Galileo Galilei Percovich Lopes (born 20 April 1968), known professionally as Leo Percovich, is an

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

an former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

, who is currently Head of Player Pathway and Development at

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

club

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

. He was granted British citizenship in June 2024.

Playing career

Percovich played for

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

, notably winning the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

and Uruguayan First Division. He went on to play for

Atlético Mineiro Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

, Guaraní FC,

Fluminense FC Fluminense Football Club () is a Brazilian sports club based in the neighbourhood of Laranjeiras, in Rio de Janeiro, being the oldest Association football, football club in the state since its foundation in 1902. It competes in the Campeonato B ...

and

Alianza Lima Club Alianza Lima, more commonly known as simply Alianza Lima, is a Peru, Peruvian professional sports club based in La Victoria District, Lima, La Victoria District of Lima, Peru. The club was founded under the name of Sport Alianza on February ...

. He appeared six times for the Uruguay national team.

Coaching career

Percovich has had previous coaching stints and training with

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

Pachuca Pachuca (; ), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the east-central Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Hidalgo (state), Hidalgo, located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca Municipality, Pach ...

, Cruzeiro,

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

and

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, alongside spells serving with the national teams of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

. He joined the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

coaching staff in 2006, as their new goalkeeper coach, serving for two seasons before joining

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conf ...

prior to the commence of the 2008 season. He moved to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

in December 2009, as an assistant coach following the departure of

Preki Predrag Radosavljević ( sr-Cyrl, Предраг Радосављевић; born June 24, 1963), better known by the nickname Preki (), is a former soccer player and coach. He is currently an assistant coach with Seattle Sounders FC in Major Le ...

during the off-season. In January 2011, Percovich continued coaching in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, joining Chicago Fire as assistant coach. In November 2013, it was announced he would not be returning for the 2014 season. In November 2013, Percovich was appointed as a member of

Aitor Karanka Aitor Karanka de la Hoz (Basque and ; born 18 September 1973) is a Spanish football manager and former player. Save for a brief spell in the United States at age 32, Karanka played solely in Spain for Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid, appearing ...

's coaching staff at

club

, being appointed as their new goalkeeping coach. He was part of the club staff that secured promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

at the end of the 2015–16 season. Percovich continued on as goalkeeping coach for the entirety of the 2016–17 season, despite Karanka's dismissal in March. Following the appointment of

Garry Monk Garry Alan Monk (born 6 March 1979) is an English football manager and former professional player who was most recently the head coach of club Cambridge United. Monk, a centre back, began his playing career with Torquay United before joining ...

in June 2017, Percovich vacated his position, being replaced by

Darryl Flahavan Darryl James Flahavan la-hay-van(born 28 November 1978) is an English association football coach and former player who played as a goalkeeper. He is the goalkeeper coach at club Plymouth Argyle. He has spent most of his career in the Footbal ...

. After a brief spell coaching at

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club () is a Brazilian sports club based in the neighbourhood of Laranjeiras, in Rio de Janeiro, being the oldest football club in the state since its foundation in 1902. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, th ...

, Percovich returned to Middlesbrough in June 2019, after being appointed as a first team assistant coach to new manager and former associate

Jonathan Woodgate Jonathan Simon Woodgate (born 22 January 1980) is an English Association football, football manager and former player. Woodgate began his career at Middlesbrough but moved to Leeds United F.C., Leeds United at the age of sixteen. He was sold t ...

. After

Chris Wilder Christopher John Wilder (born 23 September 1967) is an English professional football manager who formerly played as a right-back. He is the manager of club Sheffield United. Wilder's extensive professional playing career saw spells at Sheff ...

was sacked by Middlesbrough on 3 October 2022, Percovich was named caretaker manager. Middlesbrough won his first game in charge, a 1-0 home victory, over Birmingham City. On 24 October 2022, following the appointment of

Michael Carrick Michael Carrick (born 28 July 1981) is an English professional Association football, football coach and former player who was most recently the head coach of club Middlesbrough F.C., Middlesbrough. He is considered as one of the best midfield ...

, Percovich assumed the role of Head of Player Pathway and Development.

Personal life

Percovich was born in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

to a family of Croatian descent and was named after the Italian astronomer

Galileo Galilei Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...

. In December 2017, Percovich and his family were seriously injured after the vehicle he was driving in plummeted off a bridge. He personally suffered from "slight injuries", his youngest daughter Antonella was killed, whereas his other two children, son Pietro and daughter Valentina, were seriously injured and left in critical condition. His wife Juliana suffered from a fractured

pelvis The pelvis (: pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of an Anatomy, anatomical Trunk (anatomy), trunk, between the human abdomen, abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also c ...

. His older daughter Valentina died a week later.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Nacional *

Primera División Uruguaya Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air Primera Air Scandinavia Aktieselskab, A/S, was a Denmark, Danish airline owned by Primera Travel Group. It provided scheduled and charter passenger services from Northern Europe to mo ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

Middlesbrough *

promotion: 2015–16

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Percovich, Leo Living people 1968 births Men's association football goalkeepers Uruguayan men's footballers Uruguay men's international footballers Uruguayan expatriates in Spain Club Nacional de Football players Clube Atlético Mineiro players Guarani FC players Fluminense FC players Club Alianza Lima footballers Racing de Ferrol footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in Peru Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in France Colorado Rapids non-playing staff Chivas USA non-playing staff Toronto FC non-playing staff Chicago Fire FC non-playing staff Middlesbrough F.C. non-playing staff Uruguayan football coaches Uruguayan football managers Middlesbrough F.C. managers Expatriate football managers in England Footballers from Montevideo 20th-century Uruguayan sportsmen Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers