Ricardo Alberto Gareca Nardi (; born 10 February 1958), nicknamed ''el Tigre'' and ''el Flaco'' ("Tiger " and "Slim"), is an Argentine

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 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 ...

and former player. He was recently the manager of the Chile national team. During his playing career, Gareca played for four of the most important teams in Argentina (

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

, River Plate, Vélez Sársfield and Independiente). He also had a successful experience in Colombia with América de Cali, winning two league titles and being runner-up of three

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 ...

. Since 1996, Gareca has worked as a manager. He has won four league titles in Argentina (with Vélez Sarsfield); as well as a second division championship and a

Copa CONMEBOL The Copa CONMEBOL () was an annual football cup competition organized by CONMEBOL between 1992 and 1999 for South American football clubs. During its time of existence, it was a very prestigious South American club football contest, similar to the ...

with

Talleres de Córdoba Club Atlético Talleres (; ), mostly known simply as Talleres ( in Rioplatense Spanish, Rioplatense accent and or in Cordobés Spanish, Cordobés accent; ), is an Football in Argentina, Argentine professional sports club based in the city of C ...

Playing career

Club

Gareca started his professional career in 1978 with

, where he only played 16 games in his first three years with the club. In 1981, he was loaned out to

Sarmiento Sarmiento may refer to: Places Argentina *Sarmiento Department, San Juan, a subdivision of the San Juan Province * Sarmiento Department, Santiago del Estero, a subdivision of the Santiago del Estero Province * Sarmiento Department, Chubut, a subdi ...

for the 1981 Metropolitano, but he returned to Boca for the Nacional where he played alongside

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...

, scoring 8 goals in the championship. In 1985, Gareca earned the eternal hatred of many Boca fans for transferring directly to their fiercest rivals, River Plate, along with

Oscar Ruggeri Oscar Alfredo Ruggeri (born 26 January 1962) is an Argentine former professional association football, footballer who played as centre-back. Nicknamed ''El Cabezón'' ("The Big-head One"), Ruggeri achieved success at the international level with ...

. However, unlike Ruggeri, his time with River was short, and the fans started losing that hatred, as he soon joined Colombian team América de Cali later in 1985. Gareca won two league titles with América, in 1985 and 1986. He also had the misfortune of being on the losing side of the

final three times in a row (

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

, 1986 and

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 ...

). He was also the top scorer of the 1987 edition, with 7 goals. During his time at América, Gareca was almost assassinated by

Pablo Escobar Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (; ; 1 December 19492 December 1993) was a Colombian drug lord, narcoterrorist, and politician who was the founder and leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed the "King of Cocaine", Escobar was one of the wealthie ...

. In 1989, Gareca returned to Argentina, where he played for Vélez Sársfield until 1992. In 1993, he joined Independiente for the last years of his career, making him one of a select band of players to have played for four of the most successful teams in Argentine football. While playing for Independiente he also won his first

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

title, in the 1994 Clausura. Shortly after winning the league title, he officially retired.

National team

Gareca made his debut for the Argentina national team in 1981, playing against

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 ...

. He went on to play 20 caps for his country, scoring 5 goals, including one against the team he would eventually go to coach, Peru, which eliminated the Peruvians from reaching the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

and had costed Peru into a World Cup drought for 36 years.

Coaching career

Early career in Argentina

Gareca started his managerial career with San Martin de Tucuman in 1995 Talleres in 1996. In 1997, he left the club to take over at Independiente, but results were not forthcoming and he returned to Talleres later that year. Gareca led Talleres to the

Primera B Nacional Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, (English "National B Division"), and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 38 team ...

(Argentine second division) championship in 1997–98, which earned them promotion to the Primera División. In 1999, he led them to their first major title, the

, making them the first team in Argentina from outside the Buenos Aires and Santa Fe provinces to win an international competition. In 2000, Gareca joined

Colón de Santa Fe Colón, the primary Spanish translation of Christopher Columbus, may refer to: Places ;Argentina * Colón, Entre Ríos * Colón Department, Córdoba * Colón Department, Entre Ríos * Colón, Buenos Aires ;Colombia * Colón, Nariño * Coló ...

