Miguel Ángel Russo

Miguel Ángel Russo
	Russo in 2017
Personal information
Full name	Miguel Ángel Russo
Date of birth	9 April 1956 (age 68)
Place of birth	Valentin Alsina, Argentina
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	Boca Juniors (manager)
Youth career
	Estudiantes
Senior career*
Years	Team
1975–1988	Estudiantes
International career
1983–1985	Argentina
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–	Boca Juniors
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:59, 18 January 2015 (UTC)

Miguel Ángel Russo (born 9 April 1956) is an Argentine former football player and manager of Boca Juniors, who played as a midfielder.

Playing career

Club career

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

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

File:Russo festejo ascenso lanus.jpg

Russo celebrating as coach of Lanús, when they returned to Primera División in 1990

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 form 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]

Personal life

Russo's son, Ignacio, is a professional footballer.^[8]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 18 January 2021

Team	Nat	Years	Record
Team	Nat	Years	G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Lanús		1989 - 1994	200	70	74	56	238	210	+28	47.33%
Estudiantes LP		1994 - 1995	53	27	16	10	94	48	+46	61%
Universidad de Chile		1996	58	28	13	17	87	70	+17	55.75%
Rosario Central		1997 - 1998	42	16	12	14	64	56	+8	47.62%
Salamanca		1998-1999	16	4	4	8	20	24	-4	33.33%
Colón		1999	12	3	4	5	15	19	-4	36.11%
Lanús		1999 - 2000	34	12	6	16	53	46	+7	41.17%
Los Andes		2000 - 2001	26	6	6	14	33	49	-16	30.77%
Morelia		2002	15	5	4	6	19	18	+1	42.22%
Rosario Central		2002 - 2004	67	25	20	22	93	89	+4	47.26%
Vélez Sarsfield		2005 - 2006	92	43	29	20	134	83	+51	57.25%
Boca Juniors		2007	56	30	12	14	102	66	+36	60.71%
San Lorenzo		2008 - 2009	36	17	5	14	56	44	+12	51.85%
Rosario Central		2009	11	5	2	4	12	11	+1	51.51%
Racing Club		2010 - 2011	53	23	9	21	65	59	+6	49.06%
Estudiantes LP		2011	16	3	4	9	16	24	-8	27.08%
Rosario Central		2012 - 2014	101	44	26	31	123	104	+19	52.14%
Vélez Sarsfield		2015	35	10	9	16	35	39	-4	37.14%
Millonarios		2016 - 2018	112	45	37	30	134	93	+41	51.19%
Alianza Lima		2019	15	3	4	8	18	26	-8	28.89%
Cerro Porteño		2019	19	7	7	5	30	19	+11	49.12%
Boca Juniors		2020 - Present	32	18	9	5	52	23	+29	65.63%
Total			1101	444	312	345	1493	1220	+273	49.78%