Juan Antonio Pizzi Torroja (, ; born 7 June 1968) is a football manager and former player who played as a striker.
Pizzi spent the bulk of his club career in Spain, mainly at Tenerife, helping to the side's consolidation in La Liga and amassing top division totals of 221 matches and 92 goals over eight seasons – he also played for Valencia and Barcelona.
Born in Argentina, Pizzi represented the Spain national team for four years, appearing with it in one World Cup and one European Championship. He embarked on a managerial career after retiring, winning the Copa América Centenario for Chile in 2016. He also coached Saudi Arabia at the World Cup in 2018 and Bahrain at the 2023 Asian Cup.
Club career Born in Santa Fe, Pizzi started his professional career with Rosario Central, before transferring to Mexico's Deportivo Toluca. After only one year, he moved to Tenerife, experiencing great individual success (a total of 30 goals in his first two seasons) while also helping the Canary Islands club to qualify for the UEFA Cup in his second year.
These performances prompted interest from fellow La Liga side Valencia, and Pizzi's subsequent purchase. However, highly unsettled, he returned at the end of the campaign to his previous team and in the second season in his second spell he fired them into another UEFA Cup qualification, topping the goal charts at 31 in 41 games and adding a further five in the Copa del Rey.
After that, Pizzi transferred to Barcelona. Never an undisputed starter, barred by Ronaldo, Sonny Anderson and the versatile Luis Enrique during his two-season stint, he managed to net 18 times in competitive matches, being very popular among the Camp Nou faithful.
With Barcelona, Pizzi won the Supercopa de España in 1996, the UEFA Super Cup and Spanish Cup in 1997, conquering the latter again the following year while also winning his only league title. Arguably, his most memorable moment was the decisive goal in the 5–4 home win over Atlético Madrid in the domestic cup's quarter-finals second leg, after the Blaugrana trailed 3–0 at half-time.
Subsequently, Pizzi returned to Argentina to play for River Plate, then had an unassuming spell in Portugal for Porto. After starting 2001–02 back with Rosario he signed with Villarreal for its closure, as the club had lost to a severe leg injury countryman Martín Palermo.
International career Pizzi earned 22 caps for Spain and scored eight goals, his debut coming on 30 November 1994 in a 2–0 friendly win against Finland. The following 20 September, he helped to beat his country of birth Argentina 2–1 in an exhibition game played in Madrid.
Pizzi was part of the squads for UEFA Euro 1996 and the 1998 FIFA World Cup. In the latter, after being replaced by Fernando Morientes in a 0–0 draw against Paraguay as Spain exited in the group stage, he retired from the international scene.
Coaching career Early career After his retirement, aged almost 34, Pizzi played polo in the Barcelona region, then started his coaching career. Together with José del Solar, he managed Argentine Primera División's Colón at the beginning of the Clausura 2005, but both were sacked after three losses in the first three matches.
On 13 April 2006, Pizzi became the coach of Universidad San Martín in the Peruvian Primera División. He returned to his country of birth five years later, working with Rosario Central and San Lorenzo and winning the 2013 Inicial with the latter.
Valencia On 26 December 2013, Pizzi returned to Valencia after 20 years, being appointed manager. His first game in charge was on 4 January of the following year, a 2–0 derby home win over Levante.
Pizzi was sacked on 2 July 2014, after new owner Peter Lim took over. It was the first time in 16 years that Valencia had failed to qualify for Europe, after an eighth-place finish.
Chile
On 29 January 2016, after one year at the helm of León in the Liga MX, Pizzi replaced Jorge Sampaoli at the Chile national side. He took the nation to victory in the Copa América Centenario in the United States, notably disposing of Mexico 7–0 in the last-eight stage and defeating Argentina on penalties in the decisive match.
Pizzi took the team to the final of the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, Chile's first ever final in a FIFA competition and the fifth South American country to do so, losing 0–1 to Germany. However, after failing to qualify for the next year's World Cup – they reached the last matchday in third place, falling to sixth following the 3–0 away loss against Brazil – he resigned.
Saudi Arabia On 28 November 2017, Pizzi was appointed to manage Saudi Arabia, becoming the third man to hold the position in as many months. The team's run at the 2018 World Cup ended after the first three games (one win and two losses); On 21 January 2019, after round-of-16 elimination at the AFC Asian Cup and not having been approached by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation regarding the renewal of his contract, he resigned.