, but soon returned to Talleres for a third spell with the club. In 2002, the former forward took over at

Quilmes Quilmes () is a city on the coast of the Rio de la Plata, in the , on the southeast end of the Greater Buenos Aires, being some away from the urban centre area of Buenos Aires. The city was founded in 1666 and is the seat of the eponymous '' ...

in the second division, and then in 2003 he became manager of

Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its association football, football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was reco ...

. Having led Argentinos to the brink of promotion, the club faced a playoff against Gareca's former team Quilmes, which they lost, missing out on promotion.

Elche, América de Cali, Santa Fe, returning to Talleres and Universitario

Gareca then teamed up with former teammate

in 2004 to work as his field assistant at

Elche Elche (, ; , , , ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2024's data, Elche has a population of 234,800 inhabitants,

in Spain. In 2005, he became manager of his former club, América de Cali, followed by a spell in charge of

Independiente Santa Fe Club Independiente Santa Fe, known simply as Santa Fe, is a Colombian professional Association football, football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Estadio El Campín, El Cam ...

, both in Colombia. In 2006, he returned for a fourth spell with Talleres, but couldn't prevent them from struggling in the Argentine second division. In October 2007, he became the manager of Peruvian Universitario, and in July 2008 he led the team to the Torneo Apertura title.

Vélez Sarsfield

upGareca as manager of Vélez Gareca returned to Argentina in 2009 to become manager of Vélez Sarsfield. In his first championship season with the club, he led them to the Clausura championship. Vélez lost only one of their 19 games throughout the championship. The 2010–11 season was a very successful one, as Gareca led Vélez to a runner-up finish in the Apertura, making a 43-points campaign (3 more than in their championship winning campaign of 2009), and to another championship in the Clausura. Gareca won his third league title with Vélez in 2012, helping the team obtain the 2012 Inicial.

Palmeiras

On 21 May 2014, Gareca was announced as the new manager of Brazilian side Palmeiras, signing a contract until June 2015. However, he was sacked after just three months due to Palmeiras' poor results. During that time, he was contacted by the

Ghana Football Association The Ghana Football Association (GFA) is the sports governing body, governing body of association football in Ghana, based in the capital city, Accra. Founded in 1957 to replace the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast Football Association whi ...

to become coach of

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 ...

, but ultimately fell short to Avram Grant.

Peru national team

In February 2015, Gareca was named the manager for the Peruvian national team. At the first moment he got appointed, the decision had sparked a number of criticism among Peruvian football platforms due to the fact he was the man behind the current Peru's football crisis, blaming him for the goal that killed Peru's dream to qualify for the

. Taking over shortly before the 2015 Copa América, Gareca faced a difficult task to encourage an already demoralized Peruvian team to achieve some football feat and to prove his worthiness as coach. Peru's first match under Gareca however, was a friendly defeat to

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, and the pressure increased. However, Gareca turned the struggling Peruvians around and led them to the semi-finals of the competition and eventually occupied third place. This was the repeat of the

2011 Copa América The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, better known as the 2011 Copa América or the Copa América 2011 Argentina, was the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international association football, football tournament for national ...

and thus he got some good credits, although skepticism remained high due to previous experience with Sergio Markarián in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers. Gareca then led Peru in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, but his journey was extremely rocky. Throughout seven games, Peru only managed a lone home win to

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

, as the team lost the others. Following the dented 0–2 away loss to minnows

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

, Gareca faced possible sacking, however the pressure was relieved when the Bolivians were found to have fielded ineligible player and the result was forfeited to a 3–0 win for Peru away. Although it was less meaningful at that time, Gareca was capable to utilize this lone advantage to lead a successful Peruvian resurgence in the remaining games, with the team only lost to

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 ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, especially two encouraging draws to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, his homeland, and a home win to

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 ...

