Wilmer Lopez

Wilmer Andrés López Arguedas (Alajuela, Costa Rica, August 3, 1971), known as Wilmer López or by his nickname Pato, is a former Costa Rican soccer player and coach, currently the coach of Alajuelense FF of the First Women's Division of Costa Rica.

He has been considered one of the best exponents of Costa Rican soccer in his position as a midfielder, in which he played from 1992 to 2013. He made his professional debut in AD Carmelita in January 1992, when he was barely twenty years old, in the who remained until the 1992-93 season, after which he signed for his second team in Costa Rica, the Liga Deportiva Alajuelense. He quickly became an idol for the red-and-black fans and won two league titles in his first period between 1996 and 1997, as well as a regional title in the Torneo Grandes de Centroamérica in 1996.

In 1998 he made the jump to Deportes Tolima in Colombia, a team he remained with for a short period of time. He returned to Alajuelense where he won five national titles, two Uncaf Interclub Cups and a Concacaf Champions Cup. He then played for the clubs of Pérez Zeledón and Carmelita, concluding his time as a footballer in the latter. On July 22, 2013, he received his farewell from the fields in front of the red and black fans.

After his retirement, he embarked on a focused career as a coach in the Second Division in the ADN-Jacó and Jacó Rays clubs. On July 23, 2014, he took over the position in the Alajuela Junior subsidiary until his disappearance in mid-2015. He also continued in the hedgehog team after being named assistant to strategists Javier Delgado, Guilherme Farinha, Benito Floro and Nicolás Dos Santos of the absolute group, between 2016 and 2018.

He was an absolute international with the Costa Rican national team for eight years (1995-2003), totaling 76 caps and 6 goals. With it he was proclaimed champion of the 1997 UNCAF Nations Cup and runner-up of the 2002 Concacaf Gold Cup. His last commitment representing his country was on July 26, 2003, in the definition for third place in the Gold Cup against the United States.

He also entered the history of women's soccer in 2017 and 2020 by being the first and only coach to direct classics in both Alajuelense sports league teams, both the men's and women's teams. Men's classic debut (2-0) in favor of LDA over Deportivo Saprissa Women's classic debut (4-1) over Deportivo Saprissa These meetings at the Alejandro Morera Soto stadium.

Career

As a player

He debuted at the age of twenty, under the technical direction of coach Carlos Watson, in the Carmelita team on January 5, 1992, against Limonense as a visitor at the Juan Gobán Stadium. That same day he scored the first goal of his career after beating goalkeeper Maxie Green in the 81st minute. The match ended in a 1-2 victory for their team. On January 29 he received his first expulsion, by referee Víctor Hugo Rodríguez, in the game against Puntarenas, which ended in a tight 1-0 defeat.

His good technique and consistency allowed him to join the Liga Deportiva Alajuelense, a historic team in the First Division of Costa Rica in 1993. Despite having a midfield position, his contribution in terms of goals was essential to achieve the number of eighty scores in 478 total appearances, being the player with the most appearances in official matches. Additionally, he placed third on the club's list of top scorers, behind Errol Daniels (197) and Juan Ulloa (89). López has been the only footballer to score five goals in a single match, this on April 29, 1998 in the 7-2 victory over San Carlos at the Morera Soto Stadium.

Wilmer's emergence as a red and black was divided into two periods, due to his transfer to Deportes Tolima in 1998, where he did not have a major role. Wearing the league shirt with its traditional number "6", the midfielder won the "two-time championship" in the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons, as well as the "three-time championship" obtained in the periods of 1999-00, 2000-01, 2001 -02 and 2002-03. Wilmer's last national title was in the 2004-05 season. At the international level, López was part of the team that won the regional titles of the 1996 Central American Big Tournament, and two editions of the Uncaf Interclub Cup in 2002 and 2005. At the confederation level, he won the Champions Cup of Concacaf 2004—scoring in both finals against Deportivo Saprissa—.

The footballer ended his relationship with Alajuelense on May 24, 2007, after the non-renewal of his contract, and signed for the teams of Pérez Zeledón and Carmelita - with whom he made his professional debut - between 2007 and 2009..

Their last official match took place on May 3, 2009, in Carmelita's 2-0 defeat against Liberia Mía. Later, López decided not to continue with the team after it was relegated to the Second Division early.

On July 22, 2009, the midfielder had his farewell match as an Alajuelense player, at the age of 38 at the Morera Soto Stadium - which marked the beginning of the artificial grass - in front of a group of friends, including to his son of the same name.

