José Miguel González Martín del Campo, known as Míchel (; born 23 March 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 ...

who played as a right midfielder, currently

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 ...

Saudi Pro League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

club Al-Qadsiah. He was most noted for his stellar crossing ability, also contributing with a fair share of goals. During his career he represented mainly

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 ...

– over a decade – achieving team and individual success. Míchel earned 66

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 ...

from 1985 to 1992, and appeared for the nation in two World Cups (scoring four goals in the 1990 edition) and Euro 1988. He started working as a manager in 2005, notably leading

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, ...

to two

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

accolades.

Playing career

Club

The son of a footballer who had to retire from the game at 27 after a

road accident A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. Tr ...

, Míchel was born in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

and joined

at the age of 13, his technique and physicality on the pitch quickly standing out. He moved quickly through the ranks to the first team, appearing – and scoring – once in the 1981–82 season, through a penalty in a 2–1 away win over

CD Castellón Club Deportivo Castellón, S.A.D. is a professional List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Castellón de la Plana, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 20 July 1922, it currently plays in , holding home games at ''Nou E ...

on 11 April 1982. A member of the renowned '' La Quinta del Buitre'', which also featured Emilio Butragueño, Miguel Pardeza, Rafael Martín Vázquez and Manolo Sanchís, Míchel never played less than 31

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 ...

matches from 1985 to 1994. After helping Castilla CF to 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 ...

title in

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 ...

, he was instrumental in the capital club's conquests, which included six leagues and two consecutive UEFA Cups; he opened the score in the 1985 final of the latter competition, against

Videoton FC Videoton may refer to: *Videoton (company) Videoton, officially VIDEOTON HOLDING Ltd., is a privately owned company group based out of Székesfehérvár, Hungary, and specializing in contract manufacturing, mainly electronics manufacturing servic ...

. In 1989, Míchel announced he would leave Real Madrid after having signed with an Italian side, but this never came to pass and he ended up staying until 1996. In his penultimate season, he suffered a severe

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

injury which rendered him unavailable for several months, but still bounced back for a

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

solid year, after which he left for Atlético Celaya in

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 ...

– where Butragueño was also playing – shortly after the arrival at Madrid of president

Lorenzo Sanz Lorenzo Sanz Mancebo (9 August 1943 – 21 March 2020) was a Spanish Businessperson, businessman who was the 14th List of Real Madrid CF presidents, President of Real Madrid and a former owner of Málaga CF, Málaga. Early life He was born in ...

. He retired from football in 1997. Míchel's career was not without incident: in 1988, he was hit by a bottle while on the pitch and, three years later, he was sanctioned by

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

for using an unorthodox method of disrupting the concentration of Carlos Valderrama, in a game against

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 ...

. The presiding judge in the case noted that "manipulating in public that of your neighbour which is a gift given exclusively to males by nature" violated a federation rule protecting a player's dignity.

International

Míchel made his debut for the Spain national team on 20 November 1985 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 ...

, going on to appear in a further 65 internationals and score 21 goals (only missed a callup due to injury). He played in the 1986 and the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

s, netting a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

against

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 ...

in Spain's second fixture during the latter tournament (3–1, famously shouting "I've earned this" after his last goal) and also a penalty against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

in the country's final group match. Shortly after

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 ...

's arrival as national boss, Míchel was deemed surplus to requirements and never called again, although only 29. All national categories comprised, he received exactly 100 caps.

Coaching career

In the summer of 2005, after working as a

sports commentator In Broadcasting of sports events, sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real time (media), real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present t ...

with

RTVE The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española (''Spanish Radio and Television'', RTVE), is the Spanish national public Broadcasting, television and radio broadcaster. It is a state-owned enterprise f ...

after his retirement (still active, he had already worked in the capacity at the 1994 World Cup) and also writing articles for Madrid's '' Marca'', Míchel was appointed manager of Rayo Vallecano. The following year he returned to his ''

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

'' as director of Real Madrid's sports city, the entire youth system, and manager duties at Real Madrid Castilla, where he coached one of his sons, Adrián; under his management the side dropped down a level into

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 ...

and he was sacked, also leaving his post in the youth sides due to disagreements with president Ramón Calderón. On 27 April 2009, Míchel was appointed as coach of top-flight strugglers

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. They compete in La Liga, the top tier of the Football in Spain, Spanish football. The team has pla ...

until the end of the season. He replaced former

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 ...

midfielder Víctor Muñoz, and also managed Adrián, helping the club avoid relegation in the last matchday and renewing his contract for two more years the following week. He was relieved of his duties at the end of 2010–11, with the team again managing to stay afloat after finishing 16th, just one point clear of the relegation zone. Míchel joined

