Mexico City
Nearly over 20 years since Javier Aguirre and Ignacio Ambriz They came to Europe to start an excellent career in which they put Osasuna on the map, to return to Atlético de Madrid in the foreground, with Vasco as coach and León’s current coach as his assistant.
It was 2002 when this pair of friends emigrated, who will meet again tonight as rivals during the Monterrey vs. Lion pending Day 3, a game that will be followed to Bilbao, where it is Juan Iribarren, who was part of the coach of both and the one who later accompanied Vasco in the Mexican and Japanese selections.
“The two know each other well, they know how they think, how they want their teams to perform on the field. It will be a very interesting meeting to analyze for people who love football, a reunion between Javier and Nacho, a match that he’s going to give a lot of himself and I’ll watch from here, ”he said Media tempo the Spanish physical trainer and technical assistant.
After being released from the Athletic Bilbao, Iribarren stays in the city of the Basque Country, from where he recalled the good friendship they maintained Aguirre and Ambriz.
“I have listened to them thousands of conversations, anecdotes, comments, I enjoyed them very much and I wish them the best. With Nacho I coincided the three seasons of Osasuna and Atlético de Madrid; I had a very good relationship with him,” they both treated me wonderfully, ”he said over the phone.
‘BOTH FELT THE NEED TO SEPARATE’
In particular, Iribarren recalls that in the third season with Atleti (2008-09), Ambriz already wanted to become technical director because he feared that the offers he already declined would not reach him later.
“Both felt that this was the time when they had to part their paths, Nacho to return to Mexico, already trained as a coach, to gain experience in Mexican football,” he said.
“But I saw Javier in European football, he is a very cosmopolitan man who has traveled all over the world and I did not see him return to Mexico in the short and medium term then. I saw Nacho develop his career in Mexico ”.
That good future promised them both, because he saw how they reached Osasuna today Europa League, so in 2006 it was called Basque by the UEFA Coach of the Year, award that led him to Atlético, which led them to the Champions League.
“ We reached an Atleti (in 2006) who is not exactly the one we all know now, it was a team that came out of a difficult transition phase at the time, had gone through the Second Division and been out of European competitions. for a decade and we had to do the work to get that great club back where it deserves, ”added Iribarren.
“First we bring him upstairs, we play one UEFA Cup, Then we took him to the Champions League, we played one and that was when Nacho’s growth was already great; Nacho’s importance and prestige had already reached a good level ”.
After that, managing the divorce between the two was natural, without losing a friendship that will be a rivalry tonight, with much more urgency for the victory for Ambriz because Fiera is penultimate place with 7 points, while the Rayados del Vasco are owners of the third place with 18 units.