Ignacio Ambríz

Ignacio Ambriz
Ambriz as América manager in 2016
Personal information
Full name Marcos Ignacio Ambriz Espinoza
Date of birth (1965-02-07) 7 February 1965 (age 59)
Place of birth Mexico City, Mexico
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983–1986 Necaxa 33 (0)
1986–1987 Petroleros
1987–1989 León
1989–1996 Necaxa 193 (16)
1996–1997 Atlante 22 (3)
1998 Puebla 19 (0)
1998 Celaya 7 (0)
1999–2001 Necaxa 57 (1)
Total 331 (20)
International career
1992–1995 Mexico 64 (5)
Managerial career
2002 Mexico (assistant)
2003 Puebla
2003–2006 Osasuna (assistant)
2006–2009 Atlético Madrid (assistant)
2009–2011 San Luis
2012 Guadalajara
2013–2015 Querétaro
2015–2016 América
2017–2018 Necaxa
2018–2021 León
2021 Huesca
2022–2023 Toluca
2024 Santos Laguna
Medal record
Representing  Mexico
Runner-up Copa America 1993
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Marcos Ignacio "Nacho" Ambriz Espinoza (born 7 February 1965) is a Mexican professional manager and former footballer.

Playing career

[edit]

Playing for various clubs in Mexico, Ambríz is closely associated with Club Necaxa, a club he had three spells with, and was part of two championship-winning seasons in 1994–95 and 1995–96.

Ambríz earned 64 caps and scored 6 goals for the Mexico national team between 1992 and 1995,[1] and captained the squad at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where he played in all four games. He also formed part of the national squad that won the 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Managerial career

[edit]

Early career

[edit]
Ambríz with San Luis in 2011

Following his retirement from the playing field, Ambríz began his coaching career in 2002 with the Mexico national team, where he was the assistant to Javier Aguirre, taking part in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.[2] Following his participation with the national team, he joined Puebla, managing only seven matches. In 2003, he was once again the assistant to Javier Aguirre at Spanish clubs Osasuna and Atlético de Madrid. They parted company when Aguirre was sacked from the Madrid position in 2009.[3] He also had spells with San Luis – from 2009 to 2011 – and Guadalajara in 2012, only in charge for twelve matches.[4]

Querétaro

[edit]

On 4 February 2013 Adolfo Ríos, President of Querétaro, announced Ambríz as their new manager after the club sacked Sergio Bueno after a 3–0 loss to Club América at Estadio Azteca. He managed the club up until February 2015, where Ambríz was sacked after a string of bad results during the Clausura tournament.[5]

Club América

[edit]

On 26 May 2015, Ambríz was confirmed as the new manager at Club América, signing a two-year contract.[6] He led América to a disappointing run at the FIFA Club World Cup, losing the quarter-final match to Chinese team Guangzhou Evergrande, and defeating Congolese club TP Mazembe to claim a fifth-place finish in the competition.[7] The following year, Ambríz led América to the CONCACAF Champions League finals, defeating Tigres UANL 4–1 on aggregate, thus earning their qualification to the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup.[8] In September, he was ranked as the 10th best coach according to Football Coach World Ranking.[9] On 17 September, after suffering a 2–0 home defeat to León, Ambríz was sacked as manager the following day.[10]

Necaxa

[edit]

In August 2017, Ambríz was appointed manager of Necaxa, staying with the club for a year; he won the Clausura 2018 Copa MX with Necaxa, beating Toluca 1–0 in the final to end a 19-year trophy-less drought for the club.[11]

Club León

[edit]

"We are all conscious that at any moment we can be at full-back, at any moment we can be holding midfielders, forwards, and we have to take on the roles and play as the position demands, and that is something that "Nacho" likes."

On 18 September 2018, Ambríz was named manager of Club León, replacing Gustavo Díaz.[13] During the 2019 Clausura, he helped León attain the records of most consecutive wins with eleven[14] and the most points attained during the current 17-match tournament format with 41 points and a first-place finish.[15] They faced Tigres UANL in the Clausura championship final but lost following an aggregate score of 1–0.[16] Despite the loss, his feats with the club contributed to him being named best manager at the conclusion of the season.[17] After a first-place finish in the Guardianes 2020 general table, on 13 December, León won the league title defeating Club Universidad Nacional with an aggregate score of 3–1, becoming Mexico's joint fourth most successful team with eight titles in total alongside Cruz Azul.[18]

Following León's championship win, Ambríz and Club León were unable to reach an agreement for Ambríz's contractual renewal. Ambríz opted to not renew the contract, citing his desire to manage a European club.[19]

Huesca

[edit]

