Uruguay coach Nunez dead at 75

Published: 20 Dec 2011 - 15:08:02

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Hector "Pichon" Nunez, who coached Uruguay to the 1995 Copa America crown has died in Spain at the age of 75 after a long illness, press reports said here Tuesday.

"Hector Nunez is no longer with us and it is a great loss for Uruguyan football," said star striker Diego Forlan on his Twitter site.

After starting his playing days with Nacional in Montevideo, Nunez had a long spell at Valencia in Spain before going into coaching.

He was in charge of several top clubs including Atletico Madrid and Valencia in Spain, Tecos de Zapopan in Mexico and Al Nasr in Saudi Arabia.

On the international level he was in charge of Costa Rica but was best known for leading Uruguay to the Copa America title on home turf in 1995 defeating on penalties Brazil, who had won the World Cup the previous year in the United States.