Juan Carlos Cárdenas


Juan Carlos Cárdenas is a former Argentine footballer and coach. He played for a number of clubs in Argentina and Mexico as well as playing for the Argentina national football team. He is known by the nickname "El Chango" which was a common name for people from the north of Argentina.
Cárdenas was spotted in 1962 by Racing Club de Avellaneda playing as a teenager for Unión de Santiago del Estero. He spent one year in the Argentine 2nd Division with Nueva Chicago before joining Racing Club in 1964. He was part of the championship winning team of 1966. In 1967, he helped the club to win the Copa Libertadores and later that year he scored the decisive goal against Celtic F.C. in the Copa Intercontinental to make Racing Club the first Argentine club to become club champions of the world.
In 1972 Cárdenas moved to Mexico where he played for Camoteros de Puebla and Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz returning to Racing Club in 1976.

Titles

Coaching career

After retiring as a player Cárdenas became the manager of several lower league teams in Argentina, including All Boys, Deportivo Armenio and General Lamadrid.