Miguel Ángel Russo (born 9 April 1956) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a defensive midfielder. He is the current manager of Rosario Central.

Miguel Ángel Russo
Russo in 2017.
Personal information
Full name Miguel Ángel Russo
Date of birth (1956-04-09) 9 April 1956 (age 67)
Place of birth Valentin Alsina, Argentina
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
Rosario Central (manager)
Youth career
Estudiantes
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1975–1988 Estudiantes 418 (11)
International career
1983–1985 Argentina 17 (1)
Managerial career
1989–1994 Lanús
1994–1995 Estudiantes
1996 Universidad de Chile
1997–1998 Rosario Central
1998–1999 Salamanca
1999 Colón
1999–2000 Lanús
2000–2001 Los Andes
2002 Morelia
2002–2004 Rosario Central
2005–2006 Vélez Sarsfield
2007 Boca Juniors
2008–2009 San Lorenzo
2009 Rosario Central
2010–2011 Racing Club
2011 Estudiantes
2012–2014 Rosario Central
2015 Vélez Sarsfield
2016–2018 Millonarios
2019 Alianza Lima
2019 Cerro Porteño
2020–2021 Boca Juniors
2021–2022 Al-Nassr
2022– Rosario Central
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:59, 18 January 2015 (UTC)

Playing career edit

Club career edit

Russo was a one club man; he played his entire career for Estudiantes de La Plata, from 1975 to his retirement in 1988. A defensive midfielder, Russo was a staple of the team that won two back-to-back championships in the 1982–83 season.

International career edit

Although Russo was called on by national team coach Carlos Bilardo to play in the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, a string of minor injuries prevented him from traveling to the main event in Mexico, which Argentina ultimately won.

Coaching career edit

His career as a coach included stints at Estudiantes de La Plata and Lanús (both of whom he helped promote), and other sides in Argentina, Mexico, Chile, and Spain.

In June 2005, he won the 2005 Clausura tournament with Vélez Sarsfield, his first title as a coach in the Argentine top division. On 15 December 2006, he was signed by Boca Juniors to replace Ricardo La Volpe.

With Russo at the helm, Boca Juniors took second place in the 2007 Clausura tournament and won the 2007 Copa Libertadores. After Boca, Russo managed San Lorenzo de Almagro between 2008 and 2009. After losing to San Luis and being eliminated from the Copa Libertadores, the coach has announced his decision to resign on 9 April 2009.[1]

On 15 April 2009, Russo joined Rosario Central, replacing Reinaldo Merlo[2] and just two months later on 14 July 2009 the coach quit the team.[3]

The former midfielder then managed Racing Club between 2010 and 2011. On 21 June 2011, less than a week after resigning as coach of Racing Club, Russo signed a contract to again coach his former club, Estudiantes de La Plata, being his second stint as an Estudiantes coach, having done so in 1994.[4]

On 6 November 2011, after Estudiantes was defeated 1-3 by Godoy Cruz and in turn falling to last place with only 10 points in 14 games, Russo resigned as manager, less than 5 months after having assumed charge.[5] He then had a successful stint at Rosario Central, winning the 2012–13 Primera B Nacional and reaching the final of the 2013–14 Copa Argentina.

In 2015, Russo agreed to become manager of Vélez Sarsfield, his second spell at the club.

On 23 December 2016, he was chosen to train Millonarios F.C. from Bogotá, Colombia after the untimely departure of Diego Cocca. On 17 December 2017, he was crowned Champion of the second half of 2017 with Millonarios F.C. (Torneo Clausura), to which he gave them the title number 15 after winning the first leg 1-0, and then drawing 2-2 against Independiente Santa Fe. With this victory, Millonarios F.C. will go directly to the group stage of the Copa Libertadores played among the best club teams in South America.

On January 4, 2019, he is officially appointed as the new Alianza Lima coach. However, he decides to terminate his contract for personal reasons and poor results.

On June 7, 2019, his transfer to Cerro Porteño was made official. On October 6, 2019, after losing to Deportivo Capiatá, the club decides to do without its services.

