Juan Carlos León
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 León in 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Juan Carlos León Zambrano | ||
| Date of birth | 24 January 1975 | ||
| Place of birth | Esmeraldas, Ecuador | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Libertad FC (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Barcelona SC | |||
| Calvi | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1999 | Audaz Octubrino | 15 | (0) |
| 2000 | Panamá | 8 | (0) |
| 2001 | Santos Ecuador | 6 | (2) |
| 2002 | Valle del Chota | 10 | (1) |
| 2003 | Paladín "S" | 0 | (0) |
| 2004 | 9 de Octubre | 0 | (0) |
| 2006 | Liceo Cristiano | 0 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| Barcelona SC (youth) | |||
| 2009 | Norte América (youth) | ||
| 2009–2018 | Independiente del Valle (youth) | ||
| 2018–2019 | Independiente Juniors | ||
| 2020–2022 | 9 de Octubre | ||
| 2022–2023 | Orense | ||
| 2024 | 9 de Octubre | ||
| 2024– | Libertad FC | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Juan Carlos León Zambrano (born 24 January 1975) is an Ecuadorian football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the current manager of Libertad FC.
Born in Esmeraldas, León represented Barcelona SC, Calvi as a youth. After making his senior debut with Audaz Octubrino in 1999, he went on to play for Panamá, Santos Ecuador, Valle del Chota, Paladín "S", 9 de Octubre and Liceo Cristiano.[1]
After retiring, León worked for Barcelona and Norte América's youth categories before joining Independiente del Valle in the middle of 2009. After winning several titles with the under-16s and under-18s, he led the under-20s to the 2018 U-20 Copa Libertadores final, and was later named in charge of reserve team Alianza Cotopaxi for the 2018 Segunda Categoría.[2]
After winning the Segunda Categoría and promoting Alianza (later named Independiente Juniors) to the Serie B, León renewed his contract with the club.[3] On 2 January 2020, he was appointed manager of former team 9 de Octubre in the second division,[4] and led the side back to the Serie A after a 25-year absence, also winning the title for the first time.
On 2 August 2022, León was sacked by 9 de Octubre,[5] and took over fellow top tier side Orense eleven days later.[6] He left the latter on 3 December, after narrowly missing out a continental spot.[7]
León returned to 9 de Octubre for the 2024 season, but was appointed at the helm of Libertad FC on 19 April of that year.[8]