José Luis Villarreal (born 17 March 1966) is an Argentine

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

coach and former player. He is the new coach of the newborn Miami Beach Club de Fútbol, that will play in the United Premier Soccer League. He is the former head coach of

Jacksonville Armada FC Jacksonville Armada FC is an American professional soccer team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They were founded in 2013 as an expansion franchise in the North American Soccer League (NASL), the second tier of American soccer, and played unt ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

Coach Villarreal at the Armanda FC Development Camps

Villarreal was part of the

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

squad at the

1992 King Fahd Cup The 1992 King Fahd Cup (), named after Fahd of Saudi Arabia, was the first association football tournament of the competition that would later be known as the FIFA Confederations Cup. It was hosted by Saudi Arabia in October 1992, and was won by A ...

in Saudi Arabia and usually played in

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

. He has played for clubs in Argentina, Mexico, France, and Spain, spending the majority of his time with Buenos Aires club

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

and hometown

Club Atlético Belgrano Club Atlético Belgrano (; mostly known simply as Belgrano or Belgrano de Córdoba ) is an Argentine sports club from the city of Córdoba, Argentina, Córdoba, best known for its Association football, football team, which currently plays in th ...

in Córdoba. His eye for talent has led him to the scouting and recruiting of some of South America's top football talent, namely fellow Argentine

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...

Club career

Born in Córdoba, Córdoba Province, Villarreal began playing football with local side San Lorenzo de Las Flores at age 16. He signed with

where he would play two seasons before moving to

. He won the 1992 championship in his five-year stint with Boca Juniors. The following year he signed for Boca's arch-rivals River Plate, where he played from 1993 to 1995. Villarreal played one season in France at

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

before moving to Mexican side C.F. Pachuca during the 1997 season. Reoccurring injuries forced Villarreal to return to Argentina where he played for his home side

Belgrano Belgrano may refer to: People * Joaquín Belgrano (1773–1848), an Argentine patriot * José Denis Belgrano (1844–1917), Spanish painter * Joseph Belgrano (1762–1823), Argentine military officer and politician, brother of Manuel * Manuel Be ...

in 1998. He played in Argentina for the remainder of his career and after a short stint at Estudiantes he returned once more before retiring with

in 2004.

International career

Villarreal showcased some brilliant midfield work in eight different international appearances with the Argentina national team, the most successful being an International Championship at the 1992 King Fahd Cup, later to be known as the

Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six Continental football championships, continental champions ...

. Despite an absence of contributing goals during his international career, Villarreal played an instrumental part in the defeat of Saudi Arabia in the first addition of what would become the

Coaching career

In 2012, Villarreal was brought to Chilean club

Colo-Colo Colo-Colo (), officially Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo, is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano, it competes in the Chilean Primera División, from which the club has never been ...

as part of

Omar Labruna Omar Raúl Labruna (, born 3 April 1957) is an Argentine football coach and former player. Playing career "Omarcito" Labruna started his playing career at River Plate in 1976 during his father Ángel's time as manager of the club. He left Ri ...

coaching staff, serving as the deputy manager and training coach for the club. In June 2014,

, a team in the

based in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, announced it had hired Villarreal as the team's inaugural head coach. He parted ways with the club in June 2015. In October 2019 he becomes the first coach of the Miami Beach Club de Futbol, the first and only professional team of the city of

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...

Recruiting

From 2005 to 2007 Villarreal worked as President of the Academy REDH (Rumbo has Excelencia y Deportiva Humana) where he and Venezuelan academy founder Guillermo Ángel Hoyos recruited top South American talent, most notably

. The program offered a comprehensive educational academy that accompanied advanced football training programs enabled the best South American footballers the opportunity to play in the best clubs in Europe and around the world. Along with his colleagues, Villarreal has managed to place many of the most talented students in the best Spanish, French, Greek, and Italian clubs.

Personal life

Villarreal goes by the nickname "Villa" which was chanted during his days playing at La Bombonera with

. He lives with his wife Elizabeth, daughter Sofia, son Lucas and dog Milo in

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...

, Argentina.

Honours

Belgrano *Torneo Regional: 1986 Boca Juniors *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

: 1992 Apertura River Plate *

: 1993 Apertura, 1994 Apertura Argentina *

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBO ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Villarreal, Jose Luis 1966 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Argentine men's footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentina men's international footballers 1992 King Fahd Cup players Argentine Primera División players Liga MX players Ligue 1 players Club Atlético Belgrano footballers Boca Juniors footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Estudiantes de La Plata footballers All Boys footballers C.F. Pachuca players FIFA Confederations Cup–winning players Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in France Footballers from Córdoba, Argentina Jacksonville Armada FC North American Soccer League (2011–2017) coaches Jacksonville Armada FC coaches Argentine football managers 20th-century Argentine sportsmen