José Manuel de la Torre Menchaca (born 13 November 1965), popularly nicknamed ''Chepo'', is a Mexican 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 lea ...

and a

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 ...

. As a player, de la Torre played as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Playing career

"Chepo" came up through the Chivas youth academies, and was an important player for all the teams he played for. He had a short stint in Europe with Spanish club

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo ( Asturian: Real Uviéu) is a Spanish professional football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926, the club plays in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system. The club plays at ...

, where he played 32 games and scored 8 goals. He became champion with Chivas in the 1986 season defeating

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V., commonly referred to as Cruz Azul, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football league system, Mexican footba ...

in the

Estadio Jalisco Jalisco Stadium is a football stadium located in Guadalajara, Mexico. It is the third-largest Mexican football stadium behind Estadio Azteca and Estadio Olímpico Universitario with a capacity of 56,713 spectators. History Estadio Jalisco w ...

. He also played at

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

, Cruz Azul,

Tigres UANL Club Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, abbreviated as Tigres UANL and simply known as Tigres or internationally as Tigres de México, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in the Monterrey metropo ...

during the 1995–96 season, and

Necaxa Impulsora del Deportivo Necaxa S.A. de C.V. (); often simply known as Club Necaxa, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Aguascalientes (city), Aguascalientes. It competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican ...

. De la Torre was also called up for the Mexico national team on various occasions, but unfortunately he was never called for a

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 ...

Career statistics

International goals

Managerial career

Guadalajara

On December 10, 2006,

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

won their eleventh league championship, making de la Torre the youngest coach to win a championship in the last decade at age 40 years & 27 days, and making Guadalajara the club with the most titles in the

Primera División de México Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divi ...

(their record would later be surpassed by América in 2014) (then again in 2018).

Toluca

In mid 2008, de la Torre became the coach of

Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the States of Mexico, state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. Toluca has a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the Grea ...

. In the beginning of the season Toluca had a relatively weak start, but improved as the season progressed, finishing with a five-game non-losing streak and taking 13 out of 15 points. They then went on to win the tournament. He won his second championship with Toluca in 2010, defeating Santos in a penalty shoot-out where Toluca came back from a 1–3 deficite to win the penalty shoot out 4–3.

Mexico national team

On October 18, 2010, it was announced that de la Torre would become the new manager of Mexico national team at the end of the 2010 Torneo Apertura. He made his debut as Mexico's manager on February 9, 2011, in a friendly match against

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, which Mexico won 2–0. De la Torre's first tournament as Mexico's manager was the

2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 11th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the 21st CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's 50 years of existence. The United States was the host nation. The competition started on Jun ...

. His first game of the tournament was on June 8, 2011, against

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

which Mexico won 5–0. The Mexican team won all three of their group stage matches. De la Torre's Mexico team would go undefeated throughout the tournament, winning all six of their games and eventually defeated the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

4–2 in the final. De la Torre's first defeat as Mexico's manager came on October 11, 2011, in a friendly against

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 ...

, who came back and won 1–2. On June 16, 2013, Mexico faced

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and lost 1–2 in their first match of the 2013 Confederations Cup. The only goal scored by Mexico in the game was scored by

Javier Hernández Javier Hernández Balcázar (; born 1 June 1988), commonly known by the nickname Chicharito (, Mexican Spanish: ''little pea''), is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a striker for Liga MX club Guadalajara. He is known for his c ...

via a penalty kick. The Mexican team's performance was criticized, with the team lacking creativity, offensive spark, and a poor display in the midfield during most of the match, frequently giving away the ball to Italian opposition. This resulted in many people to question De la Torre's future as the manager of the team. On June 19, 2013, after a 2–0 loss to

and Italy defeating

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 ...

4–3, Mexico was knocked out in the group stage of the Confederations Cup, the team did manage to defeat

in their last match of the tournament. In their first group match of the

2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 12th CONCACAF Gold Cup competition and the 22nd CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's fifty years of existence. The United States was the host nation. The competition began on July 7, 2013, at the ...