In January 2020, he started his second cycle with Boca Juniors.[6] two months later he obtained a new title winning the 2019-20 Superliga beating River Plate led by Marcelo Gallardo in the final stretch. [7] After been eliminated by Santos (BRA) from the Conmebol Libertadores, Boca Juniors played Copa Diego Maradona final against Banfield. This match ended in a tie in one, and finally, Boca Juniors became champions by winning the penalties.[8] On 17 August 2021 he was sacked by the club.[9]

Russo spent the most of the 2021–22 season in charge of Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, before returning to Rosario Central on 18 December 2022.[10]

Personal life edit

Russo's son, Ignacio, is a professional footballer.[11]

Managerial statistics edit

As of match played 14 March 2024
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Lanús   1 July 1989 30 June 1994 200 70 74 56 238 210 +28 035.00
Estudiantes LP 1 July 1994 30 September 1995 53 27 16 10 94 48 +46 050.94
Universidad de Chile   1 January 1996 31 December 1996 54 25 12 17 87 71 +16 046.30
Rosario Central   1 July 1997 30 June 1998 42 16 12 14 66 56 +10 038.10
Salamanca   1 August 1998 30 January 1999 16 4 4 8 20 24 −4 025.00
Colón   1 July 1999 31 October 1999 12 3 4 5 15 19 −4 025.00
Lanús 30 November 1999 30 June 2000 34 12 6 16 53 46 +7 035.29
Los Andes 1 December 2000 30 June 2001 26 6 6 14 33 49 −16 023.08
Morelia   27 October 2001 16 February 2002 15 5 4 6 19 18 +1 033.33
Rosario Central   1 July 2002 31 December 2004 67 25 20 22 93 89 +4 037.31
Vélez Sarsfield 1 January 2005 15 December 2006 95 43 29 23 134 87 +47 045.26
Boca Juniors 15 December 2006 31 December 2007 56 30 12 14 102 56 +46 053.57
San Lorenzo 1 July 2008 8 April 2009 36 17 5 14 56 44 +12 047.22
Rosario Central 16 April 2009 14 July 2009 11 5 2 4 12 11 +1 045.45
Racing Club 17 February 2010 30 June 2011 53 23 9 21 65 59 +6 043.40
Estudiantes LP 1 July 2011 6 November 2011 16 3 4 9 16 24 −8 018.75
Rosario Central 6 July 2012 29 November 2014 101 44 26 31 123 104 +19 043.56
Vélez Sarsfield 1 January 2015 31 December 2015 34 10 9 15 35 38 −3 029.41
Millonarios   1 January 2017 13 November 2018 112 45 37 30 134 93 +41 040.18
Alianza Lima   1 January 2019 26 April 2019 15 3 4 8 18 26 −8 020.00
Cerro Porteño   7 June 2019 8 October 2019 19 7 7 5 30 19 +11 036.84
Boca Juniors   1 January 2020 16 August 2021 64 29 23 12 87 40 +47 045.31
Al-Nassr   5 December 2021 28 June 2022 20 15 2 3 41 22 +19 075.00
Rosario Central   19 December 2022 present 58 22 22 14 68 59 +9 037.93
Total 1,209 490 348 371 1,643 1,313 +330 040.53

Honours edit

Player edit

 
Russo with Estudiantes de La Plata in 1984
Estudiantes de La Plata

Manager edit

Lanús
Estudiantes
Vélez Sarsfield
Boca Juniors
Rosario Central
Millonarios


Individual

References edit

  1. ^ Libertadores: Russo renuncia al San Lorenzo
  2. ^ Miguel Angel Russo llegó a Rosario Central y Diego Simeone lo reemplazará en San Lorenzo
  3. ^ Russo quits Rosario
  4. ^ Vuelvo a mi casa
  5. ^ Y fue adiós
  6. ^ Olé (30 December 2019). "Russo: "Ojalá me toque ganar la Copa y festejar en la Bombonera"". www.ole.com.ar (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  7. ^ "Buenos Aires Times | Boca secure Superliga title after overhauling River in final day drama". www.batimes.com.ar. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  8. ^ "Boca es campeón de la Copa Diego Maradona - TyC Sports". www.tycsports.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  9. ^ "Comunicado de prensa". www.bocajuniors.com.ar (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  10. ^ "Belloso es el nuevo presidente de Central: Russo el técnico" [Belloso is the new president of Central: Russo is the manager] (in Spanish). Olé. 18 December 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  11. ^ "Debutó Ignacio, el hijo de Miguel Ángel Russo". Olé. 4 December 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  12. ^ "روسو أفضل مدرب ورومارينهو وفلاديمير والحربي نجوم يناير."

External links edit