Juan Antonio Pizzi

Juan Antonio Pizzi Torroja (, ; born 7 June 1968) is a retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He was most recently the head coach of the Bahrain national team.

He spent the bulk of his club career in Spain, mainly at Tenerife, helping to the side's consolidation in La Liga and amassing top division totals of 221 matches and 92 goals over eight seasons – he also played for Valencia and Barcelona.

Born in Argentina, Pizzi represented the Spain national team for four years, appearing with it in one World Cup and one European Championship. He embarked on a managerial career after retiring, winning the Copa América Centenario for Chile in 2016. He also coached Saudi Arabia at the World Cup in 2018 and subsequently took charge of Bahrain in 2023.

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.

This 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 with 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.

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. Under his management, Bahrain achieved the greatest success at the AFC Asian Cup since 2004, finishing top of the table of an Asian Cup for the first time ever at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, ahead of powerhouse South Korea, and only lost to a formidable Japan at the round of 16. Despite this success however, his reign ended abruptly as he was sacked a few days after Bahrain's decent performance.

Kuwait

On the 16th of July 2024 he became Kuwait's National team coach.

Career statistics

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

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

Manager
Universidad Católica
 * Chilean Primera División: 2010

San Lorenzo
 * Argentine Primera División: 2013 Inicial

Chile
 * Copa América: 2016

Individual
 * La Liga Manager of the Month: February 2014