Miguel Ángel Russo (born 9 April 1956) is an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

professional

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game bega ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

who played as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an 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 central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He is the current manager of

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central () is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on December 24, 1889, by a group of railway workers, taking its name from the Englis ...

Playing career

Club career

Russo was a one club man; he played his entire career for

Estudiantes de La Plata Club Estudiantes de La Plata ( lit. "Students from La Plata"), simply referred to as Estudiantes de La Plata , is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Plata. The club's football team currently competes in the Primera División, wh ...

, from 1975 to his retirement in 1988. A

, Russo was a staple of the team that won two back-to-back championships in the 1982–83 season.

International career

Although Russo was called on by

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

coach

Carlos Bilardo Carlos Salvador Bilardo Digiano (born 16 March 1938) is an Argentine former physician, football player, and manager. Bilardo achieved worldwide renown as a player with Estudiantes de La Plata in the 1960s, and as the manager of the Argentina ...

to play in the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...

qualifiers, a string of minor injuries prevented him from traveling to the main event in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, which Argentina ultimately won.

Coaching career

His career as a coach included stints at

and

Lanús Lanús () is the capital of Lanús Partido, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It lies just south of the capital city Buenos Aires, in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area. The city has a population of 212,152 (), and the Partido de Lan� ...

(both of whom he helped promote), and other sides in Argentina,

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. In June 2005, he won the 2005 Clausura tournament with Vélez Sarsfield, his first title as a coach in the Argentine top division. On 15 December 2006, he was signed by

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

to replace

Ricardo La Volpe Ricardo Antonio La Volpe Guarchoni (; born 6 February 1952) is an Argentine former professional footballer and manager. He is a World Cup-winning goalkeeper who played for most of his career in Argentina and Mexico. As a coach, La Volpe was in ...

. With Russo at the helm, Boca Juniors took second place in the 2007 Clausura tournament and won the 2007 Copa Libertadores. After Boca, Russo managed

San Lorenzo de Almagro Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro, commonly known as San Lorenzo de Almagro or simply San Lorenzo (in English: ''Saint Lawrence''), is a sports club of Argentina in the Boedo district of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its football team ...

between 2008 and 2009. After losing to San Luis and being eliminated form the Copa Libertadores, the coach has announced his decision to resign on 9 April 2009. On 15 April 2009, Russo joined

, replacing

Reinaldo Merlo Reinaldo Carlos Merlo (born 20 May 1950) is an Argentine football coach and former player, who played as a midfielder. Playing career Known as ''Mostaza'' (mustard) because of his off-blond hair, Merlo played his entire career for Club Atléti ...

and just two months later on 14 July 2009 the coach quit the team. The former midfielder then managed Racing Club between 2010 and 2011. On 21 June 2011, less than a week after resigning as coach of Racing Club, Russo signed a contract to again coach his former club, Estudiantes de La Plata, being his second stint as an Estudiantes coach, having done so in 1994. On 6 November 2011, after Estudiantes was defeated 1-3 by Godoy Cruz and in turn falling to last place with only 10 points in 14 games, Russo resigned as manager, less than 5 months after having assumed charge. He then had a successful stint at Rosario Central, winning the 2012–13 Primera B Nacional and reaching the final of the

2013–14 Copa Argentina The 2013–14 Copa Argentina was the fifth edition of the Copa Argentina, and the third since the relaunch of the tournament in 2011. The competition began on October 29, 2013. Arsenal was the defending champion, but were eliminated by Institut ...

