Venezuelan coach Farias loses Tijuana job
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Venezuelan coach Cesar Farias, who steered his country to an unprecedented fourth place at the 2011 Copa America and on the brink of 2014 World Cup qualification, has lost his job at Tijuana.
Farias took charge of the Mexican border town team in December after quitting the Venezuela job and led them to last season's Clausura championship quarter-finals where they lost 3-1 on aggregate to Toluca.
The 2012 champions, however, made a poor start to this season's Apertura with only one win in seven matches and his exit followed Friday’s 1-1 draw at home to promoted Leones Negros.
"By mutual accord, Tijuana club and coach Cesar Farias have decided to end their working relationship, so as from today (Sunday) the strategist will not continue in charge of the team," the club said in a statement.
Farias, the third coach to lose his job after seven rounds of the championship after Argentine Ruben Romano at Puebla and Jose Luis Trejo with UNAM Pumas, played a big part in the growth of Venezuela’s national team over the last decade.
The 41-year-old, who coached Venezuela for six years, steered his team to the semi-finals of the Copa America in Argentina in 2011 before they lost the third-place playoff to Peru.
Venezuela then had their best chance ever of qualifying for the World Cup finals for the first time when they hosted an out-of-form Uruguay side in a June qualifier only to lose 1-0 to an Edinson Cavani goal and see their hopes of playing at the Brazil finals disappear.
(Reporting by Carlos Calvo; Writing by Rex Gowar; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
