Sergio Apraham Markarián Abrahamián (born 1 November 1944) is a Uruguayan-Argentine former football coach of Armenian descent. In 2015, he was the head coach of the Greece national team.
Early life
Markarián lived in Argentina during most of his childhood and adolescent years, from 7 to 18 years of age. He played football as a left center back defender until he was 17 years of age. Never making it to professional football, he entered into university studies and started working in a large fuel distribution company in Uruguay, eventually reaching the post of general manager. It was the Uruguay loss against Holland in the 1974 FIFA World Cup which spurred Markarian to realise that coaching football was his vocation. Markarian abandoned his well-paid post as general manager, taking many risks, even when facing criticism from colleagues and friends, in order to dedicate his life to coaching professional football. Markarian lost status and spending power and endured ten difficult years at the beginning of his coaching career. As he stated, "I had to sell my Mercedes Benz and start catching the bus!"
Markarián followed his heart and has become a well-respected professional coach. He is recognized for being a great tactician, which earned him the nickname, El Mago ("The Magician" in Spanish).
Coaching career
Even though he set out with the idea for the improvement of Uruguayan football, he never coached professionally in Uruguay. Markarian started his career in 1974 coaching the Reserves of Club Atlético Bella Vista of Uruguay and went on to coach the first team. Markarian made his professional coaching debut as a coach for the football club, Olimpia Asunción of Paraguay in 1983. He won the Paraguayan league with Olimpia the very same year he started coaching in 1983 and then again in 1985. After his four-year stay at Olimpia, he made the move to the Paraguayan club, Sol de America, leading them to win the Torneo Republica and to become the Paraguayan league runner-up in 1989. He then made the move to another Paraguayan giant, Cerro Porteño, winning the Torneo Republica in 1990. Markarian coached the Paraguay U-23 National Team in 1992, winning the South American Pre-Olympic Championships and a spot to compete in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. From 1993 to 1997, Markarian coached the Peruvian teams, Universitario de Deportes and Sporting Cristal winning one Peruvian league title with each of them. Markarian is also recognized for taking Sporting Cristal to the Copa Libertadores Final in which Sporting Cristal was the runner-up. In 1998, Markarian coached the Greek team, Ionikos, reaching fifth place in the Greek league and qualifying them for the UEFA Cup.
Markarian became the coach of the Paraguay National team from 1999 through 2001 qualifying Paraguay to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan. He was fired by the Paraguayan Football Association in 2001 prior to the World Cup because he had lost his last two qualifier matches, a 3–1 away loss against Venezuela and a 4–0 home loss against Colombia. He was to be replaced by the Italian coach, Cesare Maldini.
After coaching the Paraguay National team, Markarian returned to Greece and became the head coach of Panathinaikos in 2002 reaching the quarter-finals in the UEFA Champions League. Markarian resigned his post as head coach in May 2002 only to return in October saying that he "needed time off to collect his thought and relax". The following season, Markarian led them to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup but lost to Jose Mourinho's FC Porto. In 2005, the Iraklis Thessaloniki Greek team hired him to help improve their first division standings.
After coaching in Greece since 2002, Markarian returned to Paraguay to coach Libertad from 2005 to 2007, winning Paraguayan League titles in 2006 and 2007. Markarian was appointed coach of Mexico's Cruz Azul in June 2007 and took them to the Apertura final but lost to Santos Laguna. He walked away a year later because of differences he had with the club's board regarding how to reinforce the squad.
He had the option to be the head coach of Costa Rica national team, but the Costa Rican Football Federation picked Rodrigo Kenton as their head coach. Markarian coached Universidad de Chile in 2009, winning the Chilean Torneo Apertura- the first title the Universidad de Chile had won in the last 5 years- before then terminating his contract due to differences with the club's management only six months into the year.
