Hernán Medford Explained

Hernán Medford
Fullname:Hernán Evaristo Medford Bryan
Birth Date:23 May 1968
Birth Place:San Jose, Costa Rica
Height:1.76 m
Position:Forward / Winger
Currentclub:C.S. Herediano (Manager)
Youthyears1:1980–1985
Youthclubs1:Barrio México
Years1:1986
Clubs1:Sagrada Familia
Caps1:21
Goals1:2
Years2:1987–1990
Clubs2:Saprissa
Caps2:101
Goals2:30
Years3:1990
Clubs3:Dinamo Zagreb
Caps3:14
Goals3:4
Years4:1991
Clubs4:Rapid Wien
Caps4:14
Goals4:5
Years5:1991–1992
Clubs5:Rayo Vallecano
Caps5:30
Goals5:6
Years6:1992–1993
Clubs6:Foggia
Caps6:12
Goals6:1
Years7:1993–1994
Clubs7:Saprissa
Caps7:47
Goals7:20
Years8:1994–1997
Clubs8:Pachuca
Caps8:126
Goals8:36
Years9:1997–2000
Clubs9:León
Caps9:92
Goals9:18
Years10:2000–2002
Clubs10:Necaxa
Caps10:22
Goals10:6
Years11:2002–2003
Clubs11:Saprissa
Caps11:29
Goals11:7
Totalcaps:508
Totalgoals:135
Pcupdate:20 June 2006
Nationalyears1:1985
Nationalteam1:Costa Rica U17
Nationalcaps1:11
Nationalgoals1:8
Nationalyears2:1987–2002
Nationalteam2:Costa Rica
Nationalcaps2:89
Nationalgoals2:18
Ntupdate:20 June 2006
Manageryears1:2003–2006
Managerclubs1:Saprissa
Manageryears2:2006–2008
Managerclubs2:Costa Rica
Manageryears3:2009
Managerclubs3:León
Manageryears4:2010
Managerclubs4:Liberia Mía
Manageryears5:2010–2011
Managerclubs5:Limón
Manageryears6:2011–2013
Managerclubs6:Xelajú
Manageryears7:2013–2014
Managerclubs7:Real España
Manageryears8:2014
Managerclubs8:Honduras
Manageryears9:2015
Managerclubs9:Real España
Manageryears10:2015–2016
Managerclubs10:Xelajú
Manageryears11:2016–2017
Managerclubs11:Herediano
Manageryears12:2018
Managerclubs12:Municipal
Manageryears13:2019
Managerclubs13:Herediano
Manageryears14:2019
Managerclubs14:Real España
Manageryears15:2019–2021
Managerclubs15:Cartaginés
Manageryears16:2024–
Managerclubs16:Sporting San José

Hernán Evaristo Medford Bryan (pronounced as /es/; born May 23, 1968) is a Costa Rican former football player and current coach of Sporting F.C. Highly regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of Central American football, Medford achieved success as both a player and a coach.[1]

As a player, Medford is fondly remembered in Costa Rica for two historic goals, both of which he considers his favorite, while playing for Costa Rica: the winning goal of a group stage match against Sweden to qualify to the knockout stage, and the winning goal of the Aztecazo, Mexico's first defeat in a non-friendly match at the Estadio Azteca.

Numerous media outlets regard Medford as the most successful coach in Central America,[2] [3] [4] as he also found massive success across the region, winning championships in Costa Rica, Honduras, and Guatemala.[5] He also coached Saprissa to win the 2005 CONCACAF Champions' Cup, thus qualifying to the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship, finishing on the third place.[6]

Club career

Nicknamed Pelicano, or Pelican, Medford made his league debut for Sagrada Familia on 28 September 1986 against Cartaginés and scored his first goal on 4 January 1987 against Limonense.[7] In Costa Rica's first division, he played for Deportivo Saprissa, where he won three national championships and the 1993 CONCACAF Champions Cup.[7] After three years at Saprissa he played in several different leagues worldwide, including Serie A of Italy (Foggia Calcio), the Yugoslav First League (Dinamo Zagreb), the Austrian Bundesliga (SK Rapid Wien), La Liga in Spain (Rayo Vallecano), and the Primera División de México (Pachuca, León and Necaxa).[8] Pachuca decided to retire Medford's number 17 after he scored his 100th goal in his career.[9]

