Leonardo Iván Véliz Díaz (born September 3, 1945) is a Chilean former footballer who played as a left winger for Everton, O'Higgins, Unión Española and Colo-Colo of Chile and in the Chile national team in the 1974 FIFA World Cup in Germany.
Managerial career
He worked as manager of both Chile U17 and Chile U20, leading the first in the 1993 FIFA World Championship and the second in the 1995 FIFA World Youth Championship.
From 1998 to 2000 he worked for the Sporting CP youth system, where he coincided with players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Ricardo Quaresma and Fábio Paím.
Personal life
He is well known by his nickname Pollo (Chicken).
His son, Daniel Sebastián Véliz, represented Chile at under-20 level in the 1992 South American Championship.
In 2004, he was elected a councillor of Santiago, supported by Party for Democracy. In 2009, he was a candidate for deputy, supported by for . In 2010, he switched to the other political hand after supporting Sebastián Piñera in his candidacy for President of Chile.
Honours
Unión Española
Chilean Primera División: 1975, 1977
Colo-Colo
Chilean Primera División: 1972, 1979, 1981
Chile
Copa O'Higgins: 1966
: