Mexican footballer and manager (born 1955)
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Vucetich and the second or maternal family name is Rojas.
Víctor Manuel Vucetich Rojas (born 25 June 1955) is a Mexican professional football manager and former player. He is the current head coach of Liga MX club Mazatlán.
With a career spanning more than thirty years, Vucetich is one of the most decorated managers in the history of Mexican football. He has coached thirteen teams in the Liga MX, winning five league championships with four clubs. He has also won four Copa México championships, an InterLiga championship and two second division titles, as well as three CONCACAF Champions League cups.
Because of his many achievements with multiple clubs, he is popularly nicknamed by the Mexican press, players and fans as El Rey Midas (King Midas) because "everything he touches turns to gold".[1][2]
In October 2010, Víctor Manuel Vucetich was identified as the most advanced of the candidates to fill the vacant post of the Selección de fútbol de México (Mexico national team), even receiving an official contact after several weeks of "scratching in the realm of speculation", as he called it. He ultimately ruled out the possibility of taking over the national team, citing commitments with then-employer Monterrey as well as personal reasons.[3] On October 16, Vucetich explained at a press conference his role as a father, thus declining the opportunity to coach the national team, stating: "Yesterday evening is ultimately where I determined to step aside to avoid a larger problem for the federation, so that someone can give their full time to the national team. The reasons for which I have made this decision are personal and family related more than anything."
On September 12, 2013, a few days after leaving Monterrey, Vucetich was officially named coach of the Mexico national team.[4] He won his first match in charge, a vital 2–1 win over visiting Panama national team, which was Mexico's first victory at the Azteca in the final round of qualifications.
On October 17, two days after Mexico lost their match against Costa Rica, Vucetich was sacked, being replaced by Miguel Herrera. This occurred after the polemics that arose after the team's abysmal performance in their World Cup qualifying campaign, managing to reach the play-off against New Zealand due to the United States's 3–2 victory over Panama.
On 23 February 2015 Vucetich was officially appointed as Querétaro F.C. head coach.[5] In his first season, he led Querétaro to their inaugural final facing Santos Laguna. Querétaro lost in the first leg, rebounded in the second leg (5–0) then fell short by two goals. His tenure with the club ended in 2017.[6]
On 13 August, he was named as Guadalajara's new manager.[7] Two days later, he would win his debut match with the team against Atlético San Luis in a 2–1 home victory.[8]
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neza | 1988 | 1989 | 47 | 22 | 14 | 11 | 66 | 45 | +21 | 046.81 | |
| León | 25 September 1990 | 30 June 1993 | 185 | 80 | 58 | 47 | 270 | 184 | +86 | 043.24 | |
| Tecos | 1 July 1993 | 30 June 1995 | 88 | 39 | 32 | 17 | 121 | 86 | +35 | 044.32 | |
| Tigres UANL | 1 July 1995 | 30 June 1996 | 45 | 17 | 16 | 12 | 57 | 51 | +6 | 037.78 | |
| Cruz Azul | 1 July 1996 | 9 March 1997 | 37 | 15 | 9 | 13 | 60 | 49 | +11 | 040.54 | |
| Tecos | 1 July 1997 | 17 August 1998 | 41 | 14 | 11 | 16 | 53 | 62 | −9 | 034.15 | |
| León | 1 January 1999 | 30 June 1999 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 11 | 19 | 33 | −14 | 029.41 | |
| Tigres UANL | 17 September 1999 | 30 June 2000 | 29 | 9 | 12 | 8 | 46 | 36 | +10 | 031.03 | |
| La Piedad | 5 October 2001 | 30 June 2002 | 29 | 15 | 3 | 11 | 48 | 37 | +11 | 051.72 | |
| Puebla | 16 September 2002 | 3 March 2003 | 19 | 6 | 2 | 11 | 21 | 33 | −12 | 031.58 | |
| Pachuca | 1 July 2003 | 30 June 2004 | 46 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 71 | 60 | +11 | 043.48 | |
| Veracruz | 4 March 2005 | 30 June 2005 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 17 | −6 | 020.00 | |
| Veracruz | 3 March 2006 | 3 September 2006 | 16 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 17 | 20 | −3 | 037.50 | |
| Chiapas | 15 February 2007 | 7 September 2007 | 19 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 18 | 31 | −13 | 026.32 | |
| Monterrey | 9 January 2009 | 26 August 2013 | 244 | 114 | 71 | 59 | 394 | 273 | +121 | 046.72 | |
| Mexico | 12 September 2013 | 18 October 2013 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | +0 | 050.00 | |
| Querétaro | 24 February 2015 | 31 January 2017 | 91 | 35 | 24 | 32 | 130 | 116 | +14 | 038.46 | |
| Querétaro | 18 February 2019 | 2 June 2020 | 47 | 19 | 9 | 19 | 64 | 65 | −1 | 040.43 | |
| Guadalajara | 13 August 2020 | 19 September 2021 | 45 | 17 | 17 | 11 | 54 | 50 | +4 | 037.78 | |
| Monterrey | 2 March 2022 | 28 May 2023 | 54 | 31 | 12 | 11 | 89 | 49 | +40 | 057.41 | |
| Mazatlán | 7 May 2024 | present | 24 | 4 | 11 | 9 | 19 | 27 | −8 | 016.67 | |
| Total | 1,135 | 476 | 332 | 327 | 1,631 | 1,327 | +304 | 041.94 | |||
Potros Neza
León
Tecos
Tigres UANL
Cruz Azul
Pachuca
Monterrey
Querétaro
Individual