Alfredo Arias · Biography

Alfredo Carlos Arias Sánchez made his professional debut in 1976 with Nacional, as a centre-forward. Born on 28 November 1958 in Uruguay, he played for eleven years at clubs in four countries and became a coach after retiring in 1987. As a manager he won league titles in Uruguay, Ecuador and Colombia, and between 2020 and 2026 he took charge of four clubs in Colombia’s Categoría Primera A: Deportivo Cali, Independiente Santa Fe, Independiente Medellín and Junior.

A striker in four countries

After starting out at Nacional, Arias played for Montevideo Wanderers from 1977 to 1978 and for Liverpool of Montevideo in 1978. In 1979 he crossed the Atlantic to join Spanish club Real Jaén. On his return he wore the Peñarol shirt from 1980 to 1981. Later in 1981 he moved to Chile to join Palestino, where he stayed until 1982. He went back to Wanderers in 1983 and then played three straight seasons in Chilean football: O’Higgins in 1984, Huachipato in 1985 and Trasandino in 1986. He ended his playing career in 1987 at Tampico Madero in Mexico.

Youth coach and manager at Montevideo Wanderers

He began coaching at Montevideo Cricket Club. From 2007 to 2011 he worked in Montevideo Wanderers’ youth ranks. In December 2011, while he was in charge of the under-17 side, the club appointed him first-team coach after Daniel Carreño left. With Wanderers he qualified for the 2013 Copa Sudamericana, and in the 2013-14 season he won the 2014 Torneo Clausura and the season’s aggregate table. In the 2015 Copa Libertadores, Wanderers reached the round of 16 as the only Uruguayan club left at that stage. Arias left in June 2015 after about three and a half years in the job. He returned in 2019 for another 15 matches.

Chile, Ecuador and Bolivia

In December 2015 he took over at Santiago Wanderers, who stayed in the Chilean title race until the 14th round. In mid-2016 he joined Emelec. That year the club finished as Ecuadorian runners-up and qualified for the 2017 Copa Libertadores. In 2017 he won the Ecuadorian championship, beating Delfín 6-2 on aggregate in the final. In that year’s Libertadores, Emelec won 1-0 away to San Lorenzo in Argentina in the round of 16 but went out on penalties. In January 2018 he added the Copa del Pacífico, and he left the post at the end of May that year.

On 16 June 2018 he took charge of Bolívar in La Paz, where he stayed for about six months. In March 2019 he replaced Frank Kudelka at Universidad de Chile. He oversaw five matches, with two draws and three defeats, including a 4-0 loss to Universidad Católica in the university derby, and was dismissed on 4 August 2019.

Peñarol and the 2023 Apertura

Peñarol, where he had played in the early 1980s, hired him for the 2023 season. The team won the 2023 Torneo Apertura with two rounds to spare. They finished the tournament with nine wins, three draws and one defeat, scoring 22 goals and conceding 10. Peñarol dismissed him on 18 June 2023.

Cali, Santa Fe and Medellín

His first spell in Colombia was at Deportivo Cali, whom he coached in 2020 and 2021. In 2020 he took the side to the round of 16 of the Copa Sudamericana, and in the 2021 Apertura they reached the league quarter-finals. In 2022 he coached Independiente Santa Fe in the Torneo Finalización: 26 matches, with 12 wins, 7 draws and 7 defeats, and a place in the semi-final stage.

After Peñarol he returned to Colombian football with Independiente Medellín. In 2023 the team reached the last 32 of the Copa Sudamericana and the final of the Torneo Finalización, which they lost on penalties to Junior at the Atanasio Girardot stadium. He stayed at the club in 2024. In 2025 he went back to Deportivo Cali, who finished 13th in the Apertura.

Junior and back-to-back titles

Junior unveiled him as head coach on 25 June 2025. In his first half-season he won the 2025-II Liga BetPlay, beating Deportes Tolima 4-0 on aggregate in the final. On 16 December 2025 that result gave the Barranquilla club its eleventh league star. It was also Arias’s first Colombian league title, after his spells at Cali, Santa Fe and Medellín. In June 2026 he won the 2026-I Liga BetPlay as well, beating Atlético Nacional 3-1 on aggregate with the second leg in Medellín, for back-to-back championships. Junior announced his departure on 31 August 2026.