Later career Pizzi returned to San Lorenzo in June 2019, six years after his first managerial spell. On 31 October, he was dismissed due to poor results.
On 21 January 2021, Pizzi was appointed at Racing Club. His team lost the Supercopa Argentina 5–0 to River in March and the Copa de la Superliga final to Colón. He was removed by club president Víctor Blanco on 9 August after a 1–0 defeat to city rivals Independiente.
On 29 June 2022, Pizzi signed a one-year contract at Al-Wasl of the UAE Pro League. Having finished fifth in his only season, he returned to international management with Bahrain. At the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar, his team finished their group ahead of South Korea before being eliminated by Japan in the last 16. He left by mutual consent on 16 February 2024, seven months into a two-year deal.
Remaining in the Middle East, Pizzi was hired on 16 July 2024 as manager of Kuwait. He succeeded Rui Bento, with the team in the third round of World Cup qualifiers for the first time in 20 years. With 1 win in 15 matches, news was distributed that Pizzi left work without informing the federation and stayed out of contact. The Federation announced they are looking for a new Replacement on April 1 and later revealed that he’d leave after his contract expired at the end of the qualifiers.
Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsRosario Central1987–88Argentine Primera División–––20201988–8926 12——2128131989–903115——223317Total 57270000636330Toluca1990–91Mexican Primera División311222——3314Tenerife1991–92La Liga341565——4020 1992–93341543——3818Total 683010800007838Valencia1993–94La Liga1941010—214Tenerife1994–95La Liga321510——33151995–96413175— —4836Tenerife total141761813000015989Barcelona1996–97La Liga3399671—49161997–981524040—232Total4811136111007218River Plate1997–98Argentine Primera División——20—201998–99176—165—3311Total17600185003511Rosario Central1999–2000Argentine Primera División2818—86 —3624Porto2000–01Primeira Liga1131140—164Rosario Central2000–01 Argentine Primera División104—107—20112001–02187———187Rosario Central total113560018136313772Villarreal (loan)2001–02La Liga13120 — —151Career total3931693622521963487213
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsSpain199410199584199671199731199832Total228
Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pizzi goal. + List of international goals scored by Juan Antonio PizziNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 18 January 1995 Riazor, A Coruña, Spain 1–0 2–2 Friendly2 6 September 1995 Los Cármenes, Granada, Spain 3–0 6–0 UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying3 5–04 20 September 1995 Vicente Calderón, Madrid, Spain 1–0 2–1 Friendly5 13 November 1996 Heliodoro Rodríguez, Tenerife, Spain 1–0 4–1 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification6 12 February 1997 Rico Pérez, Alicante, Spain 4–0 4–0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification7 3 June 1998 El Sardinero, Santander, Spain 1–0 4–1 Friendly8 2–0
Managerial statistics
+ Managerial record by team and tenureTeamNatFromToRecord Colón Santa Fe5 February 200526 February 2005Universidad San Martín18 April 200627 November 2006Santiago Morning1 July 200924 June 2010Universidad Católica8 July 201030 June 2011Rosario Central1 July 20115 July 2012San Lorenzo9 October 201226 December 2013Valencia 26 December 20132 July 2014León4 December 201429 January 2016Chile29 January 201610 October 2017Saudi Arabia28 November 201721 January 2019San Lorenzo1 July 201931 October 2019Racing Club21 January 20219 August 2021Al Wasl1 July 202216 May 2023Bahrain12 July 202315 February 2024Kuwait16 July 202431 July 2025 Career total
Honours Player Barcelona La Liga: 1997–98 Copa del Rey: 1996–97, 1997–98 Supercopa de España: 1996 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1996–97 UEFA Super Cup: 1997
Porto Taça de Portugal: 2000–01
Individual Pichichi Trophy: 1995–96
Manager Universidad Católica Chilean Primera División: 2010
San Lorenzo Argentine Primera División: 2013 Inicial
Chile Copa América: 2016
Individual La Liga Manager of the Month: February 2014
See also List of Spain international footballers born outside Spain
References
External links