;'/></svg>)
Personal Information
| Full Name | Leonel de Jesús Álvarez Zuleta |
| Date of Birth | July 29, 1965 |
| Nationality | Colombian |
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Role | Defensive midfielder |
Leonel Alvarez: A Brief Biography
Leonel Alvarez is a former Colombian footballer, born on 30 July 1965 in Remedios, Colombia.
He was a defensive midfielder and played most games of his career for clubs Independiente Medellín and América de Cali.
Debut
Alvarez made his professional debut for Independiente Medellín a Colombian professional team in 1983.
Alvarez made his first international appearance against Poland on 14 February 1985.
Rise To Glory
Alvarez played with Independiente Medellín in the Columbian league, appearing in 189 games in a span of 3 years. He was never a goal getter and could only score 3 in his time there.
In 1987 Alvarez joined Atlético Nacional, another Columbian team. He appeared in 42 games with the side and also won the Copa Libertadores in 1989 which was his last year at the club.
In 1990 Alvarez moved to spanish club Real Valladolid. He made 35 appearances for them but returned to Colombia with team América de Cali in 1992.
The young Colombian joined MLS soccer team Dallas Burn in 1996. He played there for a season and came up with 3 goals and 5 assists in his 22 appearances.
He moved to mexican league club Veracruz for a year, playing 20 games and scoring twice. Alvarez returned to Dallas again in 1998 and made 40 appearances.
He stayed in the league but moved to New England Revolution in 1999. He scored 2 goals for the team in 58 games.
From 2002 to 2004 Alvarez played for Deportes Quindío and for Deportivo Pereira in the Colombian league.
Alvarez has played two world cups for Colombia, the first one in 1990 and the second was in 1994. He has also participated in Copa América for 5 years.
He has one of the highest number of international caps for his country, 101 in number putting him third on this list of most capped played of Colombia.
Retirement
Alvarez moved to coaching career after his retirement. He became the assistant coach of one of his first teams Independiente Medellín and later also managed national team of Colombia in 2011.
He last worked for team Cerro Porteño a Paraguay football club for the 2017-18 season.
