Ricardo La Volpe

In Argentina, La Volpe played for Banfield and San Lorenzo. In Mexico he played for Atlante and Oaxtepec. La Volpe made eight appearances with Argentina throughout his career. He was the reserve goalkeeper when they won the 1978 FIFA World Cup with Argentina.

Early career

Ricardo La Volpe began his career as a coach in the Mexican league in 1989, managing several teams such as Oaxtepec, Puebla, Atlante, Guadalajara, Querétaro, América, Atlas, Toluca, and Monterrey. Despite mixed results, La Volpe earned a reputation for his offensive style of football. He led Atlante to the 1992–1993 season championship and reached the league final with Atlas in 1999.

Mexico national team

In 2002, La Volpe was named coach of the Mexico national team. He led the team to win the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He qualified for the 2006 World Cup, as well as finishing in fourth place at the 2005 Confederations Cup, most notably defeating eventual champions Brazil in the group stage. With La Volpe at the helm, Mexico reached fourth place in the FIFA World rankings. Also, under his leadership at the 2004 Copa América, Mexico managed to defeat Argentina for the first time in years but lost to Brazil in the quarterfinals. Mexico also lost in the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals to Colombia. Mexico was also eliminated at the 2004 Olympic Games after losing to South Korea in the group stage. At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Mexico finished second in their group, qualifying for the Round of 16 before going out 1–2 in extra time to Argentina. The Guardian named him Best Coach of the World Cup for his attitude.

Boca Juniors

After leaving the Mexico national team, he met with Boca Juniors officials on 24 July 2006. After several weeks of…

Influence

La Volpe's philosophy, style of play, and attitude referred to as "Lavolpismo," has played a considerable role in the evolution of tactics and strategy in Mexican league football. Coaches who have studied under and continue to use a modified version of his style of play and philosophy are referred to as "Lavolpistas". Notable managers directly influenced by La Volpe include Miguel Herrera, José Guadalupe Cruz, Rubén Omar Romano, Hernan Cristante, Jose Saturnino Cardozo and Sergio Bueno.

Criticism

During Mexico's first group-stage match in the 2006 World Cup against Iran, La Volpe was seen chain-smoking in the dugout, leading to an official warning from FIFA that he was not allowed to smoke in the competition area. La Volpe responded by telling FIFA's executives that he would "rather give up football than smoking", although he later consented. He has also had clashes with the press. During a press conference at the 2006 World Cup, La Volpe told a journalist: "¡Fuera de mi vista! No saben nada. No me rompan los huevos, idiotas." ["Get out of my face! You know nothing. Don't bust my balls, you idiots."] He has odd superstitions some which include wearing a lucky tie, performing "oriental" rituals and avoiding shaking the opposing manager's hand prior to or after the game.

Player

Banfield

Primera B Metropolitana: 1973 Argentina

FIFA World Cup: 1978

Manager

Atlante

Primera División de México: 1992–93 Mexico

CONCACAF Gold Cup: 2003 Mexico U23

CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship: 2004 Individual

Primera División de México Best Manager:1992–93