Helenio Herrera

Herrera was born in 1910 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to immigrant parents from Spain. His father Francisco, who worked as a carpenter, was an exiled anarchist originally from Andalusia. His mother, Maria Gavilán Martínez, was a cleaner. In 1920, Herrera's family left Argentina for Casablanca, in what was then French Morocco, in search of a better life. In Casablanca, Herrera started his career as a footballer. Playing as a central defender, in 1932 the 22-year-old Herrera earned a transfer from RC Casablanca to mainland France, to CASG in Paris. Before the onset of World War II, Herrera (or "H.H." as he was known) had spells at several French clubs. From 1933 to 1935 he was at Stade Français, from 1935 to 1937 at FCO Charleville (where he was called up for the France national team twice), and at Excelsior Roubaix from 1937 to 1939. During the war, he played for five years at Red Star Paris, Stade Français, EF Paris-Capitale and Puteaux, where he started his managing career in 1944 as a player-manager, before retiring from playing in 1945, at 35 years of age. While he spent his career playing for established French clubs, Herrera did not win any notable silverware. His managing career, which coincided with the early beginnings of UEFA competitions, had a marked effect on the game's tactical development.

After his first season in Puteaux, Herrera rejoined Stade Français for a third time, now as manager. After three seasons with no trophies collected, the club's president opted to sell the club. Herrera moved to Spain, where he spent the next six years with Real Valladolid, Atlético Madrid (where he won La Liga in 1950 and 1951), Málaga, Deportivo de La Coruña and Sevilla, before moving to Portugal and a two-year tenure with Lisbon side Belenenses. Later, returning to Spain, he managed giants Barcelona, where he won various titles (including La Liga, twice), but several problems, including disagreements between him and star player Ladislao Kubala, forced him to leave the club in 1960.

He immediately emigrated to Italy and signed with Inter Milan (where he was to remain until 1968), winning three Serie A titles and two European Cups during his stay with the club, where he used a 5–3–2 formation, and modified a tactic known as the Verrou (door bolt) – used by Karl Rappan – to include larger flexibility for counter-attacks; thus, the Catenaccio system was born. The side was later nicknamed Grande Inter, due to the club's successes under Herrera's eight–year spell, which saw the team win back–to–back European Cup titles in 1964 and 1965, as well as three Serie A titles, and two Intercontinental Cup titles. During this time he was also coaching Spain (between 1959 and 1962) and Italy (1966–67). In 1968, Herrera moved to Roma, where he became the highest paid manager in the world,…

Herrera was married three times and had eight children: Francis (b. 1937), Hélène (b. 1938), Linda (b. 1941), Daniéle (b. 1942), Helenio Angel (b. 1952), Rocío (b. 1957), Helios (b. 1972) and Luna (b. 1974), who was adopted. Five of his children were born in France, two in Spain and one in Italy.

Manager

Atlético Madrid

La Liga: 1949–50, 1950–51 Copa Eva Duarte: 1951 Sevilla

La Liga runner-up: 1956-57 Copa del Rey runner-up: 1954-55 Barcelona

La Liga: 1958–59, 1959–60 Copa del Rey: 1958–59, 1980–81 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: 1958–60 Inter Milan

Serie A: 1962–63, 1964–65, 1965–66 Coppa Italia runner-up: 1964-65 European Cup: 1963–64, 1964–65 Intercontinental Cup: 1964, 1965 Roma

Coppa Italia: 1968–69 Anglo-Italian Cup: 1972 Individual

Italian Football Hall of Fame: 2015 Greatest Manager of All Time – one of 5 managers ranked top 10 by France Football, World Soccer and ESPN 4th place (World Soccer): 2013 5th place (ESPN): 2013 7th place (France Football): 2019 8th place (FourFourTwo): 2023