José Manuel de la Torre Menchaca (born 13 November 1965), popularly nicknamed ''Chepo'', is a Mexican former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

and a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. As a player, de la Torre played as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

Playing career

"Chepo" came up through the Chivas youth academies, and was an important player for all the teams he played for. He had a short stint in Europe with Spanish club

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo is a Spanish football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926 as a result of the merger of two clubs who had maintained a large sporting rivalry for years in the city: ''Real Stadium Club Ovetense'' and ''Real Club De ...

, where he played 32 games and scored 8 goals. He became champion with Chivas in the 1986 season defeating

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...

in the

Estadio Jalisco The Jalisco Stadium is a football stadium located in Guadalajara, Mexico. It is the third largest Mexican football stadium behind Estadio Azteca and Estadio Olímpico Universitario. The facility is located in the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco, 4 ...

. He also played at

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

, Cruz Azul,

Tigres UANL Club de Fútbol Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, simply known as Tigres UANL or Tigres, is a Mexican professional football club based in San Nicolás de los Garza, a city in the Monterrey metropolitan area, Nuevo León. Foun ...

during the 1995-96 season, and Necaxa. De la Torre was also called up for the

Mexico national team The Mexico national football team () represents Mexico in international football and is governed by the Mexican Football Federation (). It competes as a member of CONCACAF. Mexico has qualified to seventeen World Cups and has qualified conse ...

on various occasions, but unfortunately he was never called for a

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

Career statistics

International goals

Managerial career

Guadalajara

On December 10, 2006, Guadalajara won their eleventh league championship, making de la Torre the youngest coach to win a championship in the last decade at age 40 years & 27 days, and making Guadalajara the club with the most titles in the

Primera División de México The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional Association football, football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and amo ...

(their record would later be surpassed by América in 2014) (then again in 2018).

Toluca

In mid 2008, de la Torre became the coach of

Club Toluca Deportivo Toluca Fútbol Club S.A. de C.V. (), commonly known as Club Deportivo Toluca, is a Mexican football club, playing in the Primera División de México, the top-flight of Mexican football. Toluca's stadium, Estadio Nemesio Díez Riega i ...

. In the beginning of the season Toluca had a relatively weak start, but improved as the season progressed, finishing with a five-game non-losing streak and taking 13 out of 15 points. They then went on to win the tournament. He won his second championship with Toluca in 2010, defeating Santos in a penalty shoot-out where Toluca came back from a 1–3 deficite to win the penalty shoot out 4–3.

Mexico national team

On October 18, 2010 it was announced that de la Torre would become the new manager of Mexico national team at the end of the 2010 Torneo Apertura. He made his debut as Mexico's manager on February 9, 2011 in a friendly match against

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

, which Mexico won 2–0. De la Torre's first tournament as Mexico's manager was the

2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 11th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the 21st CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's 50 years of existence. The United States was the host nation. The competition started on June ...

. His first game of the tournament was on June 8, 2011 against

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

which Mexico won 5–0. The Mexican team won all three of their group stage matches. De la Torre's Mexico team would go undefeated throughout the tournament, winning all six of their games and eventually defeated the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

4–2 in the final. De la Torre's first defeat as Mexico's manager came on October 11, 2011 in a friendly against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, who came back and won 1–2. On June 16, 2013, Mexico faced

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and lost 1–2 in their first match of the 2013 Confederations Cup. The only goal scored by Mexico in the game was scored by

Javier Hernández Javier Hernández Balcázar (; born 1 June 1988), commonly known by the nickname Chicharito (, Mexican Spanish: ''little pea''), is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy. He is known ...

via a penalty kick. The Mexican team's performance was criticized, with the team lacking creativity, offensive spark, and a poor display in the midfield during most of the match, frequently giving away the ball to Italian opposition. This resulted in many people to question De la Torre's future as the manager of the team. On July 19, 2013 after a 2–0 loss to

and Italy defeating

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

4–3, Mexico was knocked out in the group stage of the Confederations Cup, the team did manage to defeat

in their last match of the tournament. In their first group match of the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Mexico lost 1–2 to

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. Mexico eventually won the last two group games against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

and ended second in Group A. After defeating

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

in the quarter-finals they were eliminated by Panama in the semi-finals, missing the final for the first time since

