Mario Hernán Varas Pinto (born 28 November 1951) is a Chilean former footballer who played as a full-back.

Mario Varas
Personal information
Full name Mario Hernán Varas Pinto
Date of birth (1951-11-28) 28 November 1951 (age 72)
Place of birth Copiapó, Chile
Position(s) Full-back
Youth career
1963–1968 Universidad Católica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1968–1969 Universidad Católica
1970–1974 Unión Española
1974–1983 Palestino
1983 Moroka Swallows
1984 AmaZulu
1984–1986 Orlando Pirates
1987 Moroka Swallows
1988–1989 Orlando Pirates
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career edit

A full-back who played along both sidelines,[1] Varas played for clubs in both Chile and South Africa. A product of Universidad Católica youth system,[2] in Chile he also played for Unión Española and Palestino.[3] He is a well remembered player of Palestino in the 1970s, a successful stint for the club, winning the 1978 Primera División,[1] coinciding with players such as Oscar Fabbiani and Elías Figueroa.[4] Previously, he had won the 1973 Primera División with Unión Española, becoming one of the two players, along with Raúl Cárcamo, who was champion with both colony teams.[3]

In South Africa, he played for Moroka Swallows,[5] AmaZulu and Orlando Pirates[6] between 1983 and 1989. He had come to South Africa in 1983, when he joined Moroka Swallows where he coincided with the Chilean footballers Raúl González and Eddie Campodónico, thanks to Chilean coach Mario Tuane.[7]

Personal life edit

He was nicknamed Perro Varas (Dog Varas), due to his aggressiveness to mark the opponents.[8]

Honours edit

Unión Española

Palestino

Moroka Swallows

Orlando Pirates

References edit

  1. ^ a b Mario 'El Perro' Varas Archived 2022-09-24 at the Wayback Machine Palestino Histórico on Facebook (in Spanish)
  2. ^ "Universidad Católica - Plantilla 1968/1969". livefutbol.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 12 May 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Unión Española y Palestino animan uno de los tradicionales Clásicos de Colonia". Campeonatochileno.cl (in Spanish). ANFP. 26 May 2020. Archived from the original on 24 September 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  4. ^ "Fútbol en América: Club Deportivo PALESTINO". Fútbol en América (in Spanish). 4 October 2016. Archived from the original on 24 September 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Death of SA soccer legend". News24. 16 October 2006. Archived from the original on 24 September 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  6. ^ Laduma, Soccer (30 July 2017). "Jonathan Felippe The First Argentine At Kaizer Chiefs". Soccerladuma. Archived from the original on 24 September 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  7. ^ Gleeson, Mark (16 August 2017). "Another of South African football's legendary coaches has passed away". TimesLIVE. Archived from the original on 26 June 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  8. ^ "Mario Varas archivos". Palestino Histórico (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2022. El "Perro" Varas sí que muerde a los punteros

External links edit