José María Bakero Escudero (born 11 February 1963) is a Spanish 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 ...

, currently 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 ...

. Having played mainly for

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, ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, he began his career as a forward (not being a prolific scorer) but was converted into 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. ...

, possessing passing and scoring ability (with both his right foot and his head, the second despite his short stature) and great leadership skills. In a 17-year professional career, he amassed

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 ...

totals of 483 games and 139 goals, winning a total of 17 titles. A Spain international for seven years, he represented the nation in two

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

and Euro 1988. Bakero began working as a manager in 1999.

Club career

Born in

Goizueta, Navarre Goizueta is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain. History The Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre The Spanish conquest of the Iberian part of Navarre was initiated by Ferdinand II ...

, Bakero made his senior debut with

on 6 September 1980 when only 17, coming from the bench in a 3–2 away loss against

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

, and finished his debut season with 27 scoreless appearances. Featuring only in two games in 1981–82 due to a serious injury, he was however part of the

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

sides that won back-to-back

titles, his teammates including

Luis Arconada Luis Miguel Arconada Etxarri (born 26 June 1954) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played only for Real Sociedad for nearly 20 years, and helped the club to four titles including two La Liga championship ...

Jesús María Satrústegui Jesús María Satrústegui Azpiroz (born 12 February 1954) is a Spanish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. Club career Satrústegui was born in Pamplona, Navarre ...

and Jesús María Zamora. Bakero then signed for

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

, where he was joined by several other Real and Basque players:

Txiki Begiristain Aitor "Txiki" Begiristain Mujika (born 12 August 1964) is a Spanish former professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), left winger or forward (association football), forward. He was best known f ...

, Luis López Rekarte, with Julio Salinas coming from

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

but having also played with

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

, as another Real player, Jon Andoni Goikoetxea, joined two years later – they would form the backbone of the legendary ''Dream Team''. He (who scored 47 league goals in his first four years) played 347 competitive matches for the

Catalans Catalans ( Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; ; ; or ) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citizens of Catalonia, a nationality and autono ...

during his spell, being instrumental in their league conquests from 1990 to 1994 and also appearing in the historic

1992 European Cup final The 1992 European Cup final was a football match held on 20 May 1992 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Sampdoria of Italy and Barcelona of Spain. Barcelona won the game 1–0 after extra time, thanks to a Ronald Koeman free kick, to record t ...

; in the latter tournament, as his team was trailing 3–0 at

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern (), K'lautern or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to Association football, football ...

in the second round after a 2–0 home win, his 90th-minute header secured qualification. Having appeared scarcely during 1996–97, his last game coming on 18 November 1996 in a 6–1 home thrashing of

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

in which he scored, Bakero retired later that campaign after a small abroad stint with

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

's C.D. Veracruz. He also had unsuccessful trials with

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

and

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

International career

Bakero earned 30

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 ...

for

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 ...

, netting on seven occasions. His debut came on 14 October 1987 during an

UEFA Euro 1988 The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. France national football team, Fr ...

qualifier against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, replacing future Barcelona teammate Francisco Carrasco in a 2–0 home win. Bakero would subsequently represent the nation at Euro 1988, as well as in two

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 ...

editions,

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

and

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

Coaching career

Bakero moved into management after retiring in 1997, first as an assistant under both Lorenzo Serra Ferrer and

Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former association football, football player and former manager who currently serves as an advisor for AFC Ajax, Ajax. At club level, he served as manager of AFC Ajax, Aj ...

. He also worked as a sports adviser with the ''

Generalitat de Catalunya The Generalitat de Catalunya (; ; ), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia is self-governed as an autonomous community of Spain. It is made up of the Parliament of Catalonia, the President of the Govern ...

'' and, in 2004–05, had his second head coaching experience, joining

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

B side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

in January 2005 and helping them narrowly escape relegation from

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

. In August 2005, Bakero was appointed

director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many typ ...

at Real Sociedad, and would be promoted to coach towards the end of 2005–06. Seven games into the following season, he was sacked. In October 2007, Bakero joined

Ronald Koeman Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the manager of the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands national team. Koeman scor ...

