Hugo Sánchez

At 65 years old, Hugo Sánchez has this physical status:

Hugo Sánchez Márquez (born 11 July 1958) is a Mexican retired professional footballer and manager, who played as a forward.

A prolific goalscorer known for his spectacular strikes and volleys, Sánchez is widely regarded as the greatest Mexican footballer of all time, and one of the greatest players of his generation.

In 1999, the International Federation of Football History and Statistics voted Sánchez the 26th best footballer of the 20th century, and the best footballer from the CONCACAF region.

In 2004 Sánchez was named in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.

He is the fourth highest scorer in the history of La Liga, the third highest scoring foreign player after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, and is the seventh highest goalscorer in Real Madrid's history.

He scored over 541 senior career goals for both club and country. Sánchez began his career playing for Club Universidad Nacional in 1976, and briefly went on loan to the San Diego Sockers of the North American Soccer League in 1979.

In 1981, he moved to Spain to play for Atlético Madrid, playing for the Colchoneros for four years before moving to cross-town rivals Real Madrid, where he would spend the best years of his career, winning numerous titles and accolades. From 1977 to 1994, Sánchez was a member of the Mexico national team, gaining 58 caps and scoring 29 goals.

He participated in three FIFA World Cup tournaments and was a part of the Mexico team that reached the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup.

Famous for his acrobatic goal celebrations throughout his club and international career, Sánchez was the first notable exponent of the backflip.As a manager, he won two consecutive league championships with UNAM.

After managing Necaxa, he was announced as coach of the Mexico national football team in 2006, but was fired in March 2008 due to poor results.

In 2009, Sánchez was named manager of UD Almería, and helped to save the club from relegation.

Source

Club career

Sánchez, a teenager, competed for the Mexico national team in the 1976 Summer Olympics. Sánchez signed as a youth footballer for Pumas de la UNAM, Mexico's national university, where he earned a degree in Dentistry while playing for the first team after already participating in over 80 international matches. UNAM won its first championship in the Primera División later this year. With 26 goals, he became the league's top scorer two years ago.

UNAM decided to trade players during the off-season with the San Diego Sockers of the North American Soccer League in 1979. During the summer and in the Mexican league, he competed in the NASL during the fall, winter, and spring. Sánchez was loaned to the Sockers in 1979 and 1980, where he was a prolific striker for the Sockers, scoring over a goal per game.

Sánchez spent five seasons with UNAM, which coincided with the team's golden years. Sánchez and UNAM's second league championship, a CONCACAF Champions Cup, and a Copa Interamericana were the two teams' last season together in 1980-81. Sánchez scored 104 goals in 200 appearances during his five years with UNAM.

Sánchez attracted the attention of several European countries, including England club Arsenal, before joining Atlético Madrid in 1981. He took a long time to find his feet in La Liga, only scoring eight goals in his first season, but his teammates, who finished second in the league and won the Spanish Super Copa, won the Copa del Rey. Sánchez earned his first Pichichi trophy for being the league's most prolific scorer, scoring 26 goals this year.

Sánchez signed for Real Madrid on July 15, 1985. Sánchez was recalled back to UNAM in his home country after being signed by Real Madrid on July 4th, with the contract signing taking place in a bank in Mexico City due to Atlético Madrid's refusal to enrage their fan base with a direct contract with Real. On July 19th, he returned to Spain and spoke to 50,000 viewers at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

Emilio Butrague, Manuel Sanch, Martn Vázquez, Mchel, and Miguel Pardeza were among the famous group of players known as the La Quinta del Buitre ("Vulture's Cohort"), which included Emilio Butrague ("Vulture's Cohort"), as well as Miguel Pardeza. Sánchez, of Los Blancos, has won five straight league titles from 1985 to 1990, including a Copa del Rey title in 1989 and 1986, as well as the UEFA Cup in 1986. Sánchez won four consecutive Pichichi awards, becoming the first Spanish footballer to do so without sharing the trophy with another player in any season) and one of four players to win five Pichichis (the others being Alfredo Di Stéfano, Quini, and Messi), who has scored 208 goals in 283 games in all competitions. In four seasons (1986-90), he scored 38 goals, including 38 in the 1989-1990 season, tying the single-season record set by Telmo Zarra and receiving the European Golden Boot award for Europe's best scorer. All 38 of these goals were scored with only a single touch, which was remarkable. His 38-goal total stood as a league record until Cristiano Ronaldo surpassed it after scoring 40 goals in the 2010–11 season. Sánchez has scored 47 goals in 45 games in European Cup competitions.

Sánchez returned to Mexico for a season in 1992, winning the 1992 CONCACAF Champions' Cup with Club América before playing for a variety of clubs in Spain, Austria, and the United States. He played for Dallas Burn in the inaugural year of Major League Soccer, becoming one of two footballers and teammate Roy Wegerle to play outdoor football in both the NASL and MLS. He completed his playing for Atlético Celaya, as well as Butrague and Mchel, his old classmates from Real Madrid.

