José Antonio Camacho Alfaro (; born 8 June 1955) is a Spanish former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

and a former

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He spent 15 professional years at

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, appearing in more than 500 official matches with the team and helping win 19 major titles, including nine

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

championships. Subsequently, he embarked in a lengthy manager career, which included two very brief spells with his main club. Camacho earned more than 80

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

with

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, representing the country in two World Cups and as many

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

. He also managed the national team for four years, taking them to the quarter-finals in the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

Club career

Camacho was born in Cieza, Murcia. After playing youth football at

Albacete Albacete ( , , ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, the area around the city is known as Los Llan ...

, he moved to

giants

at age 18, being almost immediately cast into the first team and its starting XI, his debut being handed by manager Luis Molowny on 3 March 1974 as he played the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 away loss against

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

. During his spell with Real Madrid, Camacho appeared in 577 official matches (414 in the league alone), forming a proficient left-wing partnership with Rafael Gordillo, who featured mainly as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. In January 1978, he suffered a serious injury in training, which put his career on hold for nearly two years, but returned strong, being instrumental as the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

side won consecutive UEFA Cups.Biography at Real Madrid Fans
(in Spanish)

International career

Camacho played 81 games for the Spain national team, making his first appearance just 19 years old. His debut came on 5 February 1975 in a 1–1 draw against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

for the

UEFA Euro 1976 The 1976 UEFA European Football Championship tournament was held in Yugoslavia. This was the fifth UEFA European Championship, held every four years and endorsed by UEFA and the first and only tournament that was held in a socialist state. The ...

qualifiers, in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. For the following 13 years, Camacho was a defensive mainstay for the national side, being selected – and always as first-choice – to the

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

and 1986

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

s, as well as Euro 1984 and 1988. After the 2–0 group stage loss to

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

in the latter competition, he retired from the international scene aged 33.

Coaching career

Beginnings

Following his retirement as a player in 1989, Camacho began coaching, first in Real Madrid's coaching staff. His first professional experiences were spent at Rayo Vallecano and Espanyol, both of which he helped promote to the top division. In the summer of 1998, Camacho took over Real Madrid's first team, but left after only 22 days over disagreements with the club's management.

Spain national team

Camacho succeeded

Javier Clemente Javier Clemente Lázaro (; born 12 March 1950) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Forced to retire from playing in his early 20s through injury, he embarked on a coaching career with his first managerial ...

as national team manager in September 1998, after a shock 3–2 loss in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

in a Euro 2000 qualifier. The tide quickly turned under the new boss, who led the side to the final stages where they bowed out to eventual champions

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in the quarter-finals. Two years later, Camacho's team lost in the same stages to

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, now in the

. Following the controversial defeat he announced his resignation, being replaced by Iñaki Sáez.

Benfica

Camacho returned to club action subsequently, being appointed at Benfica from Portugal on 1 December 2002 in the place of sacked Jesualdo Ferreira. Two years later, his team won the

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

against

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix (; born 26 January 1963) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Süper Lig club Fenerba ...

-led

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

in extra-time, ending Benfica's longest silverware drought, as well as finishing second in the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

. A tough tackler in his playing days, Camacho also showed a human side when he cried profusely after Miklós Fehér died on the pitch, shortly after entering Benfica's match at Vitória de Guimarães.

Real Madrid and Benfica return

For the 2004–05 season, Camacho returned to Real Madrid on a two-year contract as a replacement to sacked Carlos Queiroz. However, things quickly went wrong again in his second spell after a 3–0 defeat at

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

in the group stage of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

, and a 1–0 league loss at Espanyol four days later also in September; shortly after, he resigned and was replaced by assistant Mariano García Remón. Following Fernando Santos' mutual agreement termination of contract with Benfica, after a 1–1 away draw with

Leixões The Port of Leixões (, ) is one of Portugal's major seaports, located 4 km north of the mouth of the Douro River, in Matosinhos municipality, near the city of Porto. Leixões Sport Club, commonly known simply as ''Leixões'', is Matosinh ...

in 2007–08 Portuguese League's opener, Camacho returned to Benfica. However, following a poor string of results, and claiming he was no longer able to motivate the team, he announced he would leave the club minutes after drawing a home match against bottom-placed União de Leiria on 9 March 2008.

