Carlos Bianchi facts for kids
Bianchi with Vélez Sarsfield c. 1970
|
|||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Carlos Bianchi | ||
| Date of birth | 26 April 1949 | ||
| Place of birth | Buenos Aires, Argentina | ||
| Height | 1.78m | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Unión de Paz | |||
| Ciclón de Jonte | |||
| 1960–1967 | Vélez Sarsfield | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1967–1973 | Vélez Sarsfield | 165 | (121) |
| 1973–1977 | Reims | 124 | (107) |
| 1977–1979 | Paris Saint-Germain | 89 | (76) |
| 1979–1980 | Strasbourg | 22 | (8) |
| 1980–1984 | Vélez Sarsfield | 159 | (85) |
| 1984–1985 | Reims | 18 | (8) |
| Total | 562 | (393) | |
| National team | |||
| 1970–1972 | Argentina | 14 | (8) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1985–1988 | Reims | ||
| 1989–1990 | Nice | ||
| 1993–1996 | Vélez Sarsfield | ||
| 1996 | Roma | ||
| 1998–2001 | Boca Juniors | ||
| 2003–2004 | Boca Juniors | ||
| 2005–2006 | Atlético Madrid | ||
| 2013–2014 | Boca Juniors | ||
|
|||
Carlos Bianchi (born April 26, 1949) is a famous Argentine former football player and manager. People often call him El Virrey, which means The Viceroy. He was an amazing goal scorer during his playing days in Argentina and France.
But Bianchi is even more famous as one of the most successful coaches ever. He led two big Argentine clubs, Vélez Sarsfield and Boca Juniors, to win many important titles. He is the only coach to win the Copa Libertadores four times. He also shares a record with Josep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti for winning three club world championships. Both Boca Juniors and Vélez Sarsfield have even made a statue of him!
Contents
About Carlos Bianchi
Carlos Bianchi was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He grew up in a regular family. In 1972, he married Margaret Mary Pilla. They have two children, Mauro Carlos and Brenda, and four grandchildren.
Carlos helped his dad with sales before he became a professional football player. He always loved Vélez Sarsfield, the team he would later play for and coach.
During his time as coach of Vélez Sarsfield, a sports writer named Victor Hugo Morales gave him the nickname "El Virrey" (The Viceroy). This name came from how many titles Bianchi helped Vélez Sarsfield win, both as a player and a coach. The club is in a neighborhood called Liniers, which is named after a historical figure, Santiago de Liniers, who was a viceroy in the early 1800s.
Playing Career
How it Started
Like many other Argentine football players, Carlos Bianchi started by playing "baby fútbol." This is a smaller version of futsal, played by kids on smaller fields.
When he was 11, Bianchi joined Club Ciclón de Jonte. This club was connected to Vélez Sarsfield. Someone from Vélez Sarsfield saw his talent and invited him to play in their youth teams. By the time he was 16, he was already playing in the third division!
Bianchi made his first team debut for Vélez Sarsfield at 18. His manager, Victorio Spinetto, gave him the chance. His first game was a 1–1 draw against Boca Juniors. A year later, in 1968, he scored his first goal against Argentinos Juniors. He even broke a long-standing record by scoring against a goalkeeper who hadn't let in a goal for a very long time.
At just 19, Bianchi helped Vélez Sarsfield win the 1968 Nacional championship. He also became the top goal scorer in the 1970 Nacional championship with 18 goals. In 1971 Metropolitano, he scored an amazing 36 goals. Because he played so well, he became the main forward for Vélez Sarsfield.
Playing in Europe
In 1973, Bianchi moved to France to play for Reims, a team in Ligue 1. In his first season, he was the league's top scorer with 30 goals. He even scored six goals in one game against Paris Saint-Germain!
He got a serious injury in a friendly match against Barcelona. This made him miss a whole season. But after he got better, he became the top scorer again. He scored 34 goals in 1975–76 and 28 goals in 1976–77.
During his time at Reims, Bianchi scored 107 goals in four seasons. He was the top scorer in the French league three times. In 1977, he joined Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).
In his first season with PSG, Bianchi scored 37 goals in 38 matches. He was also named the best player of the season. The next season, 1978–79, he was the top scorer again with 27 goals. Even with his amazing goals, PSG didn't win any titles. They finished in lower positions in the league. Because of this, Bianchi decided to move to a stronger team.
