career

edit

Born in Mérida, Cañas played one Copa Libertadores match for Portuguesa before moving to Estudiantes de Mérida in 1976. He left the club in 1980, and subsequently represented Universidad de Los Andes before returning to Estudiantes in 1987.

Shortly after retiring, Cañas became Ratomir Dujković's assistant at the Venezuela national team. He also worked under the same role with subsequent managers Eduardo Borrero and José Omar Pastoriza,[1] while also assisting Dujković at Zulia in 1998;[2] in that year, he was also in charge of Monagas.

In 2003, Cañas led Maracaibo to the Clausura title, but lost the final to Caracas. He subsequently returned to Monagas, and was named Dujković's assistant at the Ghana national team on 29 December 2005.[3]

After the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Cañas returned to his home country and rejoined Monagas for a third spell. He was appointed manager of Mineros for the 2008 campaign, but was sacked in September of that year.[4]

In 2010, after a period at Estrella Roja, Cañas was again named manager of Monagas. He left the club on 7 December 2011,[5] and was presented as manager of Yaracuyanos the following 21 June.[6]

On 11 January 2016, after two years as Rafael Dudamel's assistant at Deportivo Lara, Cañas was named manager of the club.[7] He left on a mutual agreement on 27 July,[8] and took over Zamora on 23 August 2017.[9]

Cañas led Zamora to their title in 2018, but was sacked on 4 October 2019.[10] On 3 September 2020, after nearly one year without a club, he was appointed in charge of former side Portuguesa.[11]

Cañas left Portuguesa on a mutual agreement on 2 August 2022.[12] On 27 January of the following year, he took over Estudiantes de Mérida,[13] but resigned on 30 May.[14]

On 1 April 2024, Cañas returned to Zamora, replacing Enrique Maggiolo.[15]

Honours

edit

Zamora

References

edit
  1. ^ "Venezolano Alí Cañas es el nuevo asistente del seleccionador de Ghana" [Venezuelan Alí Cañas is the new assistant manager of Ghana.] (in Spanish). TeraDeportes. 29 December 2005. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  2. ^ "Toque latino de Ghana tiene el sello de Alí Cañas" [Latin touch of Ghana has the seal of Alí Cañas] (in Spanish). El Universal. 14 June 2006. Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Alí Cañas hace maletas para Alemania 2006" [Alí Cañas packs his bags for Germany 2006] (in Spanish). El Universal. 29 December 2005. Archived from the original on 31 December 2005. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Para salir de la crisis" [To leave the crisis] (in Spanish). ESPN. 24 September 2008. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  5. ^ "Alí Cañas no seguirá dirigiendo al Monagas Sport Club" [Alí Cañas will not continue managing Monagas Sport Club] (in Spanish). Balonazos.com. 7 December 2011. Archived from the original on 6 January 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  6. ^ "Alí Cañas presentado como nuevo DT de Yaracuyanos" [Alí Cañas presented as new manager of Yaracuyanos] (in Spanish). Líder en Deportes. 21 June 2012. Archived from the original on 29 June 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  7. ^ "#Oficial José Ali Cañas tomará el mando del equipo larense para la Temporada 2016 #ContigoDEPORVida" [#Official José Ali Cañas will take the reins of the larense team for the 2016 season #ContigoDEPORVida]. Deportivo Lara (in Spanish). Twitter. 11 January 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  8. ^ "José Alí Cañas se desvinculó del Deportivo Lara como Director Técnico" [José Alí Cañas left Deportivo Lara as manager] (in Spanish). Balonazos.com. 27 July 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  9. ^ "Alí Cañas asume las riendas del blanquinegro" [Alí Cañas takes the reins of the white-and-black] (in Spanish). Zamora FC. 23 August 2017. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  10. ^ "Alí Cañas no continuará más en Zamora FC al ser desvinculado del club" [Alí Cañas will not continue at Zamora FC after being dismissed by the club] (in Spanish). Balonazos.com. 4 October 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  11. ^ "Anunciado José Alí Cañas como nuevo entrenador del Portuguesa FC" [José Alí Cañas announced as manager of Portuguesa FC] (in Spanish). Balonazos.com. 3 September 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  12. ^ "Alí Cañas no seguirá con Portuguesa" [Alí Cañas will not continue with Portuguesa] (in Spanish). Líder en Deportes. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  13. ^ "Alí Cañas será el técnico de Estudiantes de Mérida" [Alí Cañas will be the manager of Estudiantes de Mérida] (in Spanish). La Vinotinto. 27 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  14. ^ "Estudiantes de Mérida se quedó sin director técnico por salida de José Ali Cañas" [Estudiantes de Mérida ended up without a manager due to the departure of José Ali Cañas] (in Spanish). Balonazos. 30 May 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  15. ^ "Se fue Enrique Maggiolo del Zamora y regresa José Ali Cañas como nuevo Director Técnico" [Enrique Maggiolo has left Zamora and José Ali Cañas returns as new manager] (in Spanish). Balonazos. 1 April 2024. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
edit