It was a very busy Monday for the Salvadoran Soccer Federation or FESFUT as they are known made a big coaching change for their national team. They announced via an official statement on their social media platforms, that they had decided to part ways with national team head coach David Dóniga and hire Hernán Darío Gómez as their new head coach.
However, during his tenure with the national team, he did exclude several players from the national team, including MLS players Alex Roldan of the Seattle Sounders, Eriq Zavaleta of the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Gil brothers (Brayan, Mayer and Cristian).
His replacement Gómez or “El Bolillo” as he is known is no stranger to Central America and Concacaf, having helped Panama qualify to their first ever World Cup in 2018 in Russia. He had also previously coached the national teams of Guatemala and Honduras. Gómez began his coaching career as an assistant coach under famed Colombian coach Francisco Maturana, helping qualify the Colombian national team as an assistant to the 1990 World Cup in Italy and to the 1994 World Cup held in the United States.
Gómez would guide Colombia to the 1998 World Cup in France as their head coach. Gómez is only one of three coaches to lead three separate nations to World Cup qualification, also having helped guide Ecuador to its first ever World Cup appearance in 2002. He is joined in this list by Henri Michel of France, Carlos Alberto Parreira of Brazil and Serbian coach Bora Milutinovic.
Gómez has also coached several clubs in his native Colombia, including Atletico Nacional, one of the most successful clubs in the country, winning the Copa Libertadores title in 1989 as an assistant, and winning a league title as their head coach in 1991. He has also coached other important teams in Colombia such as Independiente Medellin, Junior and Santa Fe.
A press conference has been scheduled for Tuesday afternoon to present Gómez as the new coach.
