Américo Gallego
Gallego with Argentina in 1982
Personal information
Full name Américo Rubén Gallego
Date of birth (1955-04-25) 25 April 1955
Place of birth Morteros, Argentina
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Central Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1974–1980 Newell's Old Boys 262 (25)
1981–1988 River Plate 180 (10)
Total 442 (35)
International career
1975–1982 Argentina 73 (3)
Managerial career
1994 River Plate
2000–2001 River Plate
2002–2003 Independiente
2004 Newell's Old Boys
2005–2007 Toluca
2007–2008 Tigres
2009–2010 Independiente
2011 Colo-Colo
2012–2013 Independiente
2015 Newell's Old Boys
2019–2020 Panama
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Argentina
FIFA World Cup
Winner1978
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Américo Rubén "El Tolo" Gallego (born 25 April 1955) is an Argentine football coach and former player. As a midfielder, he played 73 times for the Argentina national team during his playing career.

Playing career and Information

Gallego said he was taken to Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina at the age of 5 and played for Club Alianza Sport as a child.[1] He made his debut with Newell's Old Boys at the age of 14.[1]

As the age of 19, Gallego debuted in the Argentine league in 1974 as a midfielder for Newell's Old Boys. After a rookie season in which he saw little action, he quickly made a name for himself and was given a starting spot and regular playing time during the 1975 season. Gallego played for Argentina at the 1975 Pan American Games.[2] After being part of the Argentina national team that won the 1978 FIFA World Cup, Gallego stayed on at Newell's for three more years before being transferred to one of the two biggest teams in his country: River Plate.

Gallego played at River until the end of his career. He played for the "Millonarios" for seven years before retiring at the conclusion of the 1987/88 season. He is hailed as a legend at River, as he was the captain during the team's achieving their first Copa Libertadores, Intercontinental Cup and Copa Interamericana's in their rich history.

Nicknamed "El Tolo," Gallego's career ended with a total of 440 Argentine league appearances and 35 goals in a span of 14 years.

Coaching career

After retirement, Gallego turned his attention towards coaching. In 1994 Gallego was chosen to manage his former team, River Plate. In his first tournament as head coach, his Millonarios went undefeated to win the championship.

From 1995, he served as an assistant coach under Daniel Passarella, the Argentine national team's head coach, for the three-year tenure. After his experience with the national team, El Tolo returned to coach River Plate, with whom he won another championship, this time in 2000.

In 2002, he coached Independiente to a championship, ending the team's 8-year drought. In 2004, he returned to the Newell's Old Boys organization after a 23-year hiatus, and once again proved his worth as a head coach, winning a championship that very same year. With that, he became only the second coach ever to win the Argentine Primera championship with three different Argentine clubs (along with José Yudica, who did the same with Argentinos Juniors, Quilmes and Newell's).

His success attracted attention from teams in other countries, notably from Mexico. After leaving Newell's Old Boys, Gallego was sought after by a myriad of clubs, including San Lorenzo de Almagro, but chose CD Toluca in Mexico. Despite being overtly criticized by the media and his team's own fans for his defensive style and benching of established players in favor of younger, inexperienced players – his scheme paid off and Toluca won the Apertura 2005 championship in Mexico, and was named Best Coach of the championship. In 2007 Gallego resigned as coach for Toluca and said he wanted some time off to be with his family and be away from soccer for a while. His time off did not last long, as a juicy offer from Tigres UANL made him change his mind and take over for Mario Carrillo as coach. After an unsuccessful spell and a streak of bad results he was sacked in February 2008.

In March 2009 he returned to Independiente to take over from Miguel Santoro, and signed until June 2010, but did not end up winning any championships nor renewing his contract.

In February 2011 he began a new tenure in Colo-Colo of Chile, which finished on August of that same year.

Career statistics

Player

[3]

Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
1974Newell's Old BoysPrimera División40
1975272
1976455
1977566
1978277
1979291
1980464
1981280
River Plate151
1982180
1983343
1984304
1985441
1985–8600
1986–87160
1987–88231
Career total

International career

Argentina national team
YearAppsGoals
197571
1976130
197790
1978131
197990
1980100
198141
198280
Total733

Manager

Team Nation From To Record
GWDLWin %
River Plate Argentina 1994 1994
River Plate Argentina 2000 2001
Independiente Argentina 2002 2003
Newell's Old Boys Argentina 2003 2004
Toluca Mexico 2005 2007
Tigres Mexico 2007 2008
Independiente Argentina 2009 2010
Colo-Colo Chile 2011 2011
Total

Honours

Player

River Plate
Argentina Youth
Argentina

Manager

River Plate
Independiente
Newell's Old Boys
Toluca

References

  1. 1 2 El Crack Responde - Americo Ruben "Tolo" Gallego [And Tresor the best "libero"], web: Goles Mundial, June 1978, Issue #1538, 1978, retrieved 13 March 2023
  2. ↑ "Pan-American Games 1975 (Mexico) - Match Details". RSSSF. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  3. ↑ Americo Gallego at National-Football-Teams.com
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