Full name Manuel Jimenez Jimenez 1984–1997 Sevilla 1981–1984 Sevilla B Height 1.78 m | Years Team Role Footballer Place of birth Arahal, Spain Name Manuel Jimenez Manages Al-Rayan SC | |
 | ||
Date of birth (1964-01-26) 26 January 1964 (age 51) Team coached Al-Rayan SC (Manager, since 2013) Similar People Jorge Fossati, Rabah Madjer, Helder Postiga, Lucho Gonzalez, Nilmar | ||
Manuel 'Manolo' Jiménez Jiménez (born 26 January 1964) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a left back, and the current manager of Greek club AEK Athens FC.
Contents
His career was intimately connected with Sevilla as both a player and manager, and he competed solely in La Liga with the club in the former capacity.
Jiménez represented Spain at the 1990 World Cup.
Playing career
Jiménez was born in Arahal, Province of Seville. During his career, he played mainly for Sevilla FC which he represented during 14 professional seasons, making his La Liga debuts in 1983–84 by appearing in one match then proceeding to amass nearly 400 overall appearances with his hometown club; he retired in June 1998 at the age of 34, after one year with neighbours Real Jaén in the second division.
Jiménez earned 15 caps for the Spain national team. He made his international debut on 12 October 1988 in a friendly match with Argentina played in Seville, and was selected for the 1990 FIFA World Cup squad, appearing against Uruguay in the group stage (0–0) and against Yugoslavia in the round-of-16.
Sevilla
During seven seasons, Jiménez was the coach of Sevilla's reserve team Sevilla Atlético, leading them to the second level in 2007. On 27 October of that year, following the resignation of Juande Ramos, he was promoted to the main squad, initially until the end of the campaign. He guided the Andalusians to fifth place and "upgraded" to third in 2008–09, with a subsequent return to the UEFA Champions League.
On 24 March 2010, following a 1–1 home draw to bottom-placed Xerez CD, Jiménez was sacked by Sevilla. The club had had three draws – all at home – and two losses in the last five league games, and had also suffered Champions League elimination in the round-of-16.
AEK Athens
On 7 October 2010, Jiménez took over from sacked Dušan Bajević at AEK Athens FC, agreeing to a two-year deal. Ten days later he led the team in his first game, a 4–0 win at Superleague rivals Aris FC.
After losing in the UEFA Europa League against R.S.C. Anderlecht (0–3, away), Jiménez achieved his second league win, against Panathinaikos FC, but the team finished 21 points behind eventual champions Olympiacos F.C. in the league, still managing to rank in third position.
On 30 April 2011, Jiménez won his second managerial trophy (the first abroad) after a 3–0 defeat of Atromitos F.C. in the Greek Cup final. On 5 October, he left the club by mutual consent.
Zaragoza
On 31 December 2011, Jiménez was appointed head coach of Real Zaragoza, replacing fired Javier Aguirre. He was relieved of his duties at the end of the 2012–13 season, as the Aragonese returned to division two after four years.
Al-Rayyan
On 4 November 2013, Jiménez signed with Al-Rayyan SC, being relegated from the Qatar Stars League at the end of his debut campaign but achieving promotion the following one.
His contract with the club was terminated on 20 May 2015.
Return to AEK
Jiménez returned to AEK on 19 January 2017, succeeding José Morais who had resigned the previous day and signing a contract until the end of the season, extendable by one year subject to satisfactory performance in domestic competitions.