Ricardo Antonio Lavolpe, born February 6, 1952 in Buenos Aires) is the coach of Velez Sarsfield. Lavolpe is a former Argentine World Cup winning goalkeeper and the former coach of the Mexican national team. He is known for his tactical flexibility during matches and abrasive manner, as well as chain-smoking on the touchline.

Playing career

In Argentina, Lavolpe played for Club Atlético Banfield and San Lorenzo. In Mexico he played for Atlante and Oaxtepec. He won the 1978 FIFA World Cup with Argentina, albeit as the reserve goalkeeper.

Managerial career

The Mexico years

Lavolpe has been a coach in the Mexican Primera División for several years, coaching teams such as Puebla, Atlante, Guadalajara, Queretaro FC, América, Atlas and Toluca. He has, however, had mixed results. He has a reputation for attacking football and for bringing along young players. As a coach, he led Atlante to the 1992-1993 season Primera División Championship.

World Cup 2006

His position as coach of the Mexican national team was quite good before the 2006 FIFA World Cup, as the team easily qualified for the finals and they performed well at the 2005 Confederations Cup. However, constant clashes with the press, club owners, Hugo Sánchez, and, then Cuauhtémoc Blanco took their toll on his popularity, pushing Lavolpe to threaten several times to leave the team. During the 2006 World Cup he told journalists: "Get out of my face! You know nothing. Don't break my balls, you fucking idiots." ^[1] The feud with Blanco saw the striker allege that Lavolpe "does not have the trousers" to add him to the squad. At the squads German training camp, Lavolpe reportedly spent much of his time eating doughnuts under a roped-off parasol.^[1]

During Mexico's first game in the finals against Iran, Lavolpe was seen chain-smoking in the dugout, leading to an official warning from FIFA that he was not allowed to smoke during a match. Lavolpe responded by telling FIFA's executives that he would "rather give up football than smoking," although he later consented.{fact|date=August 2007}}

After Mexico were eliminated from the round of 16 following a 2-1 loss to Argentina, Lavolpe's contract with the team was not renewed. This was despite winning plaudits in the international media for his handling of the Mexican team. Former Celtic coach, Martin O'Neill, praised his "tactical flexibility", while The Guardian named him "Coach of the Tournament".^[1]

Boca Juniors

After leaving the Mexican national team, he met with Boca Juniors officials on 24 July 2006. After several weeks of negotiation, it was agreed on 22 August that Lavolpe would take over as Boca manager on 15 September, replacing Alfio Basile who had been selected to manage the Argentine national team.

Lavolpe had a bumpy start with Boca Juniors, including a 3-1 loss against archi-rivals River Plate on October 8. On 12 October, Boca lost 3-1 to Uruguayan club Nacional on penalty kicks in the Copa Sudamericana, and so were out of the competition. Boca failed three times to claim the Apertura Championship in the final weeks of the season, and then lost a playoff against Estudiantes. In keeping with his word, Lavolpe resigned after the match. Later that year he become the new Vélez Sársfield manager.

References

Argentina squad - 1978 FIFA World Cup Champions (1st Title)
1 Alonso • 2 Ardiles • 3 Baley • 4 Bertoni • 5 Fillol • 6 Gallego • 7 L. Galván • 8 R. Galván • 9 Houseman • 10 Kempes • 11 Killer • 12 Larrosa • 13 Lavolpe • 14 Luque • 15 Olguín • 16 Ortiz • 17 Oviedo • 18 Pagnanini • 19 Passarella • 20 Tarantini • 21 Valencia • 22 Villa • Coach: Menotti

Mexico squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup
1 Sánchez • 2 Suárez • 3 Salcido • 4 Márquez • 5 Osorio • 6 Torrado • 7 Zinha • 8 Pardo • 9 Borgetti • 10 Franco • 11 Morales • 12 Corona • 13 Ochoa • 14 Pineda • 15 Castro • 16 Méndez • 17 Fonseca • 18 Guardado • 19 Bravo • 20 García • 21 Arellano • 22 Maza • 23 Pérez • Coach: Lavolpe

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