International career

Medford was part of the 1985 FIFA U-16 World Championship held in China, the first FIFA World Cup tournament where Costa Rica ever appeared, and scored the first goal ever for his home country in this type of tournaments. He made his senior debut for Costa Rica in a February 1987 friendly match against South Korea and earned a total of 89 caps, scoring 18 goals.[10] He represented his country in 37 FIFA World Cup qualification matches and played in two World Cups, Italy 1990 and Japan-Korea 2002. He scored a goal against Sweden in the 1990 World Cup, which resulted in qualification for the second round. He also scored the winning goal at the Azteca Stadium against Mexico in the qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. The match, known as the Aztecazo, is one of only two World Cup qualifiers that Mexico have ever lost on home soil. He also played at the 1995 UNCAF Nations Cup[11] as well as at the 1991,[12] 2000,[13] and 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cups[14] and the 1997[15] and 2001 Copa Américas.[16] His final international was a June 2002 FIFA World Cup match against Turkey.

Managerial career

After retiring from professional football in 2003, he entered coaching.[17] He first coached Deportivo Saprissa with great success, where he has won several championships, including 2 national tournaments, the Uncaf Cup and the CONCACAF Champions Cup, giving Saprissa the right to compete in the second FIFA Club World Championship Toyota Cup in Japan, in December 2005, in which Saprissa finished 3rd.

As of October 28, 2006, the Costa Rican Football Federation, or Federación Costarricense de Fútbol, announced him as the new head coach for the Costa Rica national football team. He was sacked on 28 June 2008 after a string of poor results and only a few wins, and showing unprecedent bias in favor of his old former players of Saprissa.

He took the reins of Club León for the Clausura 2009 season.[18] His first game as head coach was against Tampico Madero, ending in a 1–1 tie. He was fired as manager by the president of the club owing to poor results in the pre-season and the season itself.

After leaving Club León Medford decided to take a break in coaching and decided to work as an administrator/manager but he was appointed manager of Liberia Mía in December 2009.[19] In 2010 Hernan Medford signed with Limón, a club team from the province of Limon. He signed also as an administrator. The team seemed to have benefited from his previous experience as administrator. In June 2011 Carlos Pascal the team’s chairman was arrested due to accusations of drug trafficking leaving the club without a president. Medford tried to help the team survive this set back since without Pascal the team was left without financial support. Medford endured a difficult season with Limon F.C. In August 2011 Medford resigned, claiming it had nothing to do with the financial problems the club had suffered, but because of personal decisions.[20] He took charge of Guatemalan side Xelajú in September 2011.[21]

In May 2013, he was unveiled as the new manager of Honduran giants Real España.[22] Under his direction Real España became the 2013 champion of the Honduran league. In July 2014 Medford was appointed the new national team manager of Honduras,[23] leaving the post later in December due to the poor performance of the team during his tenure.[24]

Personal life

Medford is a son of Herman Medford Sterling and Gloria Bryan Givans and has two sisters. He has two daughters from his first marriage with Arlene Lewis. Currently he is married to model Ingrid Solís.[25]

Career statistics

Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Medford goal.

List of international goals scored by Hernán Medford[26]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1 31 July 1988 Estadio Revolución, Panama City, Panama 2–0 2–0 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 20 June 1990 Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa, Italy 2–1 2–1 1990 FIFA World Cup
3 1 July 1991 Rose Bowl, Pasadena, United States 1–0 1–2 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup
4 13 December 1992 Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica 2–0 5–0 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
5 17 November 1996 Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, San José, Costa Rica 2–0 3–0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
6 23 March 1997 Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, San José, Costa Rica 1–1 3–2 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
7 19 June 1997 Estadio Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera, San José, Bolivia 1–1 1–1 1997 Copa América
8 9 November 1997 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico 1–2 3–3 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
9 29 December 1999 Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela, Costa Rica 1–0 1–1 Friendly
10 17 February 2000 LA Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States 2–2 2–2 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup
11 9 July 2000 Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, San José, Costa Rica 2–0 7–1 Friendly
12 3–0
13 4–1
14 23 July 2000 Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, San José, Costa Rica 2–1 2–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
15 3 September 2000 Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá, San José, Costa Rica 3–0 3–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
16 16 June 2001 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico 2–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
17 11 January 2002 Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto, Alajuela, Costa Rica 2–1 2–1 Friendly
18 18 January 2002 Orange Bowl, Miami, United States 1–0 2–0 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup

Honours

Source:

