José Oscar "Turu" Flores Bringas (born 16 May 1971) is an Argentine retired professional footballer who played as a striker, and is a manager.

Turu Flores
Personal information
Full name José Oscar Flores Bringas
Date of birth (1971-05-16) 16 May 1971 (age 52)
Place of birth Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1990–1996 Vélez Sarsfield 153 (45)
1996–1998 Las Palmas 68 (35)
1998–2002 Deportivo La Coruña 84 (22)
2001–2002Valladolid (loan) 8 (1)
2002–2003 Mallorca 12 (0)
2003–2004 Ciudad Murcia 22 (3)
2004–2005 Independiente 19 (4)
2006 Aldosivi 15 (6)
2007 Lyn 0 (0)
Total 381 (116)
International career
1994 Argentina 2 (0)
Managerial career
2009–2013 Vélez Sarsfield (assistant)
2014 Vélez Sarsfield
2015 Defensa y Justicia
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He started his professional career with Vélez Sarsfield in his native country, winning seven titles during the club's successful 1990s era. He then spent the following eight years in Spain – 194 league matches and 61 goals both major levels combined, mainly with Deportivo – and also played twice for the Argentina national team.

Playing career edit

Born in Buenos Aires, Flores started his career with Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield in 1990, going on to play a major part in their most successful era in the mid-1990s. During his time at the club he won seven major titles, including three national championships, the 1994 edition of the Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup.

In 1996, Flores joined UD Las Palmas in the Spanish second division for a then-record sum spent by any club in that tier, 500 million pesetas.[1] He scored 21 goals in his second season,[2][3] helping the Canary Islands team qualify for the promotion/relegation playoffs, eventually lost to Real Oviedo (4–3 on aggregate).

After his performances, Flores joined Deportivo de La Coruña also in the country, alongside teammate Manuel Pablo.[4] He formed an efficient striker partnership with Portuguese Pauleta first and Dutch Roy Makaay after,[5] as the Galicians won the first La Liga title in their history in 2000; on 6 February of that year, he only needed 21 minutes on the pitch after coming on as a substitute for Djalminha to contribute to a 5–2 home crushing of Real Madrid.[6]

Flores then played for Real Valladolid, RCD Mallorca[7] and Ciudad de Murcia – the latter in the second level – with very little impact. In 2004, the 33-year-old returned to Argentina with Club Atlético Independiente.

In 2006, while at Club Atlético Aldosivi in his homeland's division two, Flores announced his retirement from football only to join Lyn Fotball in Norway in March of the following year, being joined in that adventure by compatriot Matías Almeyda.[8][9] While with the Oslo side he only played 45 minutes of a first-round cup match,[10] and retired altogether shortly after.

Coaching career edit

Flores returned to Vélez in 2009, being appointed Ricardo Gareca's assistant coach. On 26 December 2013, he became the manager.[11]

Honours edit

Player edit

Vélez

Deportivo

Mallorca

Manager edit

Vélez

References edit

  1. ^ "Las Palmas sigue con su desembolso" [Las Palmas keep spending] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 24 July 1996. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  2. ^ "Las Palmas se vale de los goles del Turu" [Las Palmas hang on to Turu's goals] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 5 April 1998. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  3. ^ "El Las Palmas se acerca al ascenso" [Las Palmas near promotion] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 9 April 1998. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  4. ^ "Turu Flores, entre dos pasiones" [Turu Flores, between two passions] (in Spanish). La Provincia. 14 December 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  5. ^ "El Deportivo asegura el liderato con tres goles en 15 minutos" [Deportivo confirm first place with three goals in 15 minutes] (in Spanish). El Mundo. 5 December 1999. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  6. ^ "El líder humilla al Madrid" [Leaders humiliate Madrid] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 7 February 2000. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  7. ^ "El delantero del Mallorca Albert Luque ficha por el Deportivo" [Mallorca forward Albert Luque signs for Deportivo] (in Spanish). El País. 30 August 2002. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  8. ^ Almeyda y el 'Turu' Flores regresan al fútbol en la Liga noruega (Almeyda and Turu Flores return to football in the Norwegian League); El Mundo, 26 March 2007 (in Spanish)
  9. ^ La aventura noruega del Turu Flores (Turu Flores' Norwegian adventure) Archived 17 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine; Notas de Fútbol, 27 March 2007 (in Spanish)
  10. ^ Jose Oscar Flores; at Lyn Fotball (in Norwegian)
  11. ^ "El Turu Flores es el DT" [Turu Flores is the HC] (in Spanish). Vélez Sarsfield. 26 December 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2013.

External links edit