Tag Archives: Rafael Marquez

Javier Aguirre Officially Named Head Coach of Mexico’s National Men’s Soccer Team

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It’s official… Javier Aguirre is a Tri-time coach…

The 65-year-old Mexican football manager and former footballer who played as a midfielder has been named head coach of Mexico for a third time and will have former captain Rafael Marquez as his assistant, the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) has announced.

Javier Aguirre, Aguirre will initially take the head coach job and lead the team for two years through the 2026 World Cup, before leaving Marquez in charge ahead of preparations for 2030.

Marquez recently terminated his contract as Barcelona B manager in order to join Mexico.

“Javier has a strong track record, with experience and undisputed leadership in team management, while Rafa has great skill in talent development,” the FMF said in a statement.

Aguirre, who takes over after Jaime Lozano left the team, led Mexico to the round of 16 in the 2002 and 2010 World Cups. Mexico was knocked out in that round at every World Cup between 1994 and 2018, then was eliminated in the group stage in 2022.

“[Aguirre] is without a doubt the Mexican coach with the longest and most recognized career abroad and he also has in-depth knowledge of the processes in national teams,” said Duilio Davino, director of national teams. “‘Rafa’ is one of the most important players in Mexican history with a great national and international career who began his coaching career with an emblematic team.

“We have offered him to be the assistant until 2026 so that he can contribute his knowledge and then assume the leadership.”

After a dismal group stage exit in this summer’s Copa América, Lozano parted ways with the national team earlier this month. Following the Copa, Lozano, who had a record of 10W-4D-7L with Mexico, turned down a demotion that would have let him stay on as an assistant.

“Jaime Lozano was offered, along with his coaching staff, a contract until 2030, in which during 2024-2026 they will accompany a more experienced head coach towards our World Cup, and later it would be Jaime himself who would retake the reins of head coach in the 2026-2030 process,” the FMF said earlier this month.

The first order of business for Aguirre and Marquez will be to prepare for Mexico’s upcoming U.S.-based friendlies against New Zealand on September 7 (at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California) and Canada on September 10 (at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas).

The Mexico City-born manager recently closed out a two-year run as coach of Mallorca in Spain, where he made headlines with a Cinderella run to the final of the 2023-24 Copa del Rey. He also coached the national teams of Japan and Egypt.

Marquez, widely recognized as one of the greatest players in Mexico’s history, took part in five World Cups (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018). After retiring, the El Tri legend began coaching Alcala at the youth level in 2020 and Barcelona B in 2022.

As a player, Marquez won four league titles and two Champions League crowns with Barcelona.

Rafael Marquez Returning to FC Barcelona as Barca Atletic’s Coach

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Rafael Marquez is returning to Camp Nou…

The 43-year-old Mexican former-professional-footballer-turned-coach will replace Sergi Barjuan as coach of Barcelona‘s second team, Barca Atletic, according to ESPN.

Rafael Marquez, Barca has announced that Barjuan would not remain in the role after missing out on promotion into the second-tier of Spanish football last season.

Marquez, as first reported by Relevo, will take over, with “just the contract left to be signed” before an official announcement, according to ESPN’s sources.

Marquez was one of the first signings of Joan Laporta‘s first spell as Barca president in 2003 and went on to win two Champions Leagues with the club.

Laporta and Marquez have maintained a good relationship ever since and the Barca chief first attempted to bring him back to Camp Nou last summer.

He had been earmarked to take over the Under-19 team, but a deal fell through at the last minute due to his presence on a list in the United States linking him to drug trafficking.

The sanctions imposed by the U.S. Treasury Department could have had a knock-on effect for Barca in terms of their commercial activity in the United States.

However, Marquez, who always maintained his innocence, was removed from the list last September, finally teeing up his return to Barca.

It will be his second coaching job in Spain following a fleeting spell working as the manager of Alcala de Madrid‘s U16 side.

Barca Atletic play in the third tier of Spanish football and act as the bridge between the youth academy and the first team.

Gavi, Nico Gonzalez and Ronald Araujo are among the players who have recently made the jump from the second team to the Xavi Hernandez‘s first-team squad.