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

on 6 February 2012, replacing fired Marcelino García Toral and signing until the end of the season. On 14 January of the following year, after a 2–0 away loss to

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 ...

that left 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 ...

ns in 12th place, he was relieved of his duties. Míchel moved to

Olympiacos F.C. Olympiacos Football Club ( ), known simply as Olympiacos or Olympiacos Piraeus, is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Piraeus. Part of the major Sports club, multi-sport club Olympiacos CFP (''Olympiakós Sýnde ...

in the

on 1 February 2013, penning a contract until June 2015. In his first 18 months in charge, he won two national championships and the

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

. He was fired on 6 January 2015, whilst the side was still competing in the Europa League and only a point behind

PAOK FC PAOK FC (, ), short for "Pan-Thessalonian Sports club, Athletic Club of Constantinople, Constantinopolitans" (), and commonly known as PAOK Thessaloniki, PAOK Salonika or simply PAOK, is a Greek professional Association football, football cl ...

in the domestic campaign. On 19 August 2015, Míchel succeeded

Marcelo Bielsa Marcelo Alberto Bielsa Caldera (, nicknamed ''El Loco Bielsa'' , meaning 'The Madman Bielsa'; born 21 July 1955) is an Argentine professional Association football, football manager who is the current manager of the Uruguay national football team ...

at the helm of

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...

. He was sacked the following 19 April due to concerns over his behaviour, with the team ranking 15th in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

. Míchel became

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 ...

's third manager of the season on 7 March 2017, following Juande Ramos and Marcelo Romero. He signed until 30 June 2018 but, on 13 January of that year, with his team in last position, he was relieved of his duties. On 20 May 2019, Míchel was appointed at

Club Universidad Nacional Club Universidad Nacional, A.C., simply known as Pumas UNAM, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City. The club competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football league system, Mexican football. Founded ...

of the Mexican

Liga MX 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 Divis ...

. He resigned from office on 23 July 2020, due to personal and family issues. Míchel returned to Getafe on 27 May 2021, replacing

-bound José Bordalás. Having gained just one point from eight games of the season, he was dismissed on 4 October. On 21 September 2022, Míchel returned to Olympiacos after seven years away, replacing compatriot Carlos Corberán. He resigned on 3 April 2023 following a 2–2 draw with Aris Thessaloniki F.C. despite being 2–0 up 20 minutes from time; he had allegedly lost the confidence of the board of directors and supporters due to his difficulties in handling the pressure of mounting a title challenge. On 27 October 2023, Míchel signed with

Saudi First Division League The Saudi First Division League (), currently known as the Yelo League for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of professional football in Saudi Arabia. It ranks below the Saudi Pro League and above the Saudi Second Division League in the ...

club Al Qadsiah FC. He promoted to the Pro League at the end of his first season and, in 2024–25, finished fourth while also reaching the final of the King's Cup.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Real Madrid *

: 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1994–95 *

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 ...

: 1988–89, 1992–93 *

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 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

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 ...

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

* Copa de la Liga:

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 * Copa Iberoamericana: 1994

Manager

Olympiacos *

: 2012–13, 2013–14 *

Greek Football Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

: 2012–13 Al-Qadsiah *

: 2023–24

Individual

* La Liga Spanish Player of the Year: 1986 * European Cup top scorer: 1987–88 * FIFA World Cup Bronze Boot:

Ballon d'Or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual association football, football award presented by French magazine ''France Football'' since 1956 Ballon d'Or, 1956 to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season. Conceived ...

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

(4th place) * World XI: 1990

References

External links

* * * *
Stats at Medio Tiempo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Michel 1963 births Living people 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Madrid Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Segunda División players Real Madrid Castilla footballers Real Madrid CF players Liga MX players Atlético Celaya footballers UEFA Europa League–winning players UEFA Champions League top scorers Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's amateur international footballers Spain men's international footballers 1986 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1988 players 1990 FIFA World Cup players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Spanish beach soccer players Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Rayo Vallecano managers Real Madrid Castilla managers Getafe CF managers Sevilla FC managers Málaga CF managers Super League Greece managers Olympiacos F.C. managers Ligue 1 managers Olympique de Marseille managers Liga MX managers Club Universidad Nacional managers Saudi Pro League managers Saudi First Division League managers Al Qadsiah FC managers Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Greece Expatriate football managers in France Expatriate football managers in Mexico Expatriate football managers in Saudi Arabia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in France Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Real Madrid CF non-playing staff Spanish television presenters Spanish association football commentators

Playing career

Club

International

Coaching career

Career statistics

Club

International goals

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Manager

Individual

See also

References

External links