Enrique Meza Enríquez (born 3 March 1948) is a Mexican professional football

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

who most recently coached

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

. Prior to pursuing a career in coaching, he was a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V., commonly referred to as Cruz Azul, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football league system, Mexican footba ...

during their dynasty of the 1970s, albeit a backup to legendary goalkeeper Miguel Marín. He retired in 1981 and is one of the most successful managers of the professional era of the

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

Coaching career

Beginnings

Notably, Meza has been coach of several professional soccer teams in Mexico Premier League and Mexico National Team. His career has been filled with impressive successes and disappointments. Meza started his coaching career in the first division Mexico league by coaching

from 1982 to 1983 and from 1992 to 1995. He led Cruz Azul to the Mexico league final in 1994, but lost. The next year he switched to coach Monarcas Morelia. Enrique Meza and Pele

Crucially, it was not until 1996 that his coaching truly started showing its capturing potential. His new team,

Toros Neza Neza Fútbol Club is a Mexican football club based in the city of Nezahualcóyotl, State of Mexico, that plays in the Liga de Balompié Mexicano. Founded in 1991 as Toros UTN, then the club was moved to Pachuca, Hidalgo and played the 1993–94 ...

, had a distinct style of football offensive play, resulting in their scoring numerous goals. During 1996, his Toros Neza team made it to the final, but lost to

Chivas de Guadalajara Club Deportivo Guadalajara S.A de C.V. (;), nicknamed ''"Chivas"'' () and simply known as Guadalajara or internationally as Chivas de Guadalajara, is a Mexican professional football club based in the Guadalajara metropolitan area, Jalisco. It c ...

by a high score.

Three times league Champion

Soon after losing the final, he announced that he was leaving to coach

Club Toluca Deportivo Toluca Fútbol Club S.A. de C.V. is a Mexican professional football club based in Toluca, State of Mexico. The club plays in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football, from which they have never been relegated. The club was f ...

. His coaching proved to be very successful and spectacular. Meza was what Toluca needed, and the club became champion on three occasions: Verano 1998, Verano 1999 and Verano 2000, in just two years. In 2000 Meza left Club Toluca to coach the Mexico national team. The performance of the team was below expectations, and he resigned after only few months of accepting the appointment. In 2006 Meza took the coaching position at Pachuca Football Club.

South American and CONCACAF Titles

After a very bad start, Meza slowly transformed the team, leading Pachuca Football Club to its first

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...

championship. This made C.F. Pachuca the first time Mexico won a CONMEBOL title. In 2007 Meza took C.F. Pachuca to their second CONCACAF: Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football title, which entitled the team to participate in the

2007 FIFA Club World Cup The 2007 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2007 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was a football tournament played in Japan from 7 to 16 December 2007. It was the fourth FIFA Club World Cup, a tourn ...

, and lead C.F. Pachuca to its fifth league title. On 29 August 2007, his team won its first Superliga title, after defeating the

Los Angeles Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

at the Home Depot Center.

FIFA Club World Cup

In April, 2008, Pachuca reclaimed the

CONCACAF Champions Cup The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, a ...

and secured a berth for the Japanese hosted

2008 FIFA Club World Cup The 2008 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2008 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was the fifth FIFA Club World Cup, a football tournament for the champion clubs from each of FIFA's six continental c ...

held in December 2008. Pachuca finished fourth after winning 1 match with 2 losses. Meza managed Pachuca to a second final in Clausura 2009, but he lost his second final against

Ricardo Ferretti Ricardo Ferretti de Oliveira (born 22 February 1954), also known as Tuca, is a Brazilian-Mexican professional football manager and former player who currently works for ESPN Deportes and ESPN Mexico as an analyst. As a player, Ferretti was ...

of Pumas UNAM (first loss against Guadalajara while coaching Toros Neza) by aggregate score 2–3. On June 1, 2009, Meza finished his contract with Pachuca; and some members of the media linked Meza to

. Meza's results have made him one of the greatest coaches in the Mexico League, making him the fourth most successful coach in the league's history. Cruz Azul's president, Guillermo Alvarez, Confirmed that Enrique Meza and Cruz Azul had reached an agreement - for what would be his fourth time as coach of Cruz Azul five years later. Enrique Meza returned to Cruz Azul with a new challenge and determination of giving Cruz Azul a title. Since the 1997 Mexico League Winter Tournament Cruz Azul have not won a title.

Mexico coach vs World Champions: Spain

On July 28, 2010, he was selected as interim coach of the Mexico national team, after

Javier Aguirre Javier Aguirre Onaindía (; born 1 December 1958), nicknamed ''El Vasco'' (The Basque), is a Mexican football Manager (association football), manager and former Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently manag ...

left the position. He gained new, endearing wide appeal for his only game as interim coach on 11 August 2010 at Mexico's hallowed home of football -

Azteca Stadium Estadio Azteca () (officially known as Estadio Banorte for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium located in Coyoacán, Mexico City. It is the official home of football team Club América, as well as the Mexico national team. The stadium ...