Player

Pachuca

1995–96

Rapid Wien

Rayo Vallecano

Saprissa

1988, 1989, 1993–94

1993

Costa Rica

1989

Individual

Manager

Herediano

2016 Verano, 2017 Verano; runner-up: 2016 Invierno, 2017 Apertura

Real España

2013 Apertura

Saprissa

2003–04, 2005–06; runner-up: 2004–05

2005; runner-up: 2004

2003; runner-up: 2004

Xelajú

2012 Clausura

Costa Rica

2007

Notes and References

  1. News: Monge . Estefan . Hernán Medford: El multicampeón atraído por la administración de empresas y la actuación . 21 April 2022 . ESPN.com.mx . 16 April 2020 . es.
  2. News: Araya . José Fernando . Medford es el que tiene más títulos . 21 April 2022 . . 11 September 2012 . es.
  3. News: Méndez . Julio . Los técnicos más exitosos en Centroamérica . 21 April 2022 . Diario Diez . 28 March 2014 . es-HN.
  4. News: Zamora . Andrea . Para Claudio Ciccia, Cartaginés debe recuperar su puesto como la cuarta fuerza deportiva Sinart . 21 April 2022 . . 11 June 2020 . es.
  5. News: Calvo . Rodrigo . El éxito es fiel socio del 'Pelícano' Medford Buzón de Rodrigo . 21 April 2022 . 15 May 2016 . es.
  6. News: Malagón . Édgar . 'Hasta aquí llegaron'; así ganó Saprissa título a Pumas en 2005 . 21 April 2022 . Medio Tiempo . 16 February 2022 . es-MX.
  7. http://wvw.nacion.com/ln_ee/1999/septiembre/05/deportes5.html Las vivencias de Hernán Medford en su trajinar por el futbol mundial
  8. http://wvw.nacion.com/ln_ee/2000/junio/20/deportes6.html Medford al Necaxa
  9. http://wvw.nacion.com/ln_ee/1997/mayo/05/pachuca.html Se fue la 17 Hernán Medford se despidió del Pachuca con un gol
  10. Web site: Passo Alpuin, Luis Fernando. Costa Rica - Record International Players. 2009-08-12. RSSSF. 2009-08-18.
  11. https://www.rsssf.org/tablesg/gold-cam95.html UNCAF Tournament 1995
  12. https://www.rsssf.org/tables/91gc-full.html CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 1991 - Full Details
  13. https://www.rsssf.org/tables/00gc-full.html CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 2000 - Full Details
  14. https://www.rsssf.org/tables/02gc-full.html CONCACAF Championship, Gold Cup 2002 - Full Details
  15. https://www.rsssf.org/tables/97safull.html Copa América 1997
  16. https://www.rsssf.org/tables/2001safull.html Copa América 2001
  17. http://wvw.nacion.com/ln_ee/2003/marzo/23/deportes5.html Medford y Ramírez Reencuentro de amigos
  18. http://wvw.nacion.com/ln_ee/2008/diciembre/20/deportes1818077.html El Pelícano asumió ayer Medford se llevará cuatro ticos al León
  19. http://wvw.nacion.com/ln_ee/2009/diciembre/16/deportes2197309.html Hernán Medford es el nuevo técnico de Liberia Mía
  20. http://www.nacion.com/deportes/Hernan-Medford-dejo-gerencia-Limon_0_1218278238.html Hernán Medford dejó hoy la gerencia de Limón F.C.
  21. http://www.nacion.com/archivo/Hernan-Medford-tecnico-Xelaju-Guatemala_0_1220078000.html Hernán Medford es el nuevo técnico del Xelajú de Guatemala
  22. http://www.laprensa.hn/Secciones-Principales/Deportes/Liga-de-Honduras/Hernan-Medford-nuevo-entrenador-del-Real-Espana Hernán Medford, nuevo entrenador del Real España
  23. http://www.nacion.com/deportes/futbol-costa-rica/Hernan-Medford-tecnico-Seleccion-Honduras_0_1428657332.html Hernán Medford es el nuevo técnico de la Selección de Honduras
  24. News: Roca. Gustavo. Hernán Medford queda fuera de la selección de Honduras!. 4 December 2014. Diez. 2 December 2014.
  25. Web site: ¡Al fin! Ingrid Solís y Hernán Medford se casaron este fin de semana . AMPrensa.com . 2021-10-02 . es.
  26. https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/cos-medford-intl.html Hernán Evaristo Medford - International Appearances
  27. Web site: Fussball in Österreich Spiel: Rapid Wien SV Stockerau . www.austriasoccer.at . 21 April 2022.
  28. Web site: Hernán Medford - Estad. y palmarés . www.footballdatabase.eu . 21 April 2022.
  29. http://www.socceramerica.com/article/18669/balboa-ramos-named-to-concacaf-team-of-the-centu.html "Balboa, Ramos named to CONCACAF "Team of the Century""