 La Volpe asMonterrey manager in 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Ricardo Antonio La Volpe Guarchoni | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1952-02-06)6 February 1952 (age 73) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Buenos Aires, Argentina | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Goalkeeper | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1971–1973 | Banfield | 108 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1975–1979 | San Lorenzo | 112 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1979–1982 | Atlante | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1982–1983 | Oaxtepec | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1975–1978 | Argentina | 8 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1983–1984 | Oaxtepec | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1988–1989 | Atlante | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1989 | Guadalajara | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1990–1991 | Querétaro | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1991–1996 | Atlante | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1996 | América | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997–2001 | Atlas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2002 | Toluca | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2006 | Mexico | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006–2007 | Boca Juniors | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Vélez Sársfield | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008 | Monterrey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2010 | Atlas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2011 | Costa Rica | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Banfield | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Atlante | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | Guadalajara | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | Chiapas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | América | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | Pyramids | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Toluca | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | Muchachos FC (AKL) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ricardo Antonio La Volpe Guarchoni (Spanish pronunciation:[ˈrikaɾðolaˈβolpe]; born 6 February 1952) is an Argentine former professionalfootballer andmanager. He is aWorld Cup-winninggoalkeeper who played for most of his career in Argentina and Mexico.
As a coach, La Volpe was in charge of both theMexico andCosta Rica national teams, coaching the former at the2006 World Cup. As club manager atAtlante, theleague title was won in the 1992–93 season.
On 22 April 2020, in an interview withDavid Faitelson, he announced his retirement from management.
In Argentina, La Volpe played forBanfield andSan Lorenzo. InMexico he played forAtlante andOaxtepec.
La Volpe made eight appearances withArgentina throughout his career. He was the reserve goalkeeper when they won the1978 FIFA World Cup with Argentina.
Ricardo La Volpe began his career as a coach in theMexican league in 1989, managing several teams such as Oaxtepec,Puebla, Atlante,Guadalajara,Querétaro,América,Atlas,Toluca, andMonterrey. Despite mixed results, La Volpe earned a reputation for his offensive style of football. He led Atlante to the 1992–1993 season championship and reached the league final with Atlas in 1999.
In 2002, La Volpe was named coach of theMexico national team. He led the team to win the2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He qualified for the2006 World Cup, as well as finishing in fourth place at the2005 Confederations Cup, most notably defeating eventual championsBrazil in the group stage. With La Volpe at the helm, Mexico reached fourth place in theFIFA World rankings.
Also, under his leadership at the2004 Copa América, Mexico managed to defeatArgentina for the first time in years but lost to Brazil in the quarterfinals. Mexico also lost in the2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals toColombia. Mexico was also eliminated at the2004 Olympic Games after losing to South Korea in the group stage.
At the2006 FIFA World Cup, Mexico finished second in their group, qualifying for the Round of 16 before going out1–2 in extra time to Argentina.The Guardian named himBest Coach of the World Cup for his attitude.[1]
After leaving the Mexico national team, he met withBoca Juniors officials on 24 July 2006. After several weeks of negotiation, it was agreed on 22 August that La Volpe would take over as Boca manager on 15 September, replacingAlfio Basile, who had been selected to manage the Argentina national team.
La Volpe had a bumpy start with Boca Juniors, including a 3–1 loss against arch-rivalsRiver Plate on 8 October. On 12 October, Boca lost 3–1 toUruguayan clubNacional on penalty kicks in theCopa Sudamericana, and so were out of the competition. Boca failed three times to claim theApertura Championship in the final weeks of the season and then lost a playoff againstEstudiantes. Keeping his word that he would quit if he lost, La Volpe resigned after the match.Later that year, he became the newVélez Sársfield manager but did not stay in the job long. After watching his team suffer bruising defeats by River Plate and Boca Juniors in theApertura 2007, and his team in 10th place, he resigned as coach.
In 2008, Ricardo La Volpe returned to Mexico as Monterrey's manager. After several days of speculation, the club's official website finally announced that it was replacing former manager Isaac Mizrahi. He had a bumpy start and didn't win until his fifth match. Monterrey finished the season in 8th place and had the league's leading goal scorer,Humberto Suazo. Monterrey's league would end in the semi-finals, where they were eliminated bySantos Laguna after an aggregate score of 3–3. Fans of Monterrey spoke highly of La Volpe for helping the team reach the playoffs again after two dismal seasons of not qualifying, including a last-place finish during the last tournament. In the Apertura 2008, the team would have a pretty good start, but ultimately fell apart towards the end of the tournament, placing Monterrey in the bottom of the table, hence not qualifying to the playoffs. After the disappointing tournament, the team did not offer the money La Volpe was looking for, and he decided to leave the team.
On 28 January 2009, La Volpe signed once again withAtlas. Fans of the team had been yearning for him to return to the squad, in which many said he had the most success. The tournament was unsuccessful, with the team failing to qualify for the playoffs and finishing 13th. On 18 November, the Argentine coach quit Atlas due to poor results and was replaced byCarlos Ischia.[2][3]
On 9 September 2010, the former Atlas coach became the new manager ofCosta Rica, replacing interim coachRónald González. The Argentine had initially been signed until July 2014,[4] however, poor performance during the2011 Gold Cup and2011 Copa América, ended his contract prematurely on 11 August 2011.
La Volpe was named Guadalajara manager after a 4–0 loss againstAmérica with just four games to go in the tournament. After a win againstPachuca on his debut, he finished the league with a draw and 2 losses. However, on 30 April 2014, La Volpe was fired by Vergara after a female staff member alleged improper behavior by La Volpe toward her, resulting in a lawsuit.[5]
Following the sacking ofClub América's managerIgnacio Ambríz, La Volpe was announced as manager on 22 September 2016.[6] Just two days after becoming manager, they defeatedUniversidad Nacional, 2–1.[7] He led América towards a strong final stretch at the end of 2016, culminating with a fourth-place finish at theFIFA Club World Cup[8] and finishing runners-up in theApertura championship match againstTigres UANL.[9]
Although contributing by debuting major prospects such asDiego Lainez andEdson Álvarez, La Volpe and America decided to part ways after a lackluster Clausura 2017 where America failed to qualify to the playoffs for the first time since 2011.[10]
La Volpe's philosophy, style of play, and attitude referred to as"Lavolpismo," has played a considerable role in the evolution of tactics and strategy in Mexican league football. Coaches who have studied under and continue to use a modified version of his style of play and philosophy are referred to as"Lavolpistas".Notable managers directly influenced by La Volpe includeMiguel Herrera,José Guadalupe Cruz,Rubén Omar Romano,Hernan Cristante,Jose Saturnino Cardozo andSergio Bueno.[11][12]
During Mexico's first group-stage match in the 2006 World Cup againstIran, La Volpe was seen chain-smoking in the dugout, leading to an official warning fromFIFA that he was not allowed to smoke in the competition area. La Volpe responded by telling FIFA's executives that he would "rather give up football than smoking", although he later consented.[13]
He has also had clashes with the press. During a press conference at the 2006 World Cup, La Volpe told a journalist: "¡Fuera de mi vista! No saben nada. No me rompan los huevos, idiotas." ["Get out of my face! You know nothing. Don't bust my balls, you idiots."][1]
He has odd superstitions some which include wearing a lucky tie, performing "oriental" rituals and avoiding shaking the opposing manager's hand prior to or after the game.[14]
Banfield
Argentina
Atlante
Mexico
Mexico U23
Individual
International tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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