Manuel Negrete (footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Manuel Negrete Arias | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Manuel "Manolo" Negrete Arias (born March 11, 1959 in Ciudad Altamirano, Guerrero) is Mexican coach and former football midfielder, who became famous for scoring one of the most spectacular goals of the 1986 World Cup. He is currently the manager of Club León in the Primera Division A.
Club career
Negrete became a professional football player in 1980 with Club Universidad Nacional of Mexico, also known as Pumas. His style of play gave him instant recognition among Mexican soccer fans, with Negrete becoming a household name quickly. After the 1986 World Cup, Negrete continued playing in the Mexican Football League, and then reached the European soccer leagues by joining Sporting Lisbon in Portugal and then moving to Sporting de Gijón in Spain.
National team
Determined to post a much better result at the 1986 FIFA World Cup, for which Mexico automatically qualified because it was the event's host country, the Mexican Association Football Federation chose a very exclusive group of players to represent their country, including Negrete as a member of the national team.
In the 1986 World Cup finals, Negrete participated in five games and scored one goal in the round of 16 against Bulgaria in the 35th minute, the first of a 2-0 win. The goal has been described as one of the most spectacular in World Cup history by many football fans and journalists. Negrete received a high ball outside the penalty area, controlled it, let the ball bounce once on the ground and combined with Javier Aguirre; the latter returned the ball on the first touch, while keeping it on the air, and Negrete shot it on a scissor kick into the bottom left corner of goalkeeper Borislav Mikhailov. Mexico repeated their best result at a World Cup during that tournament, reaching the quarterfinals for the second time (a feat they accomplished first at the 1970 World Cup, also hosted by Mexico).
International goals
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | August 16, 1984 | Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland |  Finland |
3–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 2. | March 1, 1984 | Puskás Ferenc Stadion, Budapest, Hungary |  Hungary |
1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 3. | September 18, 1984 | Estadio Universitario, San Nicolás, Mexico |  Argentina |
1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 4. | November 11, 1984 | National Stadium, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago |  Trinidad and Tobago |
1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 5. | February 5, 1985 | Estadio La Corregidora, Querétaro, Mexico |  Poland |
2–0 | 5–0 | Friendly |
| 6. | February 5, 1985 | Estadio La Corregidora, Querétaro, Mexico | Poland |
5–0 | 5–0 | Friendly |
| 7. | June 15, 1985 | Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico |  West Germany |
1–0 | 2–0 | Azteca Cup |
| 8. | October 11, 1985 | March 28 Stadium, Benghazi, Libya |  Libya |
1–1 | 1–3 | Friendly |
| 9. | December 7, 1985 | Estadio Azteca, Mexico City , Mexico |  Algeria |
1–0 | 2–0 | 1985 Mexico Cup |
| 10. | March 6, 1986 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States |  Denmark |
1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 11. | June 15, 1986 | Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico |  Bulgaria |
1–0 | 2–0 | 1986 FIFA World Cup |
| 12. | February 21, 1989 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States |  Guatemala |
1–0 | 2–1 | 1989 Friendship Cup |
Post-playing career
Negrete has led a more quiet life in Mexico since he retired from playing. He worked as coach of the UNAM Pumas youth teams, and later went to Club León as an assistant coach. He became head coach after the firing/resignation of Mario Alberto Garcia.
External links
- National Football Teams profile
- Fussballdaten.de's take on Negrete, in German
- Video of Negrete's goal against Bulgaria in 1986 - www.kenaston.org
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- 1959 births
- People from Guerrero
- Living people
- Mexican footballers
- UNAM Pumas footballers
- CF Monterrey footballers
- CF Atlante footballers
- Sporting Clube de Portugal footballers
- La Liga footballers
- Sporting de Gijón footballers
- Mexico international footballers
- 1986 FIFA World Cup players
- Mexican football managers
- CF Atlante managers
- Mexican expatriate footballers