Javier Clemente Lázaro (; born 12 March 1950) is a Spanish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former player who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Forced to retire from playing in his early 20s through injury, he embarked on a coaching career with his first managerial appointment coming in 1975. Over the next four decades, he took charge of several club and national teams, including

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

which he also represented as a player, as well as Espanyol and

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 ...

. He won the

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

championship in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

and

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

with the former. Nicknamed ''El rubio de

Barakaldo Barakaldo (; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Biscay province in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country in Spain. Located on the Left Bank (Biscay), Left Bank of the Estuary of Bilbao, the city is pa ...

'' (The blond from Barakaldo) per his hair colour and town of origin, Clemente coached the Spain national team in two World Cups and Euro 1996.

Playing career

Born in

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

, Clemente joined

's youth system at the age of 16, from local

Barakaldo CF Barakaldo Club de Fútbol is a Basque football team based in Barakaldo, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Founded in 1917 it plays in , holding home stadium is '' Lasesarre'', with a 7,960 Seat Capacity. History Barakaldo pla ...

. He was propelled to the first team at only 18 by manager Agustín Gaínza, making his official debut against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in that season's

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, most commonly referred to as the Fairs Cup and sometimes as the European Fairs Cup or Fairs Cities' Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The Fairs Cup was the idea of FIFA vice-presid ...

(2–1 home win, 3–3 aggregate triumph); along with fellow teenage newcomer José María Igartua, he was selected for the 1969 Copa del Generalísimo final, a 1–0 victory over

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community, Spain. Founded in 1923, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025–26 season, holding home matches at ...

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. Clemente's best

output with his only club consisted of 18 games in the 1969–70 campaign. On 23 November 1969, during a league match against CE Sabadell FC, he suffered a serious leg injury (

fibula The fibula (: fibulae or fibulas) or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. ...

and

tibia The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two Leg bones, bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outsi ...

) from which he never fully recovered; after four unsuccessful operations, he retired aged just 24.

Coaching career

Beginnings and Athletic

Clemente started coaching immediately after retiring. His first stops were with local Arenas Club de Getxo, CD Basconia and Athletic's reserves. In summer 1981, 31-year-old Clemente was appointed at Athletic Bilbao. He led the side to back-to-back national championships in his second and third years but, during this timeframe, also began a bitter rivalry with César Luis Menotti and his

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

– the

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

criticised his playing style as authoritarian and his teams as defensive and destructive, and the Spaniard in turn dismissed Menotti as an ageing hippy and womaniser; the culmination of this was the 1984 final of the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

, which ended in a massive brawl between the two sets of players. Clemente left the Lions midway through the 1985–86 season, after a run-in with star player Manuel Sarabia. He was subsequently appointed at RCD Español in the same league, leading them to a best-ever third place in

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

and the final of the UEFA Cup the following year, but being relieved of his duties in March 1989 after questioning his squad's desire – the campaign eventually ended in relegation for the

Catalans Catalans ( Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; ; ; or ) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citizens of Catalonia, a nationality and autono ...

. In the following years, Clemente had incomplete top-flight spells with

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

, a return to Athletic Bilbao and Español.

Spain national team

In 1992 Clemente was appointed manager of

, replacing Vicente Miera after the nation had failed to qualify for

UEFA Euro 1992 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having been inv ...

. His first game in charge was a 1–0 friendly win over

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

on 9 September, and he led the country to the following three major international tournaments, the

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

s and Euro 1996, being eliminated in the group stage of the second competition and having a run of 31 matches without defeat. Clemente's last game in charge was on 5 September 1998, a 3–2 defeat in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

for the Euro 2000 qualifiers.

La Liga and France

Clemente returned to club action after his national team dismissal, working in the main division with

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1922, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez L� ...

, Espanyol for a second time, a one-season spell in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

with

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...

, and back with Athletic Bilbao. He helped the latter avoid relegation in the 2005–06 season but, shortly before the new campaign started, was fired after a disagreement with chairman Fernando Lamikiz. Over his three spells in charge at San Mamés, Clemente was manager in 289 official matches, which set a club record. This was broken in 2017 by

Ernesto Valverde Ernesto Valverde Tejedor (born 9 February 1964) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the current manager of La Liga club Athletic Bilbao. Over ten seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 264 games and 68 ...

, who also surpassed his total of 211 league matches managed, finishing on 228, but was unable to match his record of victories: the former won 141 games – 102 in the league – while the latter came up one short, with 140 and 101.

Serbia

Clemente became manager of the Serbia national team on 21 July 2006, being brought in on initiative from Serbian Football Association president

Zvezdan Terzić Zvezdan Terzić (Serbian Cyrillic: Звездан Терзић; born 21 May 1966) is a Serbian football administrator and former player. He currently serves as the general director for Red Star Belgrade of the Serbian SuperLiga. Immediately afte ...

. According to local media his salary was €30,000 per month on a two-year contract, worth €720,000 in total – also, he was eligible for a €400,000 bonus if the country qualified for Euro 2008, and an additional €150,000 bonus for every round passed at the tournament; in an interview given to Serbian daily ''

Politika ( sr-Cyrl, Политика, lit=Politics) is a Serbian daily newspaper, published in Belgrade. Founded in 1904 by Vladislav F. Ribnikar, it is the oldest daily newspaper still in circulation in the Balkans. Publishing and ownership is publ ...