's (another Barcelona teammate) coaching staff at Valencia, being dismissed in late April 2008. On 10 November 2009, more than a year after his last job, he signed with

Polonia Warsaw Polonia Warsaw (, ), founded on 19 November 1911, is the oldest existing sports club in Warsaw, the capital of Poland, best known for its Association football, football and basketball teams. It also has track and field, Swimming (sport), swimm ...

, again as head coach. While the team was last in the league at that point, not only did he manage to prevent relegation but also led them to a win against city neighbours

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...

, the first in ten years. He was relieved of his duties on 13 September 2010, after suffering the first loss of the campaign. Bakero signed with another club in the

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

on 3 November 2010, now

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation's highest division. ...

. In his official debut, he led the side to a 3–1 victory over

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. On 25 February 2012, following a 3–0 away loss to

Ruch Chorzów Ruch Chorzów () is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Chorzów, Upper Silesia. It is one of the most successful football teams in Poland, having won fourteen List of Polish football champions, Polish Championship ...

, Bakero was fired. In 2013, he moved to South America to coach

Juan Aurich Club Juan Aurich S. A., commonly known as Juan Aurich, is a Peru, Peruvian association football, football club based in Chiclayo. The original Juan Aurich club was founded in 1922, this incarnation however was founded in 2005. The club currently ...

from Peru, being dismissed in September of that year due to poor results. In 2015, Venezuelan club

Deportivo La Guaira Deportivo La Guaira (formerly known as Real Esppor) is a professional football club promoted to the Venezuelan league in 2009, based in La Guaira but playing its home games in Caracas at the Estadio Olímpico de la UCV. History Real Esppor The ...

hired Bakero as interim technical director, to help the new coaching staff by running training sessions. He returned to Barcelona on 10 July 2017, as head of the youth academy alongside former teammate

Guillermo Amor Guillermo Amor Martínez (; born 4 December 1967) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a versatile midfielder. After spending most of his career with Barcelona, winning several accolades in a ten-year tenure, he ended it in ...

. On 19 June 2023, Bakero became manager of

PFC Slavia Sofia PFC Slavia Sofia 1913 () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently competes in the top tier of the Bulgarian football league system, the First Professional Football League, First League. Slavia's home g ...

in the

First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) The First Professional Football League (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...

. In September, having collected six losses and one draw in seven matches, he was fired.

Personal life

Bakero was the third of 11 children. His brothers

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

and Jon were also footballers, and both forwards. After he joined Polonia as a coach he was accompanied, at his request, by Jon as an assistant. Bakero's sister, Itziar, was also a footballer, who played at international level. His son, Jon, played

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

in the United States for

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

, winning the

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and th ...

in 2017.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bakero goal''.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Real Sociedad *

: 1980–81, 1981–82 *

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 ...

: 1986–87 *

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 ...

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. ...

Barcelona *La Liga: 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94 *Copa del Rey: 1989–90 *Supercopa de España:

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

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 ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

: 1991–92 *

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

: 1988–89, 1996–97 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bakero, Jose Mari 1963 births Living people People from Norte de Aralar 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Navarre Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Real Sociedad footballers FC Barcelona players Liga MX players C.D. Veracruz footballers UEFA Champions League–winning players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's under-23 international footballers Spain men's international footballers UEFA Euro 1988 players 1990 FIFA World Cup players 1994 FIFA World Cup players Basque Country men's international footballers Spanish beach soccer players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Atlético Malagueño managers Real Sociedad managers Liga MX managers Club Puebla managers Ekstraklasa managers Polonia Warsaw managers Lech Poznań managers Peruvian Primera División managers Juan Aurich managers First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) managers PFC Slavia Sofia managers Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Mexico Expatriate football managers in Poland Expatriate football managers in Peru Expatriate football managers in Bulgaria Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Poland Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Peru Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Real Sociedad non-playing staff Valencia CF non-playing staff FC Barcelona non-playing staff