Juan Ramón López Caro
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Juan Ramón López Caro (; born 23 March 1963) is a Spanish
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 ...
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 managed
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 ...
and Levante in
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 ...
, as well as Celta and Real Madrid Castilla in the
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 ...
. After a spell in charge of Spain under-21 he moved abroad, managing the national sides of
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 ...
and
Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...
and winning promotion from China League One with two clubs.


Football career


Early career and Real Madrid

Born in Lebrija,
Province of Seville The Province of Seville () is a province of southern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It borders the provinces of Málaga and Cádiz in the south, Huelva in the west, Badajoz in the north and Córdoba in the ...
,
Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...
, López Caro began working as coach before his 30th birthday, with clubs in his city of birth. His first job at the professional level arrived in the 1998–99 season, as he led
Melilla Melilla (, ; ) is an autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was part of the Province of Málaga un ...
to the first position in the
Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...
, albeit without promotion in the playoffs. He then became manager of Mallorca B, and officially coached the first team in the
UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...
against Romania's Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț in July 2000 ( 4–3 aggregate loss); the reserves contested this fixture as Luis Aragonés' side had not yet commenced pre-season. Lopéz Caro signed with
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 ...
in the summer of 2001, being in charge of the
reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...
and achieving promotion to
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
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 ...
. He was promoted to the main squad in December of that year following the sacking of Vanderlei Luxemburgo, and his first game was a 2–1 away loss against
Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...
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 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 ...
.


Levante, Celta and Spain U21

After leaving the
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (, ) is a retractable roof association football, football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a seating capacity of around 83,000 following its extensive renovation completed in late 2024, the stadium has the second-largest ...
in June 2006, López Caro was appointed at fellow top-flight club Racing de Santander for a salary of €650,000 that would rise to €900,000 should the team avoid relegation. However, a month later and without leading the
Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...
ns in a competitive match, he moved to Levante. The following January, days after a 3–0 defeat at city rivals
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 ...
, he was dismissed and Abel Resino appointed in his place. López Caro returned to the second tier in October 2007, succeeding
Hristo Stoichkov Hristo Stoichkov Stoichkov (; born 8 February 1966) is a Bulgarian former professional Association football, footballer and current football commentator for TUDN. A prolific Forward (association football), forward, he is widely regarded as the g ...
at 11th-placed
Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...
. The following March he too was relieved of his duties, with the side now in eighth but nine points off the promotion places. In May 2008, López Caro had his first international job, being placed in charge of the Spain's under-21s succeeding Iñaki Sáez. He qualified them for the 2009 UEFA European Championship in Sweden, where they were edged in the group stage by
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
and
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
.


Vaslui and Middle East

In June 2010, López Caro moved abroad for the first time to
Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...
's Vaslui, on a three-year deal for a total €3.5 million salary subject to bonuses, therefore becoming the best paid coach in the competition's history. He was fired in October, after enduring a rocky spell in Romania. López Caro succeeded Frank Rijkaard as manager of the Saudi Arabia national team in January 2013. After a disappointing showing in the
Arabian Gulf Cup The Arabian Gulf Cup (, ''Kaʾs al-Khalīj al-ʿArabī''), also referred to simply as the Gulf Cup, is a biennial association football competition governed by the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation for its eight member nations. The history of ...
in the run-up to the
2015 AFC Asian Cup The 2015 AFC Asian Cup was the 16th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in Australia from 9 to 31 January 201 ...
, he was dismissed in December 2014. He remained in the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
and was hired for the same job by
Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...
in January 2016, and left by mutual accord at the end of his one-year contract.


China

Remaining in Asia, López Caro was hired by Dalian Yifang of China League One in November 2016. In his only season, he won promotion to 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 ...
, with a record points tally and a game to spare. In April 2018, López Caro was appointed at
Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...
again in the second division and won promotion, this time as runners-up. He was fired at the end of July 2019 with the side second from bottom in a 12-game winless run, and succeeded by Roberto Donadoni.


Managerial statistics


Honours

Melilla *
Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...
: 1998–99 Real Madrid B *Segunda División B: 2004–05 Dalian Yifang * China League One:
2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
Saudi Arabia *
Arabian Gulf Cup The Arabian Gulf Cup (, ''Kaʾs al-Khalīj al-ʿArabī''), also referred to simply as the Gulf Cup, is a biennial association football competition governed by the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation for its eight member nations. The history of ...
runner-up:
2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
Individual *China League One Best Coach: 2017


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez Caro, Juan Ramon 1963 births Living people People from Lebrija Sportspeople from the Province of Seville Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Tercera División managers UD Melilla managers RCD Mallorca B managers RCD Mallorca managers Real Madrid Castilla managers Real Madrid CF managers Racing de Santander managers Levante UD managers RC Celta de Vigo managers Liga I managers FC Vaslui managers Chinese Super League managers China League One managers Dalian Professional F.C. managers Shenzhen F.C. managers Spain national under-21 football team managers Saudi Arabia national football team managers Oman national football team managers Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Romania Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate football managers in Oman Expatriate football managers in China Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Romania Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Oman Spanish expatriate sportspeople in China