Víctor Muñoz Manrique (born 15 March 1957), known simply as Víctor in his playing days, is a Spanish retired

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 le ...

who played as a midfielder, 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 o ...

. An all-around midfield unit, he was best known for his great physical strength that helped him tire his opponents in the early stages of the match. He spent most of his professional career with Barcelona, winning a total of eight major titles and amassing La Liga totals of 332 games and 25 goals; in the competition, he also represented Zaragoza. A Spain international during the 1980s, Víctor represented the country in one World Cup and two

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

. He later became a manager, leading four La Liga teams and winning the Copa del Rey for Zaragoza in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Playing career

Club

Víctor was born in Zaragoza,

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

. After starting off with hometown club Real Zaragoza and being relegated in his first professional season, he was purchased by La Liga powerhouse FC Barcelona, being a very important element for the Catalans during his seven-year spell; on 4 June 1983, he scored his team's first in a 2–1 win against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the Copa del Rey. Víctor was also one of the first Spaniards to ever play in Serie A, with two seasons with U.C. Sampdoria. After a quick return to Zaragoza he (also known by his first name during his playing days) finished his career at 34, teaming up with former ''Barça'' teammate Steve Archibald at St Mirren.

International

Muñoz was a regular player for Spain for most of the 1980s, receiving his first opportunity on 25 March 1981 in a 2–1

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

win with England and going on to earn a further 59 caps, with three goals.Víctor Muñoz Manrique – International Matches
at RSSSF He played for the nation at 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 ...

as well as the UEFA Euro 1984 (in a final runner-up position, to hosts France) and 1988 tournaments, retiring from international duty immediately after that group stage exit.

International goals

Coaching career

Muñoz started working as a manager in the mid-1990s, being successively at the helm of

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

CD Logroñés Club Deportivo Logroñés, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja. Founded in 1940, it last played in ''Regional Preferente de La Rioja''. Due to financial problems, since 2009 the club has ...

UE Lleida Unió Esportiva Lleida was a Spanish football team based in Lleida, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. It was founded as ''Lérida Balompié-AEM'' on 30 October 1939, and became ''Unión Deportiva Lérida'' in 1947, after a merger with ''C ...

, Villarreal CF and Zaragoza. With the last of those teams, he won the 2003–04 domestic cup with a 3–2 extra time victory over

's ''

Galácticos ' (Spanish for ''galactics, referring to superstars) are expensive, world-famous football players'' recruited during the "''galácticos''" policy pursued during Florentino Pérez's presidency at Real Madrid, where in his first tenure between 2000 ...

''. On 8 October 2006 Muñoz signed a two-year contract with Greece's Panathinaikos FC, becoming the 18th coach in ten years for ''The Greens''. However, he returned to Spain in June 2007 to take over at Recreativo de Huelva, from where he was sacked the following February. For the 2008–09 campaign, Muñoz was appointed at

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol (), or simply Getafe, is a professional football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. The team competes in La Liga, the highest tier of the Spanish football system. The club's home stadium (owned and op ...

on 18 June 2008. Following a string of seven losses in nine games that left the team from the outskirts of Madrid at one point above the relegation zone, he was dismissed in April of the following year, making way for former Real Madrid player Míchel. In late December 2010, after more than one year out of football, Muñoz was named head coach of Russian Premier League side FC Terek Grozny. He left his post in

Chechnya Chechnya ( rus, Чечня́, Chechnyá, p=tɕɪtɕˈnʲa; ce, Нохчийчоь, Noxçiyçö), officially the Chechen Republic,; ce, Нохчийн Республика, Noxçiyn Respublika is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the ...

after less than one month due to failed contract negotiations, being replaced by Ruud Gullit. Muñoz returned to active in early September 2011, when he became

Neuchâtel Xamax , neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier , twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (France ...

's third manager of the season, replacing compatriot

Joaquín Caparrós Joaquín de Jesús Caparrós Camino (born 15 October 1955) is a Spanish football manager. After winning the Segunda División with Sevilla in 2001, Caparrós was a regular on the La Liga sidelines for the best part of two decades. He coached ...

at the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

club. He continued his career in the country, with a brief stint at FC Sion from December 2012 until February of the following year. On 19 March 2014, Muñoz returned to Zaragoza, succeeding

Paco Herrera Francisco "Paco" Herrera Lorenzo (born 2 December 1953) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder, and is a manager. His managerial career of over a quarter of a century was spent mostly in Segunda División, where he led 13 ...

at a club at risk of relegation to the third tier. He was dismissed on 24 November with the club in 8th, one point off the play-offs.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Barcelona * La Liga: 1984–85 * Copa del Rey: 1982–83, 1987–88 *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

Copa de la Liga The Copa de la Liga (League Cup in Spanish) was a Spanish football tournament created in 1982. Due to time constraints, saturation and club pressure, the competition only lasted four years, being cancelled in 1986. Winning the trophy helped two ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

* UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1981–82 Sampdoria * Coppa Italia: 1988–89 * UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1989–90; Runner-up 1988–89 Spain * UEFA European Championship: Runner-up

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

Manager

Zaragoza * Copa del Rey: 2003–04 *

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Munoz, Victor 1957 births Living people Footballers from Zaragoza Spanish footballers Association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Real Zaragoza players FC Barcelona players Serie A players U.C. Sampdoria players Scottish Premier League players St Mirren F.C. players Spain under-23 international footballers Spain amateur international footballers Spain B international footballers Spain international footballers UEFA Euro 1984 players 1986 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1988 players Olympic footballers of Spain Footballers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Spanish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Scotland Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers RCD Mallorca managers CD Logroñés managers UE Lleida managers Villarreal CF managers Real Zaragoza managers Recreativo de Huelva managers Getafe CF managers Super League Greece managers Panathinaikos F.C. managers Neuchâtel Xamax FCS managers FC Sion managers Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Greece Expatriate football managers in Russia Expatriate football managers in Switzerland Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland