Full name Carles Rexach i Cerda Years Team Weight 78 kg Place of birth Pedralbes, Spain Name Carles Rexach Position Midfielder | Playing position Role Footballer Date joined 1967 1959–1965 Barcelona Height 1.81 m Awards Pichichi Trophy | |
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Date of birth (1947-01-13) 13 January 1947 (age 68) Similar People Luis Enrique, Carles Puyol, Xavi, Louis van Gaal, Andres Iniesta | ||
Carles Rexach
Carles Rexach i Cerdà ([ˈkarɫəz rəˈʃak]) (born 13 January 1947), also referred to as Charly Rexach, is a former Spanish footballer and manager. He has spent the majority of his career at FC Barcelona. Rexach first joined the club as a junior player when he was 12. He was a player at the club for 22 years and then worked for them as a scout, coach and manager for another 22 years. Rexach formed a successful partnership with Johan Cruyff, both on and off the field. As players they helped FC Barcelona win La Liga in 1974, the club's first win in 14 years. He also served as assistant coach to Cruyff during the Dream Team era between 1988 and 1996. Rexach also served as caretaker manager of the club on three occasions before he was appointed manager in 2001.
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Playing career
Born in Pedralbes, Barcelona, Catalonia, Rexach made his senior debut for FC Barcelona in 1965 in a Copa del Generalísimo game against Racing de Santander and scored the fourth goal in a 4–0 win. Between 1965 and 1967 he also played for CD Condal, the reserve team. In 1971, he shared the Pichichi Trophy with Atlético's Gárate, scoring 17 goals in 29 games.
Other highlights of his career included a hat-trick at the Camp Nou in 1974 in the European Cup against Feyenoord. All three goals were created by Johan Cruyff. In the 1978 Copa del Rey final he was man of the match as FC Barcelona beat UD Las Palmas. Rexach scored twice in a 3–1 win. He also scored in the European Cup Winners Cup final in 1979 against Fortuna Düsseldorf. He retired as a player in 1981 and on 1 September 1981, FC Barcelona played a testimonial against Argentina at the Camp Nou.
Rexach also made 15 appearances and scored 2 goals for Spain between 1969 and 1978 and was a member of the squad for the 1978 World Cup.
Coaching career
After retiring as a player Rexach joined the coaching staff at FC Barcelona B. In 1984, he co-founded a school of football, Escuela TARR, with fellow ex-players Antoni Torres, Juan Manuel Asensi and Joaquim Rifé. Rexach served as assistant coach to Luis Aragonés during the 1987–88 season and briefly became caretaker manager when Aragonés departed. When Johan Cruyff was appointed as successor to Aragonés, Rexach stayed on as assistant coach. When chain smoker Cruyff needed emergency heart surgery during the 1990–91 season, Rexach once again stepped up. He was in charge of the team from February 1991 until the end of the season and led FC Barcelona to the La Liga title. He continued to assist Cruyff throughout the Dream Team era and after Josep Lluís Nuñez sacked Cruyff in 1996, Rexach became coach once again. The controversial decision allegedly cost him the friendship of Cruyff. Under Bobby Robson he worked as a scout where he discovered Lionel Messi but in 1998 he left for Japan and spent one season as coach of Yokohama F. Marinos. Rexach was joined at the club by Julio Salinas and Andoni Goikoetxea.
After Lorenzo Serra Ferrer was sacked by FC Barcelona during the 2000–01 season, Rexach was called upon once again. The only objective left was to qualify for the UEFA Champions League. Rexach managed the team for last seven games and in the very last game against Valencia CF, Rivaldo scored a spectacular goal, enabling the club to finish fourth in the league and sealed qualification to UEFA Champions League. This minor success resulted in Rexach being appointed coach by Joan Gaspart for the 2001–02 season. Despite finishing fourth in La Liga and reaching the UEFA Champions League semi-finals, the season was underachieved by the club's standards. The season saw defeats to Tercera División clubs, UE Figueres and CF Balaguer, in the Copa del Rey and the Copa Catalunya final, respectively, and a humiliating 3–1 aggregate defeat to Real Madrid in the semi-finals of the Champions League. The following season Rexach was replaced by a returning Louis van Gaal. In July 2003 Rexach ended his long association with the club.