, Mexico lost 1–2 to

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

. Mexico eventually won the last two group games against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

and ended second in Group A. After defeating

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

in the quarter-finals they were eliminated by Panama in the semi-finals, missing the final for the first time since

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. In the qualifiers for the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

the national team fared poorly, only managing to win one out of seven games and scoring a total of only 4 goals during those games. Mexico's were not able to defeat such as

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

, and

at home. Observers marveled at Mexico's "unprecedented collapse" under de la Torre, considering the fact that Mexico had won the gold medal in the most recent Olympic Games and had talented players in

Giovani Dos Santos Giovani dos Santos Ramírez ( ; born 11 May 1989) is a Mexican former professional Association football, footballer. A versatile Forward (association football), forward, dos Santos played as an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfi ...

and

. On September 6, Mexico lost to Honduras at the

Estadio Azteca Estadio Azteca () (officially known as Estadio Banorte for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium located in Coyoacán, Mexico City. It is the official home of football team Club América, as well as the Mexico national team. The stadium ...

. The defeat was Mexico's second loss at home in 77 qualifying matches. After the loss to Honduras, de la Torre stated that his development "project" of the national team was going "very well." The Mexican press branded the national team as the "ratones verdes", or "green mice", and noted that Mexico was in danger of not qualifying to the World Cup for the first time in over two decades. On September 7, 2013, Jose Manuel de la Torre was fired as coach of the national team by Femexfut president Justino Compean, ending his two-year tenure at the helm.

Return to Guadalajara

On October 8, 2014, Jose Manuel de la Torre was hired as coach for 2nd time to Guadalajara. The club started the 2015 season with a 2–1 loss against Chiapas, and this result caused them to become tied in the last position of the Liga MX relegation table with Puebla. The very next week the club showed better character after a 2–1 win at home against Pumas UNAM in front of a very supportful, sold-out crowd of fans. By game 12 of the 2015 Clausura season, Guadalajara managed to earn 21 points after winning crucial matches against teams such as Monterrey and relegation rivals Puebla. José Manuel de la Torre's strategic 4-2-3-1 formation proved effect during matches despite the fans' constant requests to use two strikers in the starting line-up. In game 13 of the season, Guadalajara defeated Club León in the Estadio Omnilife's 100th official match and went up to 1st place with 24 points. José Manuel de la Torre's effectiveness rose to 62.1%, the highest rate in the Clausura 2015 season. The club finished the 2015 Clausura in fifth place with a total of 26 points, along with the third best defense of the season, thus, qualifying to the playoffs for the first time since 2012. Guadalajara was able to make it to the quarterfinals, they faced rivals

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...

. The first match ended in a 0–0 draw. Second match was a 4–1 win over Atlas, with a hat-trick from Marco Fabian advancing to the semi-final, facing

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V., simply known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club based in Torreón, Coahuila. The club competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Founded in 1983 as Club Santos I ...

. In the second match of the semi-finals, Guadalajara fell short losing to Santos Laguna in a 3–0 loss, failing to advance to the finals. After a rough start during the 2015 Apertura season, the club controversially sacked De la Torre.

Honours

Player

Guadalajara *

Mexican Primera División Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divi ...

: 1986–87 Puebla *Mexican Primera División: 1989–90 Necaxa *Mexican Primera División: Invierno 1998 Individual *

Best Rookie: 1986–87 *

Best Midfielder: 1989–90

Manager

Guadalajara *

: Apertura 2006 Toluca *

: Apertura 2008, Bicentenario 2010 Mexico *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Individual *

Best Manager: Apertura 2006, Apertura 2008, Bicentenario 2010 *Tecate Premios Deportes Best Manager: 2009

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Torre, Jose Manuel de la 1965 births Living people Footballers from Guadalajara, Jalisco Mexican men's footballers Men's association football midfielders C.D. Guadalajara footballers Real Oviedo players Club Puebla players Cruz Azul footballers Tigres UANL footballers Club Necaxa footballers Liga MX players La Liga players Mexico men's under-20 international footballers Mexico men's international footballers 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Mexican expatriate men's footballers Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Mexican football managers Club América non-playing staff C.D. Guadalajara managers Deportivo Toluca F.C. managers Mexico national football team managers Santos Laguna managers Liga MX managers 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup managers 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup managers CONCACAF Gold Cup–winning managers 20th-century Mexican sportsmen