He once said, "When I was part of the team, PSG was a more modest team, with less attacking power. But despite that, I scored 37 goals in 38 league matches during my first season with the club. I had intuition, I knew where the ball was about to be. It's that being a scorer was my life."
In the 1979–80 season, he played for Strasbourg, but he didn't score as many goals.
Back to Vélez Sarsfield
In 1980, Bianchi returned to Argentina to play for his old club, Vélez Sarsfield. He quickly became the top scorer in the 1981 season with 15 goals.
His last game for Vélez Sarsfield was in 1984, a loss to Boca Juniors. Carlos Bianchi is still the all-time top scorer for Vélez Sarsfield, with 206 goals in 324 matches.
He is also the 9th top scorer in the history of the French League with 179 goals. FIFA recognizes him as Argentina's top scorer in the history of first division tournaments worldwide, with 385 goals. This is a huge achievement, even though his coaching career is more famous.
Bianchi also played 14 games for the Argentina national team between 1970 and 1972, scoring 7 goals.
Retirement from Playing
Bianchi went back to French football in 1984–85 to play for Reims, his first team in Europe. Reims was in the Second Division then. He scored eight goals that season and then retired from playing football. After retiring, Bianchi stayed at Reims and became their manager.
Managerial Career
Coaching in France
Carlos Bianchi started his coaching career in March 1985 with Reims. He coached them for three seasons in the Second Division. They didn't get promoted to the top league, but they reached the semi-finals of the Coupe de France twice.
After Reims, Bianchi coached Nice in the top French league from 1989 to 1990. Nice stayed in the top division under his guidance. He then coached Paris FC for two years.
Coaching in Argentina
In December 1992, Bianchi returned to Argentina to coach Vélez Sarsfield. This was the club where he started his playing career. His first game as coach was a 2–0 win in February 1993. Vélez Sarsfield won that championship, which was their second league title ever.
As champions, Vélez qualified for the 1994 Copa Libertadores, a very important South American tournament. They were in a tough group with strong teams like Boca Juniors. But Vélez finished first in their group. They then beat other teams to reach the finals against São Paulo, who were the defending champions.
After both teams won one game each, the winner was decided by a penalty shootout. Vélez Sarsfield won, and it was their first Copa Libertadores trophy! Next, Bianchi led Vélez Sarsfield to win their second international title, the 1994 Intercontinental Cup, by beating Milan 2–0. Vélez went on to win two more league titles with Bianchi, making it the most successful time in the club's history.
After a short time coaching Roma in Italy, Bianchi came back to Argentina to coach Boca Juniors. He coached Boca Juniors in two different periods. During these times, he won four league titles, three Copa Libertadores titles, and two Intercontinental Cup titles. This made him Boca Juniors' most successful manager ever!
Titles and Awards
Carlos Bianchi is known as one of the best forwards of all time because he scored so many goals in France and Argentina. He is the all-time top scorer for Vélez Sarsfield with 206 goals. He is also one of the top scorers in the French League with 179 goals.
As a Player
- Vélez Sarsfield
- Primera División (1): 1968 Nacional
- Stade de Reims
- Coupe de France runner-up: 1976-77
As a Manager
- Vélez Sarsfield
- Primera División (3): 1993 Clausura, 1995 Apertura, 1996 Clausura
- Copa Libertadores (1): 1994
- Intercontinental Cup (1): 1994
- Copa Interamericana (1): 1994
- Boca Juniors
- Primera División (4): 1998 Apertura, 1999 Clausura, 2000 Apertura, 2003 Apertura
- Copa Libertadores (3): 2000, 2001, 2003
- Intercontinental Cup (2): 2000, 2003
Individual Awards
- Argentine Primera División Top scorer (3): 1970, 1971, 1981
- French Division 1 Top Scorer (5): 1973–74, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79
- French Division 1 Foreign Player of the Year: 1974
- South American Coach of the Year (5): 1994, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003
- IFFHS World's Best Club Coach (2): 2000, 2003
Images for kids
-
Football card of Bianchi as player of Reims (1975)
-
Football card of Bianchi as player of Paris St. Germain (1979)
See also
In Spanish: Carlos Bianchi para niños
