José Antonio Camacho

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Camacho and the second or maternal family name is Alfaro.
José Antonio Camacho

Camacho in 2011

Camacho in 2011
Personal information
Full name José Antonio Camacho Alfaro
Date of birth (1955-06-08) 8 June 1955
Place of birth Cieza, Spain
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Left back
Club information
Current team
 Gabon (coach)
Youth career
Albacete
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1972–1973 Albacete
1973–1974 Castilla
1974–1989 Real Madrid 414 (9)
National team
1973 Spain U18 3 (0)
1975–1976 Spain amateur 2 (0)
1975–1988 Spain 81 (0)
Teams managed
1992–1993 Rayo Vallecano
1994–1996 Espanyol
1996–1997 Sevilla
1997–1998 Espanyol
1998 Real Madrid
1998–2002 Spain
2002–2004 Benfica
2004 Real Madrid
2007–2008 Benfica
2008–2011 Osasuna
2011–2013 China
2016– Gabon

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


José Antonio Camacho Alfaro (born 8 June 1955) is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a left back, and the current manager of Gabon.

He played for 15 professional years with Real Madrid, appearing in more than 500 official games with the team and helping it to 19 major titles, including nine La Liga championships. Subsequently he embarked in a lengthy manager career, which included two very brief spells with his main club.

Camacho gained more than 80 caps with Spain, representing it in two World Cups and as many European Championships. He also managed the national team during four years, taking it to the quarterfinals in the 2002 World Cup.

Playing career

Camacho was born in Cieza, Murcia. After playing youth football at Albacete Balompié he moved to La Liga giants Real Madrid at age 18, being almost immediately cast into the first team and its starting XI, his debut being handed by manager Luis Molowny on 3 March 1974 as he played the full 90 minutes in a 01 away loss against CD Málaga.

During his spell with Real Madrid, Camacho appeared in nearly 600 official matches (414 in the league alone), forming a proficient left-wing partnership with Rafael Gordillo, who featured mainly as a midfielder. In January 1978 he suffered a serious injury in training, which put his career on hold for nearly two years, but returned strong, being instrumental as the capital side won consecutive UEFA Cups.[1][2]

Camacho also played 81 games for the Spanish national team, making his first appearance at not yet 20. His debut came on 5 February 1975 in a 1–1 draw against Scotland for the UEFA Euro 1976 qualifiers, in Valencia.[3]

For the following 13 years, Camacho was a defensive mainstay for the national side, being selected – and always as first-choice – for the 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cups, as well as Euro 1984 and 1988. After the 0–2 group stage loss against West Germany in the latter competition, he retired from the international scene, aged 33.

Coaching career

Beginnings

Following his retirement as a player in 1989, Camacho began coaching, first in Real Madrid's coaching staff. His first professional experiences were spent at Rayo Vallecano and RCD Espanyol, both of which he helped promote to the top division.

In the summer of 1998, Camacho took over Real Madrid's first team, but left after only 22 days over disagreements with the club's management.[1][4]

Spanish national team

Camacho succeeded Javier Clemente as national team manager in September 1998, after a shock 2–3 loss in Cyprus in a Euro 2000 qualifier.[5] The tide quickly turned under the new boss, who led the side to the final stages, where it bowed out to eventual champions France in the quarter-finals.

Two years later, Camacho's team lost in the same stages to South Korea, now in the 2002 World Cup; following the controversial defeat[6] he announced his resignation, being replaced by Iñaki Sáez.

Benfica

Camacho returned to club action subsequently, being appointed at S.L. Benfica from Portugal on 29 November 2002 in the place of sacked Jesualdo Ferreira. Two years later, his team won the Taça de Portugal against José Mourinho-led FC Porto in extra-time, as well as finishing second in the Primeira Liga.

A tough tackler in his playing days, Camacho also showed a human side when he cried profusely after Miklós Fehér died on the pitch, shortly after entering Benfica's match at Vitória de Guimarães.[7]

Real Madrid

For the 2004–05 season, Camacho returned to Real Madrid on a two-year contract as a replacement to sacked Carlos Queiroz.[8] However, things quickly went wrong again in his second spell after a 0–3 defeat at Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the campaign's UEFA Champions League, and a 0–1 league loss at Espanyol four days later, in September; shortly after, he resigned and was replaced by assistant Mariano García Remón.[9]

Following Fernando Santos' mutual agreement termination of contract with Benfica, after a 1–1 away draw with Leixões S.C. in 2007–08 Portuguese League's opener, Camacho returned to Benfica.[10] However, following a poor string of results, and claiming he was no longer able to motivate the team, he announced he would leave the club, minutes after drawing a home match against bottom-placed U.D. Leiria on 9 March 2008.[11]

Osasuna

After working as co-commentator on Spanish TV network Cuatro during Spain's victorious Euro 2008 campaign (he would also work for the channel during the 2010 World Cup, which also ended with the national team's triumph), on 13 October 2008, Camacho replaced José Ángel Ziganda at the helm of CA Osasuna.[12]

On 14 February 2011, following a 0–1 away loss against Real Sociedad that placed the Navarrese inside the relegation zone, Camacho was fired.[13] The club eventually finished in ninth position.

