Name Juan Pizzi Career end 2002 Playing position Role Footballer Position Forward | Current team Leon (coach) Height 1.85 m Years Team Career start 1988 | |
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Full name Juan Antonio Pizzi Torroja Date of birth (1968-06-07) 7 June 1968 (age 47) Similar People Gustavo Matosas, Mauro Boselli, Ignacio Piatti, Edgardo Bauza, Nuno Espirito Santo | ||
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Juan Antonio Pizzi Torroja (born 7 June 1968) is a retired professional footballer who played as a striker, and is the current manager of the Chile national team.
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He spent the bulk of his club career in Spain, mainly at Tenerife, helping to the side's consolidation in La Liga and amassing top division totals of 221 games and 92 goals over the course of eight seasons – he also played for Valencia and Barcelona.
Born in Argentina, Pizzi represented the Spain national team for four years, appearing with it in one World Cup and one European Championship. After retiring, he embarked on a managerial career.
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Club
Born in Santa Fe, Pizzi started his professional career with Rosario Central, before transferring to Mexico's Deportivo Toluca FC. After only one year he moved to CD Tenerife, experiencing great individual success (30 goals in his first two seasons combined) while also helping the Canary Islands club qualify for the UEFA Cup in his second year.
This performances prompted interest from fellow La Liga side Valencia CF, and his subsequent purchase. However, highly unsettled, Pizzi returned at the end of the campaign to his previous team and in the second season in his second spell he fired the team into another UEFA Cup qualification, topping the goal charts at 31 in 41 games, also good enough for the European Golden Boot.
After that, Pizzi transferred to FC Barcelona: never an undisputed starter, barred by Ronaldo, Sonny Anderson and the versatile Luis Enrique during his two-season stint, he managed to net 11 times in the league alone, being very popular among the Camp Nou faithful.
With Barcelona he won the Spanish Supercup in 1996, the UEFA Super Cup and Copa del Rey in 1997, conquering the latter again in the following year, in which he also won his only league title. Arguably, his most memorable moment was the decisive goal in the 5–4 home win over Atlético Madrid in the domestic cup's quarterfinals second leg, after the Blaugrana trailed 0–3 at half-time.
Subsequently Pizzi returned to Argentina to play for Club Atlético River Plate, then had an unassuming spell in Portugal for FC Porto. After starting 2001–02 back with Rosario he signed with Villarreal CF for its closure, as the club had lost to a severe leg injury countryman Martín Palermo.
International
Pizzi earned 22 caps for Spain and scored eight goals, his debut coming on 30 November 1994 in a 2–0 friendly win with Finland. In the following year, on 20 September, he helped beat his country of birth Argentina 2–1, in an exhibition game played in Madrid.
Pizzi was part of the squads for UEFA Euro 1996 and the 1998 FIFA World Cup. In the latter, after replacing Fernando Morientes in a 0–0 draw against Paraguay as Spain exited in the group stage, he retired from the international scene.
Coaching career
After his retirement, aged almost 34, Pizzi played polo in the Barcelona region, then started his coaching career. Together with José del Solar he managed Argentine first division's Club Atlético Colón at the beginning of the Clausura 2005, but both were sacked after three losses in the first three matches.
On 13 April 2006, Pizzi became the coach of Club Deportivo Universidad de San Martín de Porres in the Peruvian top level. He returned to his country of birth five years later, working with Rosario Central and San Lorenzo de Almagro and winning the 2013 Inicial with the latter.
On 26 December 2013, Pizzi returned to Valencia after 20 years, being appointed manager. His first game in charge was on 4 January of the following year, a 2–0 derby home win over Levante UD.
Pizzi was sacked on 2 July 2014, after new owner Peter Lim took over. It was the first time in 16 years that Valencia had failed to qualify for Europe, after an eighth-place finish.
On 29 January 2016, after one year at the helm of Club León in the Liga MX, Pizzi replaced Jorge Sampaoli at the Chilean national side. He took the nation to victory in the Copa América Centenario in the United States, notably disposing of Mexico 7–0 in the last-eight stage and defeating Argentina on penalties in the decisive match.