The Oakland Roots chose a coach with a lot of potential but little experience, selecting former Venezuelan international Juan Guerra to lead the club starting next season.
It will be the first head coaching role for the 34-year-old Guerra. After playing for ten years professionally in Venezuela, and in America in NASL and USL, he hung up his cleats in 2018. He then served as an assistant coach for Indy Eleven and last year for Phoenix Rising.
During his playing career as a midfielder, Guerra was known for his ball-handling skills, ability to read the game, and leadership on the field.
“We are incredibly excited to bring Juan to Oakland,” said Roots VP of Soccer Eric Yamamoto. “He has a deep knowledge of this league having played and coached in both the [USL Championship] East and West and we can’t wait to get started in 2022 with Juan at the helm.”
“The goal is to make this organization one of the top organizations in North America and work together with the players, the staff, the fans, and the community to reach that common goal,” Guerra explained after the announcement.
From Venezuela to Florida to Venezuela
Guerra was born in Caracas, Venezuela but grew up in Miami, Florida. He was an all-state soccer player in high school (and kicker for the football team) before joining the Flordia International University soccer program from 2005-2008.
After college, he returned to Venezuela, where he played professionally in the first division for Monagas Sport Club before moving to Caracas Fútbol Club, one of the country’s most distinguished soccer teams.
In 2011 Caracas loaned him out to Spanish club Las Palmas for a year. Although Guerra never made it to the pitch in Europe, his stint competing against higher-level opponents paid off when Guerra joined the Venezuelan National team. He played four games, including two during the 2014 World Cup Qualifiers, for the country.
Return to USA to play in NASL and USL
After playing 58 games for Caracas, he joined two other clubs in Venezuela’s first division before returning to the States.
In 2015 he was acquired by the NASL’s Tampa Bay Rowdies as the first signing of coach Thomas Rongen and President and GM Farrukh Quraishi to captain their midfield. Guerra then jumped to the New York Cosmos in 2017. He played 30 games for a side that made it to the NASL Championship game, which they lost to the San Francisco Deltas.
After the collapse of the NASL, he joined Indy Eleven in 2018, now part of the USL Championship. Indy head coach Martin Rennie offered to him the opportunity to play one final season, then fulfill the ambition he had had since at least 2015, to enter the coaching profession.
Guerra spent two years learning the coaching craft in Indianapolis before jumping to one of the USL’s premier clubs, Phoenix Rising, in 2021 as an assistant coach.
How will Guerra coach?
It’s unclear what playing style Guerra, who holds an A-Senior coaching license, will employ for his squad. Fans, however, might glean a hint from his playing style.
“I will run for all my teammates. I will try to hold the ball in the middle and make fast transitions when we go from defending to offense,” he said describing his approach to the game in 2015 after joining Tampa Bay. “When we’re attacking, I’ll keep the team together, so when the other team gets the ball, we don’t get caught off guard.”
After completing a successful first season in the USL under Roots Technical Director and interim head coach Jordan Ferrell (who will now return to only having to handle the Technical Director role), Guerra is excited about the opportunity leading the Roots.
“Oakland, when you talk about the fan base, the supporters, the diversity that the city has, the character of their people, they are hard-working and they don’t back down, they push forward, they always want to grow and improve so that drives me,” said Guerra.
“The opportunity to build something special and different in Oakland is one I wanted to be a part of,” he added.
