José Luis Sierra (footballer, born 1968)

José Luis "Coto" Sierra Pando (born 5 December 1968) is a Chilean football coach and former player.

Playing in the midfield, he retired in 2009, and one year later he became the coach of his long-time team Unión Española.

Unión Española
Sierra made his debut in professional soccer with Unión Española on November 1988 against the Universidad de Chile. After two solid campaigns with Unión Española, Sierra was transferred to Real Valladolid in Spain. However, during Sierra's short time in Spain, the team had economic problems which caused him to return to Unión Española. After more success he made his debut with the Chile national team. Sierra won the Copa Chile with Unión Española in 1992 and 1993.

Colo-Colo
After an unsuccessful stint in Brazil playing for São Paulo, he went on to spend three successful years with Colo-Colo, which saw his team capture the championship in all three seasons. Currently Sierra has found his way back to Unión Española, making a stop in between to play with UANL Tigres in Mexico for one season. He captured the Golden Boot in Chile (awarded to the best professional football player in Chile) in 2004 and 2005.

In 1997, it was widely rumoured that then Premier League side Everton manager Howard Kendall had made an approach to bring Sierra to Goodison Park. However, for unknown reasons, possibly relating to lack of sufficient capital, Kendall decided to pull the plug on the deal.

Return to Unión Española
Sierra announced his retirement in December 2008 and accepted the position of manager with his beloved Unión Española. He will continue on the position until the end of the Clausura 2009 tournament.

International career
Sierra was capped 53 times and scored eight goals for the Chile national team between 1991 and 2000. He played four games at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, scoring a goal on a free-kick against Cameroon.

International goals

 * Scores and results list Chile's goal tally first.

Coaching career
Sierra started coaching in 2010 of Chilean club Unión Española and spent five years there. He won the 2013 Torneo Transición with them. Unión won the Apertura Tournament of 2013, after defeating Colo-Colo 1–0 in the final match. In 2015, he became the coach of Colo-Colo. In only one season, he won the 2015 Torneo Apertura title with and also led them into the 2015 Copa Chile. On July 22, 2016, he signed a one-year contract with eight-time Saudi champions Al-Ittihad with an option to sign for another season.

On 7 November 2021, Sierra was appointed as the manager of Saudi Arabian club Al-Tai.

On 20 October 2022, Sierra was appointed as manager of Al-Wehda.

Personal life
His parents, Domingo Sierra and Pilar Pando, are Spanish immigrants in Chile of Galician and Asturian origin, respectively.

He studied in the Colegio Hispano Americano, which belongs to Spanish residents in Chile.

Belonging to a football family, his father was a director of Unión Española and his great uncle, Félix Cantín, was a doctor and midfielder of Unión Deportiva Española from 1928 to 1932.

His son of the same name, José Luis Jr., was a Chile international at under-20 level and his brother-in-law, Sebastián Miranda, is a football manager and former professional footballer in Chile and abroad. His nephew, Benjamín Sierra, who is also the nephew of Sebastián Miranda, plays at the Spanish Kings League.

Player
He played in Chile on the national soccer team for nine years, from 1991 to 2000.

Club

 * Colo-Colo
 * Primera División de Chile (3): 1996, 1997–C 1998
 * Copa Chile (1): 1996


 * Unión Española
 * Copa Chile (3): 1989, 1992, 1993
 * Primera División de Chile (1): 2005–A

Individual

 * Chilean Footballer of the Year: 2005

Club

 * Unión Española
 * Primera División de Chile (1): 2013 Transición


 * Colo-Colo
 * Primera División de Chile (1): 2015 Apertura
 * Copa Chile: Runner-up 2015


 * Ittihad FC
 * Saudi Crown Prince Cup 2017
 * King Cup: 2018

Individual

 * Saudi Professional League Manager of the Month: April 2019