Víctor Manuel Vucetich Rojas (born 25 June 1955) is a Mexican professional

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former player. With a career spanning more than thirty years, Vucetich is one of the most decorated managers in the history of Mexican football. He has coached thirteen teams in the

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 ...

, winning five league championships with four clubs. He has also won four

Copa México Copa MX, also known as Copa Corona MX for sponsorship reasons, was an association football competition in Mexico and the domestic cup tournament for clubs at the highest and second levels of Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Copa ...

championships, an

InterLiga InterLiga was an association football competition and the qualification method between eight Mexican clubs to determine two clubs qualified for the Copa Libertadores, it was held from 2004 to 2010. History From 1998 to 2003, the Mexican clubs c ...

championship and two second division titles, as well as three

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

cups. Because of his many achievements with multiple clubs, he is popularly nicknamed by the Mexican press, players and fans as ''El Rey Midas'' (

King Midas Midas (; ) was a king of Phrygia with whom many myths became associated, as well as two later members of the Phrygian royal house. His father was Gordias, and his mother was Cybele. The most famous King Midas is popularly remembered in Greek m ...

) because "everything he touches turns to gold".

Managerial career

Mexico

In October 2010, Víctor Manuel Vucetich was identified as the most advanced of the candidates to fill the vacant post of the Selección de fútbol de México (Mexico national team), even receiving an official contact after several weeks of "scratching in the realm of speculation", as he called it. He ultimately ruled out the possibility of taking over the national team, citing commitments with then-employer

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

as well as personal reasons. On October 16, Vucetich explained at a press conference his role as a father, thus declining the opportunity to coach the national team, stating: ''"Yesterday evening is ultimately where I determined to step aside to avoid a larger problem for the federation, so that someone can give their full time to the national team. The reasons for which I have made this decision are personal and family related more than anything."'' On September 12, 2013, a few days after leaving Monterrey, Vucetich was officially named coach of the Mexico national team. He won his first match in charge, a vital 2–1 win over visiting Panama national team, which was Mexico's first victory at the Azteca in the final round of qualifications. On October 17, two days after Mexico lost their match against

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 ...

, Vucetich was sacked, being replaced by

Miguel Herrera Miguel Ernesto Herrera Aguirre (born 18 March 1968), popularly referred to by his nickname "Piojo" (Spanish for "louse"), is a Mexican professional football manager and former player. He is the current manager of the Costa Rica national te ...

. This occurred after the polemics that arose after the team's abysmal performance in their World Cup qualifying campaign, managing to reach the play-off against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

due to 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 ...

's 3–2 victory over Panama.

Querétaro

On 23 February 2015 Vucetich was officially appointed as

Querétaro F.C. Querétaro Fútbol Club, also known as Gallos Blancos de Querétaro, is a Mexican professional association football, football club based in Querétaro (city), Querétaro. It plays in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football league system, M ...

head coach. In his first season, he led Querétaro to their inaugural 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 ...

. Querétaro lost in the first leg, rebounded in the second leg (5–0) then fell short by two goals. His tenure with the club ended in 2017.

Guadalajara

On 13 August, he was named as

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 ...

's new manager. Two days later, he would win his debut match with the team against

Atlético San Luis Club Atlético de San Luis is a Mexican professional football club based in San Luis Potosí. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Founded in 2013, replacing the defunct club of the city ( San Luis FC) after its re ...

in a 2–1 home victory.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Manager

Potros Neza *

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 ...

: 1988–89 León * Primera División: 1991–92 *

: 1989–90 Tecos * Primera División: 1993–94 Tigres UANL *

: 1995–96 Cruz Azul *

: 1996–97 Pachuca * Primera División: Apertura 2003 Monterrey * Primera División: Apertura 2009, Apertura 2010 *

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 2011–12, 2012–13 *

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

: ''Third place''

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Querétaro *

Copa MX Copa MX, also known as Copa Corona MX for sponsorship reasons, was an association football competition in Mexico and the domestic cup tournament for clubs at the highest and second levels of Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Copa ...

: Apertura 2016 Individual *

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 ...

Manager of the tournament: 1991–92, 1993–94, 2009 Apertura, 2010 Apertura

References

External links

*
Víctor Manuel Vucetich
at official

Profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Vucetich, Victor Manuel 1955 births Living people Liga MX players Mexican football managers Mexican people of Croatian descent Mexican people of Serbian descent C.F. Oaxtepec footballers C.F. Monterrey managers Club Puebla managers Club León managers Cruz Azul managers C.D. Veracruz managers Tecos F.C. managers Jaguares F.C. managers Mexico national football team managers Querétaro F.C. managers Mazatlán F.C. managers Liga MX managers Mexican men's footballers Footballers from Tampico, Tamaulipas Men's association football midfielders 20th-century Mexican sportsmen