Gustavo Alfaro

Gustavo Alfaro
	Alfaro as the manager of Ecuador in 2022
Personal information
Full name	Gustavo Julio Alfaro
Date of birth	14 August 1962 (age 62)
Place of birth	Rafaela, Argentina
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team
1988–1992	Atlético de Rafaela
Managerial career
1992–1995	Atlético de Rafaela
1995	Patronato
1996–1997	Quilmes
1998–2000	Atlético de Rafaela
2001	Belgrano
2001–2002	Olimpo
2003–2004	Quilmes
2005	San Lorenzo
2006–2008	Arsenal de Sarandí
2008–2009	Rosario Central
2009	Al-Ahli
2010–2014	Arsenal de Sarandí
2014–2015	Tigre
2016–2017	Gimnasia LP
2017–2018	Huracán
2018–2020	Boca Juniors
2020–2023	Ecuador
2023–2024	Costa Rica
2024–	Paraguay
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gustavo Julio Alfaro (born 14 August 1962) is an Argentine football manager and former player who manages the Paraguay national football team.

Although Alfaro had a short career as a footballer, he was captain of the Atlético de Rafaela when they were promoted to the Argentine Primera División in 1989. Alfaro retired as a player from football in 1992 to concentrate on his coaching career. His first league title came with Arsenal de Sarandí in the 2012 Clausura.

Coaching career

Alfaro started his career as a manager for Atlético de Rafaela and Patronato de Paraná in the early 1990s. He then had his first spell as manager of Quilmes and a second spell at Atlético de Rafaela.

In 2001, Alfaro became the manager of Olimpo and led them to the Primera B Nacional Apertura 2001 championship and promotion to the Primera.^[1]

In 2003, Alfaro led Quilmes to promotion. He stayed to manage the team for the following season (2003–04), achieving a 4th and a 6th-place finish which earned them qualification for the 2005 Copa Libertadores and 2004 Copa Sudamericana tournaments.

In his only shot at an important club, Alfaro had a disastrous spell in San Lorenzo before joining Arsenal de Sarandí in late 2006.^[2]

Alfaro helped Arsenal to two 5th-place finishes, allowing the club to qualify for the Copa Libertadores for the first time in their history. They also earned qualification for the 2007 Copa Sudamericana, where they beat Argentine champions San Lorenzo in the qualifying round to earn a place in the round of 16. In that stage, they faced the Brazilian team Goiás. Arsenal won 3–2 in Brazil and recorded a 1–1 draw in the second leg to win the tie 4–3 on aggregate, their official first victory over foreign opposition. Arsenal eventually reached the final of the competition, leaving a wake of sacked managers in their path, including Daniel Passarella, who resigned from River Plate after their defeat by Arsenal in the semi-finals.

In the final of the competition, Arsenal drew 4–4 with Mexican América, winning the title on the Away goals rule. This was the first major championship in the history of Arsenal de Sarandí and Alfaro's first major title.

At the end of the 2007–08 season, he was replaced by Daniel Garnero as manager of Arsenal. In October 2008, he was named the manager of Rosario Central. In 2009, he went to Saudi Arabia to work in Al-Ahli (Jeddah); he came with high expectations from the fans. He stayed as the coach for four months; on 20 November, he resigned for personal reasons.

On 17 May 2010, Arsenal de Sarandí confirmed that the new manager for next season would be Alfaro, who arrived along with assistant coaches Sergio Chiarelli, Carlos González, and Claudio Cristofanelli.^[3] On 24 June 2012, Alfaro would achieve his first ever league title when Arsenal won its first league title in the club's history.

The Final Tournament of 2014 looked promising for Alfaro. He had an excellent team that would play at the Copa Libertadores. By April, the team had awful results, and he announced he would leave the club by the end of June. However, he was discharged by the club ^[4] and replaced by Martín Palermo.

On 2 January 2019, Boca Juniors named Gustavo Alfaro their new head coach, having his official debut on 27 January 2019, drawing 1–1 against Newell's Old Boys for the 2018–19 Super League. In the national competition, he would finish third. On 2 May, he could lift the 2018 Argentine Super Cup after playing against Rosario Central, winning a penalty shootout by 6–5 after drawing 0–0 in the ninety minutes. On 2 June, he would lose 0–2 against Club Tigre in the final of the 2019 Super League Cup in Córdoba. Beyond the title obtained, the specialized press criticized Alfaro for lacking a clear game identity in his team.

Coaching statistics

As of 19 November 2024

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
Team	Nat	From	To	G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Atlético Rafaela		1 July 1992	30 June 1996	126	46	47	33	164	127	+37	036.51
Quilmes		1 July 1996	30 June 1997	42	18	11	13	60	47	+13	042.86
Atlético Rafaela		1 July 1998	30 June 2000	72	31	16	25	100	85	+15	043.06
Belgrano		1 January 2001	30 June 2001	14	2	5	7	8	20	−12	014.29
Olimpo		1 July 2001	30 June 2002	24	13	7	4	36	20	+16	054.17
Quilmes		1 January 2003	23 May 2005	111	44	36	31	132	106	+26	039.64
San Lorenzo		1 July 2005	6 February 2006	22	8	5	9	35	43	−8	036.36
Arsenal de Sarandí		5 June 2006	30 June 2008	94	39	25	30	122	120	+2	041.49
Rosario Central		10 October 2008	2 March 2009	14	2	2	10	12	19	−7	014.29
Al-Ahli		22 April 2009	20 November 2009	12	4	4	4	15	15	+0	033.33
Arsenal de Sarandí		1 July 2010	15 April 2014	182	76	47	59	224	198	+26	041.76
Tigre		5 September 2014	27 November 2015	49	20	11	18	62	58	+4	040.82
Gimnasia LP		21 March 2016	30 June 2017	39	15	13	11	38	32	+6	038.46
Huracán		14 July 2017	31 December 2018	46	22	15	9	56	40	+16	047.83
Boca Juniors		1 January 2019	31 December 2019	50	27	16	7	73	28	+45	054.00
Ecuador		26 August 2020	12 January 2023	35	12	14	9	44	35	+9	034.29
Costa Rica		2 November 2023	9 August 2024	11	5	2	4	16	14	+2	045.45
Paraguay		13 August 2024	present	6	3	3	0	7	4	+3	050.00
Total				949	387	279	283	1,204	1,011	+193	040.78