- because he tactically got a 1–1 draw against the

2008 UEFA European Football Championship The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

and

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

winners

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

2012 Mexico Apertura league

With the Mexico

Clausura The ' () and ' () tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is ...

- closing - first half of the year football league ending in May 2012, Meza finished his term as head coach and technical director of

on Tuesday 15 May 2012. And on Friday 18 May 2012, Toluca Football Club hired Enrique Meza as their new coach and technical director for the 2012

Apertura The ' () and ' () tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is ...

- opening - second half of the year Mexico League. Subsequently, Meza led Toluca to come first in the 2012

by points, but lost out to

Tijuana Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...

in the final championship match of the playoffs involving the premier 8 ranked teams of the League.

Return to Pachuca

On Tuesday 3 September 2013, in a strategic move, the management of Pachuca Football Club held a press conference and announced that Meza was coming in as new technical director, coach and manager of the distinguished Hidalgo club. Meza took over from

Gabriel Caballero Gabriel Esteban Caballero Schiker (born 5 February 1971) is a professional football manager and former player. Born in Argentina, he played for the Mexico national team. Club career Caballero started playing in his native Argentina's Centra ...

who served as coach of Pachuca Football Club from November 2012 to 2 September 2013.

Puebla FC

Meza was brought in during October 2017 to try to turn around a

Puebla FC Club Puebla is a Mexican professional football club based in Puebla. It competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Founded in 1944 as Puebla Fútbol Club, and then changed to its current name in 2016. Nicknamed ''La Franja'' (" ...

team that had hit rock bottom of the relegation table. By March 2018, Meza had received praise by the media in regards to his ability to turn around a modest roster into a playoff team.

Personal life

Meza is popularly called "Ojitos" because of his sharp eyes. His son

Enrique Maximiliano Meza Enrique Maximiliano Meza Salinas (born 14 November 1979), sometimes known as Enrique Meza Jr., is a Mexican Association football, football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. Meza spent the majority of his playing career in his ...

is also a football manager.

Managerial statistics

Includes matches from

Copa MX Copa MX, also known as Copa Corona MX for sponsorship reasons, was an association football competition in Mexico and the domestic cup tournament for clubs at the highest and second levels of Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Copa ...

Titles and honours

*League Championships: ** Verano 1998 Toluca Football Club ** Verano 1999 Toluca Football Club ** Verano 2000 Toluca Football Club ** Clausura 2007 Pachuca Football Club *CONCACAF Team of the Year: ** 2007: Pachuca Football Club *CONCACAF Champions' Cup: **

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Pachuca Football Club **

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Pachuca Football Club *

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

: ** Fourth Place:

Pachuca Football Club *

: **

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Pachuca Football Club

Picture gallery

File:Enrique Meza and Sepp Blatter in Japan.jpg, Enrique Meza with FIFA President

Sepp Blatter Joseph Sepp Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former association football, football administrator who served as the list of Presidents of FIFA, eighth president of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. He has been banned from participatin ...

in Japan during the

File:Enrique Meza 2.jpg, Seen here, in the middle, Meza trains his

team in Mexico City: Mexico File:Enrique Meza 12.jpg, As coach and technical manager of Mexico's national football team during their 11 August 2010 friendly with world champions:

File:Enrique Meza 15.jpg, With the 2007 North American SuperLiga Cup his Pachuca team won after defeating Los Angeles Galaxy in the Home Depot Center on 29 August File:Enrique Meza 22.jpg, Meza walks off the pitch after he led the Mexico national team to a 1–1 draw with world champions Spain on 11 August 2010 at

: Mexico City File:Enrique Meza 23.jpg, Addressing a global press conference concerning Mexico's friendly game with Spain File:Enrique Meza 32.jpg, Enrique Meza and Spanish Coach:

Vicente del Bosque Vicente del Bosque González, 1st Marquess of Del Bosque (; born 23 December 1950) is a Spanish retired football manager and former player. He is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time and is to date the only football manager to ha ...

greeting each other - at

, Mexico City Mexico during the 11 August 2010 friendly game between Mexico and world champions Spain File:Enrique Meza 33.jpg, Meza and Vicente File:Enrique Meza and Cruz Azul Team.jpg, With his complete Cruz Azul team; including medical personnel and assistants File:Enrique Meza and Pachuca.jpg, Speaking to his Pachuca football club team File:Enrique Meza 6.jpg, Training session with his Cruz Azul team on an away match at the football Club Santos Laguna Corona Stadium in Torreón, Coahuila, México

Notes

External links

FIFA on Enrique Meza

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meza, Enrique 1948 births Living people Mexico national football team managers 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup managers Cruz Azul managers Atlético Morelia managers Deportivo Toluca F.C. managers Atlas F.C. managers C.F. Pachuca managers Mexican football managers Tigres UANL footballers Footballers from Mexico City Mexican men's footballers Toros Neza footballers Liga MX managers Men's association football goalkeepers Copa Sudamericana winning managers 20th-century Mexican sportsmen