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

. In the qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup the national team fared poorly, only managing to win one out of seven games and scoring a total of only 4 goals during those games. Mexico's were not able to defeat such as

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

, and

at home. Observers marveled at Mexico's "unprecedented collapse" under de la Torre, considering the fact that Mexico had won the gold medal in the most recent Olympic Games and had talented players in

Giovani Dos Santos Giovani dos Santos Ramírez ( ; born 11 May 1989) is a Mexican professional footballer. A versatile forward, dos Santos can play as an attacking midfielder, winger, and secondary striker. He is an Olympic gold medalist. Dos Santos began hi ...

and

. On September 6, Mexico lost to Honduras at the

Estadio Azteca Estadio Azteca () is a multi-purpose stadium located in Mexico City. It is the official home of football clubs Club América and Cruz Azul as well as the Mexico national football team. The stadium sits at an altitude of above sea level. Wit ...

. The defeat was Mexico's second loss at home in 77 qualifying matches. After the loss to Honduras, de la Torre stated that his development "project" of the national team was going "very well." The Mexican press branded the national team as the "ratones verdes", or "green mice", and noted that Mexico was in danger of not qualifying to the World Cup for the first time in over two decades. On September 7, 2013, Jose Manuel de la Torre was fired as coach of the national team by

Femexfut The Mexican Football Federation (; abbreviated as Femexfut or FMF) is the governing body of association football in Mexico. It adm the Mexico national football team, Mexico national team, the Liga MX and all affiliated amateur sectors, and contro ...

president Justino Compean, ending his two-year tenure at the helm.

Return to Guadalajara

On October 8, 2014, Jose Manuel de la Torre was hired as coach for 2nd time to Guadalajara. The club started the 2015 season with a 2-1 loss against Chiapas, and this result caused them to become tied in the last position of the Liga MX relegation table with Puebla. The very next week the club showed better character after a 2-1 win at home against Pumas UNAM in front of a very supportful, sold out crowd of fans. By game 12 of the 2015 Clausura season, Guadalajara managed to earn 21 points after winning crucial matches against teams such as Monterrey and relegation rivals Puebla. José Manuel de la Torre's strategic 4-2-3-1 formation proved effect during matches despite the fans' constant requests to use two strikers in the starting line-up. In game 13 of the season, Guadalajara defeated Club León in the Estadio Omnilife's 100th official match and went up to 1st place with 24 points. José Manuel de la Torre's effectiveness rose to 62.1%, the highest rate in the Clausura 2015 season. The club finished the 2015 Clausura in fifth place with a total of 26 points, along with the third best defense of the season, thus, qualifying to the playoffs for the first time since 2012. Guadalajara was able to make it to the quarterfinals, they faced rivals

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic ...

. The first match ended in a 0-0 draw. Second match was a 4-1 win over Atlas, with a hat-trick from

Marco Fabian Marco may refer to: People * Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco * Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor * Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin * Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish c ...

advancing to the semi-final, facing

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V. (), commonly known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club that competes in the Liga MX. It is located in northern Mexico and represents the urban area of La Comarca Lagunera, made up o ...

. In the second match of the semi-finals, Guadalajara fell short losing to Santos Laguna in a 3-0 loss, failing to advance to the finals. After a rough start during the 2015 Apertura season, the club controversially sacked De la Torre.

Honours

Player

Guadalajara * Primera División de México 1986-87 Puebla * Primera División de México 1989-90 Necaxa *

: Invierno 1998 Individual *

Rookie of the Tournament: 1986–87 *

Midfielder of the Tournament: 1989–90

Manager

Guadalajara *

: Apertura 2006 Toluca *

: Apertura 2008, Bicentenario 2010 Mexico *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Individual *

Manager of the Tournament: Apertura 2006, Apertura 2008, Bicentenario 2010

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Torre, Jose Manuel de la 1965 births Living people Footballers from Guadalajara, Jalisco Mexican footballers Association football midfielders C.D. Guadalajara footballers Real Oviedo players Club Puebla players Cruz Azul footballers Tigres UANL footballers Club Necaxa footballers Liga MX players La Liga players Mexico under-20 international footballers Mexico international footballers 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Mexican expatriate footballers Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Spain Mexican football managers Club América non-playing staff C.D. Guadalajara managers Deportivo Toluca F.C. managers Mexico national football team managers Santos Laguna managers Liga MX managers 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup managers 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup managers CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning managers