. In 2015, Russo agreed to become manager of Vélez Sarsfield, his second spell at the club. On 23 December 2016, he was chosen to train

Millonarios F.C. Millonarios Fútbol Club is a professional Colombian Association football, football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Estadio El Campín, El Campín stadium. Millonarios wa ...

from Bogotá, Colombia after the untimely departure of Diego Cocca. On 17 December 2017, he was crowned Champion of the second half of 2017 with Millonarios F.C. (Torneo Clausura), to which he gave them the title number 15 after winning the first leg 1-0, and then drawing 2-2 against Independiente Santa Fe. With this victory, Millonarios F.C. will go directly to the group stage of the Copa Libertadores played among the best club teams in South America. On January 4, 2019, he is officially appointed as the new

Alianza Lima Club Alianza Lima, popularly known as Alianza Lima or simply Alianza, is a Peruvian professional sports club based in La Victoria District of Lima, Peru. It is widely known for having one of the most historical and successful football teams i ...

coach. However, he decides to terminate his contract for personal reasons and poor results. On June 7, 2019, his transfer to

Cerro Porteño Club Cerro Porteño is a professional Paraguayan football club, based in the neighbourhood of Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1912, Cerro has won 34 Primera División titles and is one of the most popular football clubs in Paraguay. Its presi ...

was made official. On October 6, 2019, after losing to Deportivo Capiatá, the club decides to do without its services. In January 2020, he started his second cycle with

. two months later he obtained a new title winning the 2019-20 Superliga beating River Plate led by Marcelo Gallardo in the final stretch. After been eliminated by Santos (BRA) from the

Conmebol The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL, , or CSF; es, Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol; pt, Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol) is the continental governing body of football in South America (apart from Guyana, Suri ...

Libertadores, Boca Juniors played Copa Diego Maradona final against Banfield. This match ended in a tie in one, and finally, Boca Juniors became champions by winning the penalties. On 17 August 2021 he was sacked by the club. Russo spent the most of the 2021–22 season in charge of

Al-Nassr Al Nassr Football Club ( ar, نادي النصر السعودي; '' Naṣr'' meaning ''Victory'') is a Saudi Arabian football club based in Riyadh. Formed in 1955, the club plays its home games at the Mrsool Park. Their home colours are yello ...

in Saudi Arabia, before returning to Rosario Central on 18 December 2022.

Personal life

Russo's son,

Ignacio Ignacio is a male Spanish and Galician name originating either from the Roman family name Egnatius, meaning born from the fire, of Etruscan origin, or from the Latin name "Ignatius" from the word "Ignis" meaning "fire". This was the name of sev ...

, is a professional footballer.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

;Estudiantes de La Plata *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

(2): 1982 Metropolitano, 1983 Nacional

Manager

;Lanús *

Primera B Nacional Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, in English "National B Division", and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 37 tea ...

(1): 1991–92 ;Estudiantes *

(1): 1994–95 ;Vélez Sarsfield *

(1): 2005 Clausura ;Boca Juniors * Primera División: 2019–20 *

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

(1):

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

2020 Copa de la Liga Profesional The 2020 Copa de la Liga Profesional (officially Copa Diego Armando Maradona) was the first edition of the Copa de la Liga Profesional, an Argentine domestic cup contested by the 24 teams that took part in the Primera División during the 2019� ...

;Rosario Central *

(1): 2012–13 ;Millonarios *

Categoría Primera A The Categoría Primera A (), commonly referred to as Liga BetPlay Dimayor (between 2015 and 2019 ''Liga Águila'') due to sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is a Colombian professional league for association football clubs. It is the ...

(1): 2017 Finalización * Superliga Colombiana (1): Superliga 2018

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Russo, Miguel Angel 1956 births Living people Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine footballers Argentina international footballers 1983 Copa América players Estudiantes de La Plata footballers Argentine Primera División players Sportspeople from Lanús Argentine football managers Argentine expatriate football managers UD Salamanca managers Club Atlético Los Andes managers Club Atlético Lanús managers Universidad de Chile managers Estudiantes de La Plata managers Rosario Central managers Atlético Morelia managers Club Atlético Colón managers Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield managers Boca Juniors managers San Lorenzo de Almagro managers Racing Club de Avellaneda managers Al Nassr FC managers Saudi Professional League managers Expatriate football managers in Chile Expatriate football managers in Mexico Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Chile Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Association football midfielders