Osasuna

After working as co-commentator on Spanish TV network

Cuatro Cuatro, Spanish (and other Romance languages) for the 4, number 4, may refer to: * Cuatro (instrument), a family of Latin American string instruments, including: ** Cuatro (Venezuela) ** Puerto Rican cuatro * Cuatro (TV channel), a Spanish free-to ...

during Spain's victorious Euro 2008 campaign (he would also work for the channel during the 2010 World Cup, which ended with the national team's triumph as well), Camacho replaced

José Ángel Ziganda José Ángel "Cuco" Ziganda Lakunza (born 1 October 1966) is a Spanish Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player who played as a centre-forward. He played 381 La Liga matches over the course of 12 ...

at the helm of

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish ...

on 13 October 2008. On 14 February 2011, following a 1–0 away loss against

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

that placed the Navarrese inside the relegation zone, Camacho was fired. They eventually finished in ninth position.

China national team

On 13 August 2011, Camacho took over the reins of the Chinese national team, signing a three-year deal for a reported annual salary of

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

8 million. The

Chinese Football Association The Chinese Football Association (), abbreviated as CFA (), is the governing body for association football, beach soccer and futsal in the People's Republic of China (Mainland China). The CFA organizes the men's and women's national teams an ...

head Wei Di explained the decision as being part of a long-term plan to help the country catch up with

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and South Korea, while Chinese Soccer Administrative Centre vice-president Yu Hongchen said that Camacho would keep his job even if he did not qualify for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

.Jose Antonio Camacho's appointment is part of a long-term revival plan: China Football Association head Wei Di

Goal A goal or objective is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan, and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to ...

, 15 August 2011 China failed to qualify for the World Cup, after only finishing third in the third qualifying round with three wins and three losses. Camacho was also in charge as a Chinese young squad lost 8–0 to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

on 10 September 2012 in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

, the national team's worst-ever defeat which also meant the drop to an all-time low 109th position in the

FIFA World Rankings The FIFA Men's World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football, first introduced in December 1992. The men's teams of the member nations of FIFA, football's world governing body, are ranked based on their gam ...

. In the first game of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification campaign, Camacho and China lost 1–2 against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. Following a 5–1 shock friendly loss to

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

on 15 June 2013, he was relieved of his duties. One reason cited for Camacho's shortcomings in Asia was the limitation of football boots. The Chinese FA ordered that all the national team players were to wear

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

, whilst most players in the

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

wore Nike, thus creating discomfort.

Gabon national team

Camacho was appointed as

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

manager 43 days before the start of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations which was to take place in that country, replacing Jorge Costa. The team exited in the group stage, with three draws. Camacho was relieved of his duties on 12 September 2018, due to poor results.

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial

Honours

Player

Real Madrid *

: 1974–75, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89 *

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

: 1973–74, 1974–75, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1988–89 *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

: 1988, 1989 *

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 ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

: 1984–85, 1985–86 Spain *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

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 Southeas ...

Manager

Benfica *

: 2003–04

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Camacho, Jose Antonio 1955 births Living people People from Cieza, Murcia Footballers from the Region of Murcia Spanish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Albacete Balompié players Real Madrid Castilla footballers Real Madrid CF players La Liga players Tercera División players UEFA Europa League–winning players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's amateur international footballers Spain men's international footballers 1982 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1984 players 1986 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1988 players Spanish football managers Rayo Vallecano managers RCD Espanyol managers Sevilla FC managers Real Madrid CF managers CA Osasuna managers S.L. Benfica managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Primeira Liga managers Spain national football team managers China national football team managers Gabon national football team managers UEFA Euro 2000 managers 2002 FIFA World Cup managers 2017 Africa Cup of Nations managers Spanish expatriate football managers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Spanish expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate football managers in Portugal Expatriate football managers in China Expatriate football managers in Gabon Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Gabon 20th-century Spanish sportsmen