# Football coach Juan Antonio Lotina dies in Miami

**Date:** 08/14/2020

Cuban football suffers another heavy blow; on the morning of August 10, 2020, Juan Antonio Lotina Rodríguez passed away at his home in Miami, son of Juan Antonio Lotina Matín (1936-2006), one of the men who did the most for football on the island.

Juani followed in his father's footsteps, becoming a great coach and football executive, both in Cuba and in the United States where he left his mark at the Jogo Bonito academy and at Everglades K-8 elementary school, where he worked until his death.

A heart attack ended his life this Monday, just a few months after turning 61 years old, leaving football without the most genuine heir to the Lotina name.

"My father was a tremendous man, a great father, a great son and the best of friends," said his son Luis Ernesto. "And that is how I want him to be remembered."

And so he will be remembered because Juani had a great heart and everyone loved him, as much as a person as a coach, even as a referee, one of his great passions.

On the Santos Suárez team he played as a libero, behind Semino, and was our captain. He took penalties like no one else and was very technical, with an exquisite touch on the ball. As a coach a teacher and role model.

After playing in the lower categories in his native Havana, Juanito dedicated himself to the noble profession of teaching, graduating as a degree holder in Physical Education in 1992, in addition to having several FIFA courses for technical directors to his credit.

He subsequently dedicated himself to coaching until 2004 the world champions in ball mastery Douglas and Erick Hernández, who registered several Guinness records, putting Cuba's name in the football firmament.
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Lotina Jr. continued coaching until December 2011 at the National Football School of Cuba, where after being technical sub-director he came to hold the position of director. Before coming to Miami he was working in the national football commission.

Once in the USA, Juani managed to finish the book "History of Football in Cuba", where he condenses everything that happened on the island in relation to the so-called King Sport until 1959. Undoubtedly an extraordinary work, must-read, initiated by his father and which he resumed after his death in 2006.