Ricardo Antonio La Volpe Guarchoni (; born 6 February 1952) is an Argentine 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

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 ...

. He is a World Cup-winning

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

who played for most of his career in Argentina and Mexico. As a coach, La Volpe was in charge of both the

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 ...

and Costa Rica national teams, coaching the former at the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

. As club manager at Atlante, the league title was won in the 1992–93 season. On 22 April 2020, in an interview with David Faitelson, he announced his retirement from management.

Playing career

In Argentina, La Volpe played for Banfield and San Lorenzo. In

he played for Atlante and

Oaxtepec Oaxtepec is a town within the municipality of Yautepec and the Cuautla metropolitan area in the eastern part of the Mexican state of Morelos. Its main industry is tourism, mostly aimed at the inhabitants of nearby Mexico City, and the town poss ...

. La Volpe made eight appearances with

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

throughout his career. He was the reserve goalkeeper when they won the 1978 FIFA World Cup with Argentina.

Managerial career

Early career

Ricardo La Volpe began his career as a coach in the

Mexican league The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

in 1989, managing several teams such as Oaxtepec, Puebla, Atlante, Guadalajara, Querétaro, América,

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 geograp ...

Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. With a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census, Toluca is the fifth most populous city in Mexico. The city f ...

, and Monterrey. 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.

Mexico national team

In 2002 La Volpe was named coach of 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 ...

. He led the team to win the

2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the seventh edition of the Gold Cup, the association football championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean ( CONCACAF). For the first time since 1993, the tournament was held in more than one ...

and qualified for the

, as well finishing in fourth place at the 2005 Confederations Cup, most notably defeating eventual champions

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 ...

in the group stage. With La Volpe at the helm, Mexico reached fourth place in the

FIFA World rankings The FIFA Men's World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football, led by Brazil . The teams of the men's member nations of FIFA, football's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results with the ...

. Also under his leadership at the

2004 Copa América The 2004 Copa América was the 41st edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body, and was held i ...

, Mexico managed to defeat

for the first time in years, but lost to Brazil in the quarterfinals. Mexico also lost at the

2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the eighth edition of the Gold Cup, the football championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was contested in the United States in July 2005. The United States emerged victorious ...

quarterfinals to Colombia. Mexico was also eliminated at the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

after losing to South Korea in the group stage. At the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

, Mexico finished second in their group, qualifying to the Round of 16 before going out 1–2 in extra time to Argentina.

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

named him ''Best Coach of the World Cup'' for his attitude.

Boca Juniors

After leaving the Mexico national team, he met with Boca 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, replacing

Alfio Basile Alfio () is an Italian given name. Notable people with the name include: * Alfio Basile, Argentina football coach * Alfio Bonanno, Australian tenor * Alfio Caltabiano, Italian actor * Alfio Contini, Italian cinematographer * Alfio Fazio, Italian ...

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 archi-rivals River Plate on 8 October. On 12 October, Boca lost 3–1 to

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

an club Nacional on penalty kicks in the Copa Sudamericana, and so were out of the competition. Boca failed three times to claim the Apertura Championship in the final weeks of the season, and then lost a playoff against Estudiantes. Keeping his word that he would quit if he lost, La Volpe resigned after the match. Later that year he became the new Vélez Sársfield manager, but did not stay in the job long. After watching his team suffer bruising defeats by River Plate and Boca Juniors in the Apertura 2007, and his team in 10th place, he resigned as coach.

Return to Mexico

In 2008, Ricardo La Volpe returned to Mexico as manager of Monterrey. After several days of speculation, the decision was finally announced in the club's official website, as the replacement of 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 Humberto Andrés Suazo Pontivo (; born 10 May 1981), nicknamed ''Chupete'' (in English, ''Lollipop''), is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a striker for Deportes La Serena. In 2006, he was awarded the IFFHS World's Top Goal Sc ...