Sánchez retired from Spanish football on May 29, 1997, when he was playing for Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. His last official game came during the 1998 World Cup qualifiers, where he touched the ball as a sign of his retirement.

International career

Sánchez made 58 appearances for Mexico between 1977 and 1994, scoring 29 goals. He appeared on the senior side of Mexico during the 1975 Pan American Games on home soil, where he earned a gold medal and gold medal, and at the 1976 Summer Olympics. He appeared in three FIFA World Cup tournaments, totaling eight World Cup appearances and scoring once. In addition,, Chilean Elas Figueroa has the distinction of playing in three alternate tournaments 1978-1994-1994. He helped Mexico win the 1977 FIFA World Cup in Argentina, sealing qualification for the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina; at the age of 19, he was involved in the final tournament, where Mexico lost all three of their group games and ended in first round elimination.

Sánchez was a member of Mexico's 1982 World Cup in Spain, losing in a penalty shootout to eventual runners-up West Germany. He scored his first World Cup goal in his country's second group match against Paraguay on June 3rd, although he later missed a penalty in Mexico's second group match against Paraguay, forcing him to miss the final group match. Mexico did miss out on the final tournament four years later after being banned from the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy.

Despite his age, he later played a vital role in helping Mexico reach the final of the 1993 Copa América, scoring twice; Mexico later finished runners-up to Argentina. Sánchez later appeared in the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States, his last major tournament, where Mexico suffered a round of 16 elimination; he made his only appearance in the tournament, a 1–0 loss to Norway.

Managerial career

Sánchez, the UNAM, who were struggling in the league, became the head coach of UNAM in March 2000 after completing a two-year contract. Despite the fact that the team went on to have a fruitful campaign under his leadership, there were some inconsistencies between the club president and Sánchez, resulting in his dismissal in August of this year.

Luis Regueiro, the new president, appointed Jimenez Espriu as head coach in November 2001, a year after Jimenez Espriu resigned as the team president a year later.

After constructing his squad for many years, Sánchez' Pumas had won everything they played in: Clausura 2004 and the Santiago Bernabéu Cup. In the "short tournament" style, he was also the first boss in history to lead a Mexican team to two consecutive titles in the Mexican Primera División.

However, the success was short-lived. Pumas' winter 2005 was the worst team of the tournament, and the following season was the worst ever. In November 2005, Sánchez resigned after being disappointed.

In 2006, Club Necaxa, another Mexican team, signed him as a head coach, and he also served as the head coach of the Mexico national team that year after their participation in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

He joined Almera in early 2009, but after meeting the goal of preventing relegation from La Liga, and despite Alfonso Garca's announcing the renewal of his contract on June 20, 2009, he was fired on December 20 2009.

Sánchez, who was briefly in charge of controlling Club Necaxa, was appointed head coach of Mexico's national team, with the intention of leading Mexico through the qualification process for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Sánchez's early coaching career in particular was known for his temperament and his willingness to speak openly, often expressing strong emotions and thoughts, a characteristic that engenders equal emotional and critical responses from those he criticizes. Ricardo La Volpe, the previous Mexico coach, had a long-running rivalry.

In February 2007, Sánchez's first match as Mexico coach was a 2–0 loss to the United States in Phoenix, Arizona. Sánchez defeated Venezuela in 3–1 victory in front of 67,000 people in San Diego, his first victory over the country. Hugo's first game in Mexico was against Paraguay in Monterrey on March 25, 2007, where Mexico defeated Mexico 2–1. Mexico defeated Ecuador 4–2 in Oakland, California, a few days later, March 28, 2007.

Sánchez coached Mexico in the 2007 Gold Cup, the country's first official competition in June 2007. México reached the final 24 June 2007, beating the United States 2–1.

Sánchez led the Mexico national team to a dramatic 2–0 victory over Brazil on June 27, 2007, Hugo's first major victory as a coach. Hugo led the team to the semi-finals after being defeated 3–0 by Argentina in the group stage of the tournament. Mexico defeated Uruguay 3–1, advancing to third place in the tournament.

Sánchez declared in August that Mexico would permanently, or at least during his time coaching, ditch their famous green home kit and replace it with their new away kit, which would be red. Sánchez's decision was met with a lot of skepticism at the time. The main reasons behind the decision were that it was stumbling against a long-standing Mexican tradition, but the best commentators said that instead of boasting about the Mexico team's tactics and preparation, he should invest more time into the team's culture and preparation rather than delighting him with superfluous attributes of the sport.

Sánchez's results in March 2008 included draws with Australia and Finland, as well as a loss at home against Ecuador's U-23 team. In the CONCACAF Olympic Qualification, disappointing performances continued, with a draw with Canada and a loss to Guatemala. He lost by 5–1 against Haiti for his only victory. Mexico was disqualified from the Pre-Olympic qualifying tournament on goal difference.

Hugo Sánchez was fired from his job as Mexico's head coach on March 31, 2008.

Source