Omar de Felippe · Biography

In 2009, after more than ten years as a youth coach and assistant, Omar Osvaldo De Felippe took over Olimpo of Bahía Blanca. It was his first job as head coach, and the following season he took the club back to the Argentine Primera División as champions of the second-tier Primera B Nacional. He was born in Buenos Aires on 3 April 1962. He had played as a defender for Huracán and served as a soldier in the Falklands War. After that promotion he coached Quilmes, Independiente, Emelec, Vélez Sarsfield, Newell's Old Boys, Atlético Tucumán, Platense, Central Córdoba of Santiago del Estero and Talleres de Córdoba.

Huracán and the Falklands War

De Felippe came through the youth ranks at Huracán, where his brother Walter Fabián also played. In April 1982 he was playing for Huracán's third team when the Argentine Army called him up. He landed on East Falkland and marched to Puerto Argentino (Stanley), where he stayed until the war ended on 14 June 1982. That experience gave him one of his nicknames in Argentine football, “El Soldado” (The Soldier); the other is “Don Omar”. When he came back he picked up his career again and made his first-team debut for Huracán in 1983.

Playing days and years as an assistant

He played for Huracán from 1983 to 1985 and moved to Colombia with Once Caldas in 1986. He then played for Arsenal de Sarandí in the late 1980s and for Villa Mitre of Bahía Blanca in the early 1990s, and he ended his playing career at Olimpo. After retiring he worked with the youth teams at Atlanta and Huracán. In 1997 and 1998 he was Ricardo Zielinski's assistant at San Telmo in the third-tier Primera B. In 1999 he joined Julio César Falcioni's staff at Vélez Sarsfield, and he later worked as an assistant at Olimpo and Banfield.

Three promotions: Olimpo, Quilmes and Independiente

With Olimpo he won the 2009-10 Primera B Nacional and sealed promotion with three games to spare. In 2010-11 the club stayed up comfortably, finishing fourth in the 2011 Clausura with 30 points. He was sacked in November 2011 after a poor start to the Apertura. Soon afterwards he replaced Ricardo Caruso Lombardi at Quilmes. He finished the 2011-12 season second, one point behind River Plate, which meant automatic promotion. In 2013 he kept Quilmes in the top flight and left when his contract was not renewed.

On 28 August 2013 he took charge of Independiente, who were in the Primera B Nacional relegation zone. They finished the season third, level with Huracán on 67 points, and the last promotion place was settled by a play-off at the Estadio Ciudad de La Plata in June 2014. Independiente won 2-0 with goals from Martín Zapata and Francisco Pizzini. After promotion he left the job over differences with the board.

Champion in Ecuador with Emelec

In 2015 he coached outside Argentina for the first time, at Emelec in Guayaquil. That year he won the 2015 Ecuadorian Serie A. On 20 December a 0-0 draw with LDU Quito in the second leg of the final gave the club a third straight league title. It was De Felippe's first top-flight trophy. In May 2016 he chose not to renew his contract and went back to Argentina.

Vélez, Newell's, Atlético Tucumán and Platense

Vélez Sarsfield confirmed him as head coach on 30 September 2016. He resigned on 7 November 2017 after a run of poor results. In February 2018 he replaced Juan Manuel Llop at Newell's Old Boys and was dismissed that November; under him the team had not won a single away game. Atlético Tucumán appointed him on 1 January 2021, and he resigned in October of that year. On 5 April 2022 he succeeded Claudio Spontón at Platense. He kept the club in the Primera División, but his contract was not renewed at the end of the season.

Central Córdoba and Talleres

On 3 August 2023 he agreed to join Central Córdoba of Santiago del Estero. He left by mutual agreement with the board on 2 January 2024. He returned in July 2024 to replace Lucas González, and on 11 December that year he won the 2024 Copa Argentina, beating Vélez Sarsfield 1-0 in the final in Santa Fe with a goal from Matías Godoy. It was the club's first trophy and earned it a Copa Libertadores place for the first time. In the 2025 edition, on 9 April, Central Córdoba beat Flamengo 2-1 at the Maracanã, the club's first win in the competition. On 1 December 2025 he announced that he would not stay on. In 2026 Talleres de Córdoba appointed him head coach after Jorge Sampaoli left.