As a coach

As of January 13, 2010, he was named the new coach of ADN-Jacó of the Second Division, replacing the previous strategist Luis Solórzano. The former soccer player signed with the team only to face the Clausura Tournament and had his debut four days later in the 1-0 victory against Cartagena, held at the Naranjo stadium. In total he accounted for twelve games led, with three wins, five draws and four losses, to place his group in sixth place in the table with fourteen points.

After the Jacó Rays team acquired the ADN franchise, Wilmer's continuity as head of the bench was confirmed. He remained at the club from mid-2010 to early 2012, ending up leaving his position in search of best options. He directed a total of 44 games and achieved a fifty percent performance.

On July 23, 2012, the Alajuelense Sports League took over the Finca Austria team from the Second Division and renamed it Alajuela Junior, so that it would be a subsidiary club that trains young players. In the formation of the bench, Sports manager Luis Roberto Sibaja assigned Wilmer as the coach. He was in charge for three years and even played in the 2013 Cup Tournament to represent the absolute team in the competition. Due to the closure of the franchise starting in June 2015, López was reassigned as the coach of the U-17 category.

After the arrival of Javier Delgado as coach of Alajuelense on December 29, 2015, the red and black leadership confirmed Wilmer as the technical assistant, as well as Cristian Oviedo. However, his stay on the bench lasted only in the 2016 Summer Championship, as his team achieved second place in the competition after losing both finals against Herediano and, in combination with the termination of Delgado's contract, Wilmer's position was also relieved at the end of May to return to direct in the minor league.

On August 22, 2016, he was named interim coach of the Alajuelense first team, replacing the Argentine José Giacone. He directed an official match on August 28 against San Carlos at the Carlos Ugalde Stadium, corresponding to the tenth matchday. of the Winter Championship. Through Pablo Gabas's penalty double, the Manudos achieved a 1-2 victory. At the end of the month it was confirmed that López would continue on the team, this time as the assistant of the Portuguese Guilherme Farinha.

From December 2016 to August 2017, Wilmer was the second coach of Spanish Benito Floro. On August 21, at the press conference given by the club president Fernando Ocampo, the departure of Floro and the incorporation of López as the new strategist for the rest of the 2017 Apertura Tournament was made official. With the victory of 2 -0 over Deportivo Saprissa, Wilmer accumulated eight games undefeated, winning four and drawing the same number. However, after the 2-1 defeat against Santos de Guápiles on October 11, the strategist suffered five more setbacks, all consecutive, against rivals such as Carmelita (1-3), Herediano (3-2), Guadalupe (0-1), Saprissa (2-0) and Pérez Zeledón (3-2). It equaled the worst record of consecutive losses that the team achieved in the 1924 and 1942 seasons. At the close of the competition, placed his club in fifth position in the table with 31 points, insufficient for qualification to the quadrangular. After weeks of uncertainty over his continued leadership of the red-and-black team, the leadership made official the replacement of López to assign him as the technical assistant of the Uruguayan Rubén Israel, who was ratified on December 12.

National team

He was an absolute international with the Costa Rican team on 76 occasions and scored six goals. His debut with the senior team took place on August 6, 1995, in a friendly match against Japan that ended with a score of 3-0, while that his last game was on July 26, 2003 in a 3-2 loss against the United States.

He saw action in the 1998 and 2002 World Cup qualifiers. Regarding participation in the final phases, he played in two UNCAF Nations Cups in their 1995 and 1997 editions - where he was champion -, a Copa América in 1997, four Concacaf Gold Cups in 1998, 2000, 2002—with runners-up—and 2003. He was also part of the team that faced the group stage of the 2002 World Cup held in South Korea and Japan.

Clubs

As a footballer

Club	Country	Year
A. D. Carmelita	Costa RicaCosta Rica	1992-1993
L. D. Alajuelense		1993 - 1998
Sports Tolima	Colombia	1998
L. D. Alajuelense	Costa RicaCosta Rica	1998 - 2007
Pérez Zeledón		2007 - 2008
A. D. Carmelita		2008 - 2009

As a coach

Club	Country	Year
DNA-Jaco	Costa RicaCosta Rica	2010
Jaco Rays F.C.		2010-2012
A. D. Alajuela Junior		2012-2015
L. D. Alajuelense		2017
Alajuelense FF		2020-Act

Private life

Since August 3, 2003, Wilmer opened his own sports complex with his name for the comprehensive training of soccer players.

