Costa Rica manager Luis Fernando Suarez will lead the third different nation of his career into football's most prestigious event at World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
The 62-year-old Colombian was a defender in his playing days and won the Copa Libertadores with Atletico Nacional in 1989.
The Medellin-based club was also where he took his first steps in management a decade later, and he made an instant impact by leading the club to the title.
Luis Fernando Suarez was later appointed Ecuador manager and achieved hero status in his adopted country by leading them to their best-ever World Cup finish in 2006.
The South Americans defeated Poland and Costa Rica but lost to Germany to finish second in their group and progress to the last 16. There, they came up against England, and a David Beckham free-kick marked the end of their run with a 1-0 defeat.
Suarez later resigned after a poor start to qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup, but he marked his return to international football in 2011 by taking the Honduras job.
He led the central American country to their second consecutive qualification for the 2014 World Cup, finishing ahead of Mexico to earn an automatic spot.
However, Honduras flopped in Brazil, finishing bottom of their group after losing all three group games against France, Switzerland and Suarez’s former team Ecuador.
The manager stepped down in the wake of the disappointment but, after club spells in Peru, Mexico and Colombia, he returned to the international fold again last year with Costa Rica.
Suarez guided Los Ticos to a fourth-place finish in the CONCACAF qualifying group, finishing behind Canada, Mexico and the United States. They then faced an inter-confederation play-off against New Zealand, and triumphed 1-0 in Qatar in June thanks to an early Joel Campbell goal.
The Colombian made some big calls in the high-stakes match, making three changes at half-time to try and nullify the All Whites’ threat.
“We had to make a change at half-time to have greater possession and a line of five in defence. That proved key,” he said afterwards.
The Costa Rica manager now has the task of leading the nation at their third consecutive World Cup, as they look to recreate the heroics of 2014 when they enjoyed a stunning run to the quarter-finals.
Los Ticos are up against Germany, Spain and Japan in Group E in Qatar, and Suarez will hope his Costa Rica World Cup squad can cause one or two upsets.