. Monterrey's league would end in the semi-finals in which they were eliminated by

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 ...

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 fairly good start, but completely 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.

Return to Atlas

On 28 January 2009, La Volpe signed, once again, with

. Fans of the team had been yearning for him to come back to the squad in which many said he had his most success. The tournament was not successful with the team failing to qualify to the playoffs, finishing 13th. On 18 November the Argentine coach quit Atlas due to poor results, and was replaced by Carlos Ischia.

Costa Rica

On 9 September 2010, the former Atlas coach became the new manager of Costa Rica, replacing interim coach Rónald González. The Argentine had originally signed until July 2014, however, poor performance during the 2011 Gold Cup and 2011 Copa América, ended his contract prematurely on 11 August 2011.

Guadalajara

La Volpe was named Guadalajara manager after a 4–0 loss against América with just four games to go in the tournament. After a win against

Pachuca Pachuca (; ote, Nju̱nthe), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Hidalgo. It is located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca de Soto is also the name of the municipality of whi ...

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.

América

Following the sacking of Club América's manager Ignacio Ambríz, La Volpe was announced as manager on 22 September 2016. Just two days after becoming manager, they defeated Universidad Nacional, 2–1. He led América towards a strong final stretch at the end of 2016, culminating with a fourth-place finish at the FIFA Club World Cup and finishing runners-up in the

Apertura The ' and ' tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is divi ...

championship match against

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. Found ...

. Although contributing by debuting major prospects such as Diego Lainez and

Edson Álvarez Edson Omar Álvarez Velázquez (; born 24 October 1997), also known as El Machín, is a Mexican professional footballer who plays for Eredivisie club Ajax and the Mexico national team. Mainly a defensive midfielder, he is also capable of playin ...

, Lavolpe 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.

Reception

Influence

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 include

Miguel Herrera Miguel Ernesto Herrera Aguirre (born 18 March 1968), popularly referred to by his nickname "Piojo" (Spanish for "louse"), is a Mexican former professional footballer and current manager. He is the head coach of Liga MX club Tijuana. A former ...

, José Guadalupe Cruz, Rubén Omar Romano, Hernan Cristante, Jose Saturnino Cardozo and

Sergio Bueno Sergio Bueno Rodríguez (born July 4, 1962) is a Mexican former professional footballer and manager. Player Sergio Bueno started his professional football career with Deportivo Neza in the 1983-84 tournament against Puebla FC where he came in ...

Criticism

During Mexico's first group-stage match in the 2006 World Cup against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, La Volpe was seen chain-smoking in the dugout, leading to an official warning from FIFA 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. 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 break my balls, you idiots."ref name=Guardian1816453 /> He has odd superstitions some which include wearing a lucky tie, performing oriental rituals and avoiding shaking the opposing managers hand prior to or after the game.

Honours

Player

Argentina *

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 ...

: 1978

Manager

Atlante * Primera División de México:

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

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 ...

: 2003 Mexico U23 * CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship: 2004 Individual * Primera División de México Manager of the Tournament:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:La Volpe, Ricardo 1952 births Living people Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine footballers Argentina international footballers 1978 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup-winning players Club Atlético Banfield footballers San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers Atlante F.C. footballers C.F. Oaxtepec footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Mexico Association football goalkeepers Argentine football managers Mexican football managers Club Puebla managers Atlante F.C. managers C.D. Guadalajara managers Club América managers Atlas F.C. managers Deportivo Toluca F.C. managers Boca Juniors managers Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield managers C.F. Monterrey managers Querétaro F.C. managers Chiapas F.C. managers Mexico national football team managers Costa Rica national football team managers CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning managers 2004 Copa América managers 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup managers 2006 FIFA World Cup managers 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup managers 2011 Copa América managers Argentine emigrants to Mexico Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Argentine Primera División players Liga MX players Expatriate football managers in Mexico Liga MX managers Pyramids FC managers