Chinese national team

On 13 August 2011, Camacho took over the reins of the Chinese national team, signing a three-year deal for a reported annual salary of US$8 million.[14] The Chinese Football Association head Wei Di explained the decision as being part of a long-term plan to help the country catch up with Japan and South Korea. He noted that, "Compared with our neighbours Japan and South Korea, Chinese football is lagging far behind, we need to work with a long-term view and start to catch up with a pragmatic approach. A lot of our fans expect China to qualify for the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil. They are afraid that changing the coach at the last moment may cause bad effect to the team's qualifying prospect. I can totally understand that. But we do not have any time to waste."[15]

Chinese Soccer Administrative Centre vice-president Yu Hongchen added: "The qualifying stage of 2014 World Cup is just a temporary task for him. Even if the task is failed, Camacho will not lose the job. When we started to find a new coach for the national team, we mainly focus on European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. First of all, they have advanced football concepts, and secondly they have a productive youth training system, which we can learn from. We hope he can help us to find a suitable style."[15]

However, China failed to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, after only finishing third in the third qualifying round with three wins and three losses. Camacho was also in charge as a Chinese young squad lost 0–8 to Brazil on 10 September 2012 in a friendly match, the national team's worst-ever defeat which also meant the drop to an all-time low 109th position in the FIFA World Rankings.[16]

In the first game of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification campaign, Camacho and China lost 1–2 against Saudi Arabia.[17] Following a 1–5 shock friendly loss to Thailand on 15 June 2013, he was relieved of his duties.[18]

One reason cited for Camacho's shortcomings in Asia was the limitation of football boots. The Chinese FA ordered that all the national team players were to wear Adidas, whilst most players in the Chinese Super League wore Nike, thus creating discomfort.[19][20]

Honours

Player

Club

Real Madrid

Spain

Manager

Benfica

References

  1. 1 2 Biography at Real Madrid Fans (in Spanish)
  2. ↑ "El espectáculo y el buen juego rubricaron el nuevo título del Real Madrid" [Brilliance and good display signed new Real Madrid title] (in Spanish). ABC. 24 June 1989. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  3. ↑ José Antonio Camacho Alfaro – International Matches; at RSSSF
  4. ↑ "Camacho presenta su dimisión y el Real Madrid negocia con Guus Hiddink" [Camacho presents his resignation and Real Madrid negotiate with Guus Hiddink] (in Spanish). El País. 10 July 1998. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  5. ↑ "España cae ante Chipre, un equipo repleto de aficionados" [Spain falls against Cyprus, team filled with amateurs] (in Spanish). El Mundo. 5 September 1998. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  6. ↑ Ghandour sees red; BBC Sport, 21 July 2002
  7. ↑ "Camacho lloró por Miklos Feher en el patíbulo de Guimaraes" [Camacho cried for Miklos Feher in gallows of Guimaraes] (in Spanish). ABC. 29 August 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  8. ↑ "Camacho elegido, Queiroz cesado" [Camacho chosen, Queiroz sacked] (in Spanish). Cadena SER. 24 May 2004. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  9. ↑ "Camacho quits Real". BBC Sport. 20 September 2004. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
  10. ↑ Benfica bring back Camacho; UEFA.com, 21 August 2007
  11. ↑ Camacho hands in Benfica notice; UEFA.com, 9 March 2008
  12. ↑ Osasuna destituye a Ziganda y su sustituto será Camacho (Osasuna fires Ziganda, Camacho will be his replacement); Marca, 13 October 2008 (in Spanish)
  13. ↑ "Osasuna sack Camacho". ESPN Soccernet. 14 February 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
  14. ↑ Camacho to be new coach of China national football team; The China Times, 9 August 2011
  15. 1 2 Jose Antonio Camacho's appointment is part of a long-term revival plan: China Football Association head Wei Di; Goal.com, 15 August 2011
  16. ↑ Brazil 8–0 China: Neymar nets hat-trick in crushing victory; Goal.com, 11 September 2012
  17. ↑ Asian Cup Qualification: Group C; Soccerway, 6 February 2013
  18. ↑ China part ways with Camacho; China National News, 24 June 2013
  19. ↑ 国足已放开球鞋限制，将自主选定新赞助商; Hupu, 2 January 2015 (in Chinese)
  20. ↑ 莱曼用擦鞋换自由; JF Daily (in Chinese)
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