Juan Antonio Pizzi

Club career Born in Santa Fe, Pizzi started his professional career with Rosario Central, before transferring to Mexico's Deportivo Toluca. After only one year, he moved to Tenerife, experiencing great individual success (a total of 30 goals in his first two seasons) while also helping the Canary Islands club to qualify for the UEFA Cup in his second year.

These performances prompted interest from fellow La Liga side Valencia, and Pizzi's subsequent purchase. However, highly unsettled, he returned at the end of the campaign to his previous team and in the second season in his second spell he fired them into another UEFA Cup qualification, topping the goal charts at 31 in 41 games and adding a further five in the Copa del Rey.

After that, Pizzi transferred to Barcelona. Never an undisputed starter, barred by Ronaldo, Sonny Anderson and the versatile Luis Enrique during his two-season stint, he managed to net 18 times in competitive matches, being very popular among the Camp Nou faithful.

With Barcelona, Pizzi won the Supercopa de España in 1996, the UEFA Super Cup and Spanish Cup in 1997, conquering the latter again the following year while also winning 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 quarter-finals second leg, after the Blaugrana trailed 3–0 at half-time.

Subsequently, Pizzi returned to Argentina to play for River Plate, then had an unassuming spell in Portugal for Porto. After starting 2001–02 back with Rosario he signed with Villarreal for its closure, as the club had lost to a severe leg injury countryman Martín Palermo.

International career Pizzi earned 22 caps for Spain and scored eight goals, his debut coming on 30 November 1994 in a 2–0 friendly win against Finland. The following 20 September, he helped to 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 being replaced by Fernando Morientes in a 0–0 draw against Paraguay as Spain exited in the group stage, he retired from the international scene.

Coaching career Early 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 Primera División's 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 Universidad San Martín in the Peruvian Primera División. He returned to his country of birth five years later, working with Rosario Central and San Lorenzo and winning the 2013 Inicial with the latter.

Valencia 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.

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.

Chile

On 29 January 2016, after one year at the helm of León in the Liga MX, Pizzi replaced Jorge Sampaoli at the Chile 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.

Pizzi took the team to the final of the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, Chile's first ever final in a FIFA competition and the fifth South American country to do so, losing 0–1 to Germany. However, after failing to qualify for the next year's World Cup – they reached the last matchday in third place, falling to sixth following the 3–0 away loss against Brazil – he resigned.

Saudi Arabia On 28 November 2017, Pizzi was appointed to manage Saudi Arabia, becoming the third man to hold the position in as many months. The team's run at the 2018 World Cup ended after the first three games (one win and two losses); On 21 January 2019, after round-of-16 elimination at the AFC Asian Cup and not having been approached by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation regarding the renewal of his contract, he resigned.

Later career Pizzi returned to San Lorenzo in June 2019, six years after his first managerial spell. On 31 October, he was dismissed due to poor results.

On 21 January 2021, Pizzi was appointed at Racing Club. His team lost the Supercopa Argentina 5–0 to River in March and the Copa de la Superliga final to Colón. He was removed by club president Víctor Blanco on 9 August after a 1–0 defeat to city rivals Independiente.

On 29 June 2022, Pizzi signed a one-year contract at Al-Wasl of the UAE Pro League. Having finished fifth in his only season, he returned to international management with Bahrain. At the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar, his team finished their group ahead of South Korea before being eliminated by Japan in the last 16. He left by mutual consent on 16 February 2024, seven months into a two-year deal.

Remaining in the Middle East, Pizzi was hired on 16 July 2024 as manager of Kuwait. He succeeded Rui Bento, with the team in the third round of World Cup qualifiers for the first time in 20 years. With 1 win in 15 matches, news was distributed that Pizzi left work without informing the federation and stayed out of contact. The Federation announced they are looking for a new Replacement on April 1 and later revealed that he’d leave after his contract expired at the end of the qualifiers.

Career statistics Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pizzi goal.

Honours Player Barcelona La Liga: 1997–98 Copa del Rey: 1996–97, 1997–98 Supercopa de España: 1996 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1996–97 UEFA Super Cup: 1997

Porto Taça de Portugal: 2000–01

Individual Pichichi Trophy: 1995–96

San Lorenzo Argentine Primera División: 2013 Inicial