Vicente del Bosque

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

After taking over from Luis Aragonés – who had led Spain to European success at UEFA Euro 2008 – del Bosque led the national team to their first FIFA World Cup in 2010, and then to retain their European Championship in 2012. Del Bosque coached Real Madrid from 1999 to 2003, one of the most successful periods in the club's modern era. During his playing career, del Bosque made over 400 appearances for Real Madrid, winning five La Liga titles and four Copas del Rey. He played internationally with the senior Spain national team on 18 occasions.

In Their Own Story

Real Madrid decided not to renew Del Bosque's contract in 2003, just a day after he won the club its 29th Liga title and a week after the club signed David Beckham. Del Bosque was offered the post of technical director but turned it down, leading to many suggestions in Spanish media that there was a much rumoured political split at the club involving del Bosque and several players, especially captain Fernando Hierro (who was asked to leave the club in the summer of 2003), on one side, while Valdano and Pérez wielded the axe of control to, in their words, 'shake up the team,' on the other. Pérez said in an interview with BBC Sport, 'del Bosque was showing signs of exhaustion. I want to be sincere about this – our belief that he was not the right coach for the future.' The BBC article states: 'It is a strange tale from start to finish – how the shy, mustachioed man from Salamanca came to be in charge of the most expensive and talented bunch of footballers in the modern game, won the biggest trophies on offer and then got the boot in favour of a man yet to be named. With the Real superstars, del Bosque was extremely popular – partly because he was happier to let them get on with it. Cool as a cryogenically-frozen cucumber, he managed to avoid confrontations with his charges, despite the stellar egos in the squad, and never once lost his calm in front of the media.' In the four years since Del Bosque's departure, Real Madrid changed seven coaches and did not win any major trophies until they won the La Liga title in 2007, under new coach Fabio Capello (who was also sacked afterwards). They had also been defeated in the round of 16 of the Champions League every year since the 2004–05 season (one year after Del Bosque was sacked), until the 2010–11 Champions League season, which saw Real Madrid defeat Lyon in the round of 16 under new manager José Mourinho. It would take until the 2013–14 campaign for the club to win another Champions League title, under manager Carlo Ancelotti.

Reader's Guide

As a player, del Bosque was a midfielder who played in La Liga 441 times with 30 goals. This career included spells at Castilla CF, Córdoba, Castellón and Real Madrid. He won five league titles (1974–75, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80) and four Copa del Rey titles (1973–74, 1974–75, 1979–80, 1981–82) with Real Madrid. He was also part of the Real Madrid team that lost to Liverpool in the 1981 European Cup final. Internationally, del Bosque received 18 caps with the Spain national team, scoring one goal. He appeared for Spain at UEFA Euro 1980, which would be disappointing for Spain as it exited at the group stage of the competition.

Did You Know?

• Del Bosque is to date the only football manager to have won the World Cup, the Champions League, the European Championship, and the Intercontinental Cup.