, eventually brought Peru to the playoff for the first time since 1986. On 15 November 2017, Gareca led Peru to a 2–0 on aggregate victory against New Zealand, confirming their place in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, its first ever

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 ...

after 36 years absence. It had been described as the greatest irony of world's football, since Gareca himself had put Peru into a World Cup drought 32 years before. Interestingly, Ricardo Gareca also shared a coincidence record with another late player and manager, Didi Pereira, who was responsible for eliminating Peru from the

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the 6th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first and only FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Br ...

before rebuilding the same team to qualify for its most successful World Cup in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

. Between the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, Gareca's Peru participated in the Copa América Centenario held in the United States, where the team produced a successful performance, including a famous win over powerhouse Brazil, albeit in a controversial style. Gareca's Peru were then eliminated by

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

on penalty kicks in the quarter-finals. In the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

, Peru's first World Cup after 36 years, the team was grouped with

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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. Peru demonstrated a brave performance, but was not lucky as the team crashed out of group stage following two defeats to Denmark and France, before grabbing a 2–0 win over Australia to gain its first three points after 40 years. France eventually conquered the 2018 World Cup. In the 2019 Copa América, Gareca led Peru to its greatest feat in their history after 44 years, guiding the Peruvians to the final, even though its beginning had been rocky as well, with Peru securing a third-place finish to reach the quarter-finals, before outclassing Uruguay and Chile to achieve the feat. Although Peru lost the final against Brazil, it was considered a huge success, as Peru had lost 5–0 to Brazil in the group stage and hopes were low. These recent successes have helped elevate and secure Gareca's position as the manager of Peru. After losing to the Australian national team in a playoff for one of the 32 berths in the

2022 FIFA 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 ...

on 13 June 2022, Gareca stated "Sometimes things don't work out. Both rivals study each other. Many things come across your mind. Why? Because of the place, the climate, one doesn't know about the temperature, apart from training towards it -- the field texture was a little fast. In that game, you need to set up right away, but we're an experienced team, we've been playing big games, and unfortunately, we had to win this game, we lost it. Arriving at a penalty shootout was not what we were expecting." After this loss, Gareca expressed his wish to remain as coach of Peru, but he wanted a bigger role in the country's sporting development. He was unable to reach an agreement with the federation and consequently he resigned as coach of the Peruvian national team. He has been linked to a potential coaching position for

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, after this country's elimination from the group stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Return to Vélez Sarsfield

In March 2023, Gareca returned to Vélez Sarsfield, until December 2023.

Chile national team

On 24 January 2024 Gareca became the manager of the Chile national team. After a run that left the Chilean national team last in the 2026 CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifiers, having managed the team for 17 games with only one win in official competitions, Gareca stepped down from his managerial role on 10 June 2025.

Personal life

Gareca is a practising Roman Catholic.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

América de Cali * Primera A: 1985, 1986 *

runner-up: 1986 Independiente * Primera División: 1994 Clausura *

Supercopa Libertadores The Supercopa Libertadores (English: ''Libertadores Supercup''), also known as the Supercopa Sudamericana, Supercopa Libertadores João Havelange, Supercopa João Havelange or simply Supercopa, was a football club competition contested annually b ...

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 ...

Manager

Talleres *

: 1997–98 *

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Universitario * Torneo Apertura:

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 ...

Vélez Sarsfield * Primera División: 2009 Clausura, 2011 Clausura, 2012 Inicial, 2012–13 Peru *

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

runner-up:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

; third-place:

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

References

External links

* at Fútbol XXI * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gareca, Ricardo 1958 births Living people Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent Argentine Roman Catholics Footballers from La Matanza Partido Argentine men's footballers Men's association football forwards Boca Juniors footballers Club Atlético Sarmiento footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers América de Cali footballers Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers Club Atlético Independiente footballers Argentine Primera División players Categoría Primera A players Argentina men's international footballers 1983 Copa América players Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Colombia Expatriate men's footballers in Colombia Argentine football managers San Martín de Tucumán managers Talleres de Córdoba managers Club Atlético Independiente managers Club Atlético Colón managers Quilmes Atlético Club managers Argentinos Juniors managers América de Cali managers Independiente Santa Fe managers Club Universitario de Deportes managers Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield managers SE Palmeiras managers Peru national football team managers Chile national football team managers Primera B Nacional managers Argentine Primera División managers Categoría Primera A managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A managers 2015 Copa América managers Copa América Centenario managers 2018 FIFA World Cup managers 2019 Copa América managers 2021 Copa América managers 2024 Copa América managers Argentine expatriate football managers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Peru Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Chile Expatriate football managers in Colombia Expatriate football managers in Peru Expatriate football managers in Brazil Expatriate football managers in Chile Copa Libertadores top scorers 20th-century Argentine sportsmen