There have been many talented and successful coaches in the history of soccer. But only some of them can be called truly outstanding. Their teams have repeatedly won the most prestigious world championships, and their names are inscribed in the history of sport in golden letters. Some of them are our contemporaries, living, and coaching now. Others reached fame in the 20th century.
Jose Mourinho
Jose was born in 1963 in Setubal, Portugal. Soccer has been his main passion since childhood. Mourinho had little experience as an active player, but the youngster quickly realized that the path of a footballer was not for him. Mourinho began his career in sports as an interpreter for coach Bobby Robson. Later he became an assistant to Louis van Gaal in Barcelona and later began an independent coaching activity. On our site, you can also find news about coaches of popular clubs.
The first team in which José made his debut as head coach was Benfica, in 2022 he continued in Porto. Under Mourinho, the Portuguese club achieved a lot of success: they managed to win the Champions League Cup and the Portuguese Cup, as well as the UEFA Cup.
The success of Mourinho aroused great interest in him among other major clubs, he wanted to see them coach many soccer teams. In 2004 he was invited to Chelsea, the successful coach interested in the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. Together with Jose the London club won the English Premier League twice and won two FA Cups.
The next Mourinho charges were the players of Inter Milan. Together with them, he had a wonderful season, winning the Italian Cup and the Champions League. Subsequently, Jose signed a contract with Real Madrid and together with them won La Liga.
However, to work for a long time at Real Madrid, Mourinho could not, he was not very liked by the team management. That is why he left his position as Real Madrid coach and returned to Chelsea. After that, Jose had time to work with two more English clubs: “Manchester United and Tottenham. Since 2021 he has been coaching Italian Roma. And at first, no one can give a prediction, under which José will achieve such success.
Mourinho is known as a stern mentor, but at the same time, he has a reputation as a good family man. He had his first and only marriage in 1989, which produced two children.
Ernst Happel
The future prominent footballer and coach was born in 1925 in Vienna. Like many other coaches, Happel began his path in the sport as a soccer player. His first professional match was played for the Austrian national team against Hungary in 1945.
As part of the Vienna “Rapida” Ernst, 6 times won the Austrian Cup. In the national team, Happel played until 1958. Together with the Austrian national team, he managed to win bronze at the World Championship, this award remains the most important for the Austrian team.
The first team Happel led as a coach was his native Viennese Rapida. Subsequently, he dreamed of working with all the major European clubs. Since 1962 he coached the Dutch ADO and with them won the Dutch Cup. His next team – Feyenoord was also Dutch, under his leadership it won the Intercontinental Cup and the European Cup.
In different years such clubs as Brugge, Hamburg, Standard, and Swarovski-Tyrol played under Happel. Almost all of his charges became winners of major championships at different levels. At the same time, he knew how to work with newly created teams, so the team “Swarovski-Tyrol” was formed a year before Happel started coaching it. That same year it reached the UEFA semi-finals and topped the Austrian Championship list. The only team Happel failed to lead to victory was Spanish Sevilla.
In the 1990s, the coach took charge of the Austrian national team. In the same period, he was diagnosed with cancer. In 1992 Happel died of cancer in Innsbruck. After Happel’s death, the largest stadium in Vienna was renamed after him.
Pep Guardiola
Guardiola was born in 1971 in the Catalan Sanpedores. Pep recalls that from an early age everyone who saw him saw him with a ball. After school, the future coach enrolled to study law, but the law did not attract the young man, and he dropped out after a year.
In 1991 Pep became a regular player for Barcelona. He was not yet 21 years old when he was already named one of the key players of Barça and the best young footballer in Europe. As a player, he won the Spanish Cup, the Super Cup, and the Cup Winners’ Cup several times.
Guardiola played for Barcelona until 2001. He won 16 trophies with the team. In 2006 Pep retired from professional soccer. Also in 2006, Guardiola was appointed coach of FC Barcelona B, which had grown substantially in class during his tenure.
In 2008, Guardiola became the coach of Barcelona. One of the key matches that this team played under his mentorship was against Real Madrid in 2009, in which Barça won 6-2. In 2012, Guardiola became the best coach according to FIFA. In the same year, Pep left Barcelona, becoming the best coach in the history of the club.
The next charges of Gvprdiola were the players of Bayern Munich. He scored 82 wins, 11 draws, and nine defeats in the Bundesliga; 14 wins, three draws, and no defeats in the German Cup; 23 wins five draws and eight defeats in the Champions League. He also won two wins, two draws, and two defeats in the Club World Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, and the German Super Cup. In unofficial tournaments, Guardiola found six wins, one draw, and one defeat.
On July 1, 2016, Guardiola took charge of the English club Manchester City. Under his leadership, the team has become one of the key leaders of the APL. Guardiola is still at the helm of Manchester City.
Guardiola has a unique coaching style. Analysts consider him one of the best coaches in the history of mankind.
Jupp Heynckes
The future footballer and coach was born in Germany in 1945. For many years he played for the German national team, in particular, he played for her 30 matches and scored 14 goals. After his career as a player, Jupp took charge of Borussia.
At the time the team was not in its best shape. Many key players left the team, and newcomers were not particularly talented. However, under Heynckes’ guidance, the team managed to achieve great heights and twice made it to the Bundesliga finals. Subsequently, Jupp replaced Borussia with Bayern and managed to lead them to victory in the Bundesliga.
One of the major successes of the German coach can be regarded as coaching at Real Madrid. In 1998, the team won the Champions League. Later, for several years, Heynckes was haunted by failures. Teams, acting under his command, show just disgusting results. In the spring of 2006, he returned to Borussia but left before he worked for a year.
After that, he worked at Bayern for several seasons without much success. But the 2012/13 season was an outstanding one. “Bayern won every competition in which they were involved: German championships, cups, and the Supercup. In the final of the Champions League Borussia Dortmund was defeated 2-1. In 2013 Heynckes was named the best coach in the world.
In 2013 Heinckes announced the end of his career, but in 2017 he returned to Bayern, having had a great season with Bayern. The closest pursuer, Schalke 04, managed to be ahead by 21 points. Jupp Heynckes is now on a well-deserved rest.
Johan Cruyff
The embodiment of Dutch soccer was born in 1947. At the age of 13, the young man left school to devote himself entirely to soccer. For many years he played brilliantly in the famous Ajax and became the best footballer in Europe. His coaching career Cruyff also began at Ajax, with whom he won the Dutch Cup and other trophies, from which he moved to Barcelona, where he became a world-class coach.
In eight years of his coaching, Barcelona won eight trophies. Only Pep Guardiola broke this record. After completing his coaching career Cruyff held managerial positions in soccer.
Cruyff passed away in 2016. He was killed by his addiction to smoking, which caused the coach lung cancer, which became the cause of his death. A stadium and a street were named after the famous coach.