At the end of August 2008 he was intercepted by the local police for arrears in the payment of alimony, a situation in which in the end he was not arrested since he had a document signed by a judge.

In the political field, López ran in September 2009 as a candidate for municipal councilor of the canton of the province of Alajuela, with the Renovemos Alajuela Party.

Statistics

Player

International participations

Competition	Headquarters	Outcome
UNCAF 1995	El SalvadorEl Salvador	Fourth place
UNCAF 1997	GuatemalaGuatemala	01! Champion
Copa América 1997	BoliviaBolivia	Group phase
Concacacaf Gold Cup 1998	United States	Group phase
Gold Cup Concacaf 2000		Final rooms
Concacaf Gold Cup 2002		02! Subfield
2002 World Cup	South KoreaSouth Korea JapanJapan	Group phase
Concacaf Gold Cup 2003	United States	Fourth place

International goals

No.	Date	Place	Rival	Gol	Outcome	Competition
1	1 December 1996	Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, San José, Costa Rica	USAUnited States	2- 0	2-1	1998 World Cup
2	23 April 1997	Estadio Mateo Flores, Guatemala City, Guatemala	HONHonduras	3- 0	4-0	UNCAF 1997
3	28 January 1998	Estadio Morera Soto, Alajuela, Costa Rica	TRITrinidad and Tobago	4- 0	4-0	International friendly
4	4 February 1998	L.A. Coliseum Memorial, Los Angeles, United States	CUBCuba	3- 0	7-2	Concacacaf Gold Cup 1998
5				5- 0
6	26 January 2000	Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, San José, Costa Rica	TRITrinidad and Tobago	1-1	2-1	International friendly

Coach

Performance

Updated data to the last match directed the 22 November 2017.

Equipment	Tournament	Season	Statistics (1)								% Effect.
			PD	G	E	P	GF	GC	DG	Points
DNA-Jaco Costa Rica
	2. a	2009-10	12	3	5	4	11	15	-4	14	25%
	Total club		12	3	5	4	11	15	-4	14	25%
Jaco Rays F.C. Costa Rica
	2. a	2010-11	30	13	10	7	42	33	+9	49	43.33%
		2011-12	14	9	5	2	35	21	+14	32	64.29%
	Total club		44	22	15	9	77	54	+23	81	50%
A. D. Alajuela Junior Costa Rica
	2. a	2012-13	40	19	7	14	55	47	+8	64	47.5%
		2013-14	38	18	7	13	80	50	+30	61	47.37%
		2014-15	32	11	7	14	51	58	-7	40	34.38%
	Total club		110	48	20	41	186	155	+31	165	44.34 per cent
L. D. Alajuelense Costa Rica
	1. a	2016-17	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	3	100%
		2017-18	18	7	5	6	32	27	+5	26	38.89%
	Total club		19	8	5	6	34	28	+6	29	42.11%
Total on your equipment			185.	81	45	60	308	252	+56	289	43.78%
(1) Includes data from the Second Division, First Division and Cup Tournament.

Palmarés

As a player

National titles

Title	Club	Country	Year
First Division of Costa Rica	L. D. Alajuelense	Costa RicaCosta Rica	1996
First Division of Costa Rica			1997
First Division of Costa Rica			2000
First Division of Costa Rica			2001
First Division of Costa Rica			2002
First Division of Costa Rica			2003
First Division of Costa Rica			2005

International titles

Title	Equipment	Headquarters	Year
Central American Grand Tournament	L. D. Alajuelense	Costa RicaCosta Rica	1996
UNCAF United Nations Cup	Selection of Costa Rica	GuatemalaGuatemala	1997
UNCAF Interclub Cup	L. D. Alajuelense	Costa RicaCosta Rica	2002
Concacaf Champions Cup		North America, Central America and the Caribbean	2004
UNCAF Interclub Cup		Costa RicaCosta Rica	2005

As coach

National Titles

Title	Club	Country	Year
First Women ' s Division of Costa Rica	Alajuelense FF	Costa RicaCosta Rica	2021
First Women ' s Division of Costa Rica			2021
Super Copa Femenina de Costa Rica			2021
First Women ' s Division of Costa Rica			2022
First Women ' s Division of Costa Rica			2022
First Women ' s Division of Costa Rica			2023

International titles

Title	Equipment	Headquarters	Year
Women's Uncaf Interclubs Cup	Alajuelense FF	Costa RicaCosta Rica	2022
Women's Uncaf Interclubs Cup		Panama Panama	2023