'', he claimed his current was the lowest wage he had earned in the last 20 years. Clemente made his debut on 16 August 2006 in a 3–1 away friendly victory with

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. New players introduced into the squad included Danko Lazović, Marko Pantelić, Vladimir Stojković and Aleksandar Trišović, while previous mainstays such as

Predrag Đorđević Predrag Đorđević (alternatively Djordjević, sr-cyr, Предраг Ђорђевић; born 4 August 1972) is a Serbian retired footballer. Known for his set pieces, Đorđević played as a left midfielder for Greek club Olympiacos for 13 y ...

, Dragoslav Jevrić, Mateja Kežman,

Savo Milošević Savo Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Саво Милошевић, ; born 2 September 1973) is a Serbian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. A former Forward (association football), forward, he ...

and Albert Nađ were dropped. The continental qualification campaign started with three home wins, over

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

, and a draw in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

from the first four matches; however, things started to go wrong with a 2–1 defeat in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

in March 2007, and the nation eventually trailed Poland and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

in Group A, with the manager questioning the side's mental approach in the process. Following the failure to qualify, Clemente was released from his contract on 6 December 2007.

Cameroon and return to Spain

On 17 August 2010, following spells in his country with Real Murcia CF (top tier and

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

) and

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

(eight games in charge, top-flight relegation), Clemente was named as the new coach of

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

, taking over from Paul Le Guen who stepped down after three losses in as many games in the 2010 World Cup. He made his debut with the ''Lions Indomptables'' on 4 September in a 3–1 away win against

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

in the first match of the

2012 Africa Cup of Nations The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (C ...

qualifiers. However, the nation finished second behind

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

and thus failed to reach the finals in

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

and

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

, and he was dismissed on 25 October 2011. On 13 February 2012, Clemente signed as the new manager of

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting is a Spanish professional association football, football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in the ...

, with a contract running until the end of the season. He left the

Asturians Asturians () are a Romance ethnic group native to the autonomous community of Asturias, in the North-West of the Iberian Peninsula. Culture and society Heritage The Asturians have Celtic ( Astures) and Latin cultural origins, most notably f ...

in May, following their relegation; in the process he celebrated his 500th game in the Spanish first division, a 2–1 away loss to

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol (), known simply as Granada or ''"Graná"'', is a professional List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that currently plays in Segunda ...

Libya

On 20 September 2013, Clemente was named manager of

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

, taking over from Abdul-Hafeedh Arbeesh who was fired after a 1–0 defeat to Cameroon for the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign. He led the nation to its first silverware, the

2014 African Nations Championship The 2014 African Nations Championship, known as the 2014 CHAN for short and as the Orange S.A., Orange African Nations Championship for sponsorship purposes, was the 3rd edition of the biennial association football tournament organized by Confed ...

, with a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

win over

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

in the final in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. Later that year, the team withdrew from their hosting duty for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations due to

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. Clemente was sacked by the ''Mediterranean Knights'' in October 2016, having won only three of 14 matches.

Basque Country

On 6 March 2019, Clemente was appointed as manager for the unofficial national team of the Basque Country. At his presentation, he spoke of plans to invite players with Basque heritage to play for the team, in line with the grandfather rule used by FIFA national teams.

Return to Libya

Clemente was re-appointed as head coach of Libya in May 2021. After failing to qualify for the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup and the

2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, his one-year contract was allowed to expire, with compatriot Ramón Catalá seeing out the final weeks.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Athletic Bilbao *

: 1969

Manager

Athletic Bilbao *

: 1982–83, 1983–84 *Copa del Rey: 1983–84; runner-up: 1984–85 *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

: 1984 Spain U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

runner-up:

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

Libya * African Nations Championship:

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Individual * Don Balón Award: 1982–83, 1983–84, 1986–87

References

External links

* * *
Athletic Bilbao manager profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clemente, Javier 1950 births Living people 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Barakaldo Men's association football midfielders La Liga players Tercera División players Athletic Bilbao footballers Athletic Bilbao B footballers Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-23 international footballers Spanish football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers Segunda División B managers Tercera División managers Arenas Club de Getxo managers CD Basconia managers Athletic Bilbao B managers Athletic Bilbao managers RCD Espanyol managers Atlético Madrid managers Real Betis managers Real Sociedad managers CD Tenerife managers Real Murcia CF managers Real Valladolid managers Sporting de Gijón managers Ligue 1 managers Olympique de Marseille managers Spain national football team managers 1994 FIFA World Cup managers UEFA Euro 1996 managers 1998 FIFA World Cup managers Serbia national football team managers Cameroon national football team managers Libya national football team managers Olympic coaches for Spain Spanish expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in France Expatriate football managers in Serbia Expatriate football managers in Cameroon Expatriate football managers in Libya Spanish expatriate sportspeople in France Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Cameroon Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Libya