On 28 June 2021, Ambríz was named the new manager of Spanish club Huesca.[20] On 25 October, he was dismissed from his position following a disappointing start.[21]

Toluca

[edit]

On 1 December 2021, Toluca appointed Ambríz as their new manager.[22] On 25 October 2023, Ambríz and Toluca parted ways by mutual agreement.[23]

Santos Laguna

[edit]

On 12 February 2024, Santos Laguna announced Ambriz as their new manager.[24] On 11 November 2024, Ambríz stepped down from his position after Santos Laguna finished the Apertura 2024 tournament at the bottom of the table.[25]

Career statistics

[edit]

International goals

[edit]
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 April 11, 1993 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico  Honduras 3–0 3–0 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 April 18, 1993 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico  El Salvador 1–0 3–1 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
3 July 22, 1993 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico  Jamaica 5–1 6–1 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup
4 July 25, 1993 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico  United States 1–0 4–0 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup
5 November 3, 1993 Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, United States  China 1–0 3–0 Friendly

Managerial statistics

[edit]
As of match played 8 November 2024[26]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Puebla Mexico 1 April 2003 30 June 2003 7 2 2 3 7 11 −4 028.57
San Luis Mexico 10 December 2009 9 November 2011 78 22 25 31 90 103 −13 028.21
Guadalajara Mexico 25 January 2012 19 April 2012 18 5 4 9 12 23 −11 027.78
Querétaro Mexico 4 February 2013 23 February 2015 98 37 24 37 114 111 +3 037.76
América Mexico 26 May 2015 18 September 2016 68 37 12 19 126 83 +43 054.41
Necaxa Mexico 15 May 2017 9 May 2018 47 18 18 11 62 42 +20 038.30
León Mexico 19 September 2018 11 May 2021 114 60 27 27 195 125 +70 052.63
Huesca Spain 28 June 2021 25 October 2021 12 4 3 5 15 13 +2 033.33
Toluca Mexico 1 December 2021 25 October 2023 77 33 23 21 133 117 +16 042.86
Santos Laguna Mexico 12 February 2024 12 November 2024 31 5 8 18 22 50 −28 016.13
Total 550 223 146 181 776 673 +103 040.55

Honours

[edit]

Player

[edit]

Necaxa

Mexico

Manager

[edit]

América

Necaxa

León

Individual

References

[edit]
  1. ^ rsssf: Mexico record international footballers
  2. ^ "Los grandes momentos que no sabías de "Nacho" Ambriz" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2020-07-06. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  3. ^ "Ignacio Ambriz, decidido a debutar como técnico". Informador. Retrieved 9 April 2009.
  4. ^ "Ignacio Ambriz, fuera de Chivas". Medio Tiempo. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  5. ^ "Ignacio Ambriz deja de ser DT de Querétaro". Informador. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  6. ^ "Ignacio Ambriz presentado como nuevo técnico del Club América". ClubAmérica.com.mx. Club América. Retrieved 26 May 2015.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ "Club América claim fifth place". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on December 19, 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  8. ^ "Cronica: América 2-1 Tigres". Club América – Sitio Oficial. 28 April 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  9. ^ "Ignacio Ambriz, entre los 10 mejores técnicos del mundo" (in Spanish). 4 September 2016.
  10. ^ "América no aguantó; Ambriz fue cesado" (in Spanish). Medio Tiempo. 18 September 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  11. ^ "Necaxa, campeón de la Copa MX Clausura 2018" (in Spanish). 11 April 2018.
  12. ^ Marshall, Tom (24 November 2020). "Leon are Liga MX's most exciting team; can they bring home a first league title since 2014?". ESPN.
  13. ^ "Leon hires Nacho Ambriz to replace Gustavo Diaz as manager".
  14. ^ "León impone récord de más victorias consecutivas en Liga MX" (in Spanish). 12 April 2019.
  15. ^ "León impone récord de puntos en torneos de 17 jornadas" (in Spanish). 4 May 2019.
  16. ^ Marshall, Tom (21 May 2019). "Tigres edge Leon to win Liga MX Clausura". ESPN.
  17. ^ a b Bernal, Jaime (13 July 2019). "Ignacio Ambriz: ganador del Balón de Oro al Mejor Director Técnico". TUDN.
  18. ^ Marshall, Tom (13 December 2020). "Club Leon sink Pumas to win 2020 Liga MX title". ESPN.
  19. ^ Serrano, Rodrigo (28 June 2021). "Ignacio Ambriz will be announced as Huesca's new manager". AS. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  20. ^ "Nacho Ambríz, nuevo entrenador de la SD Huesca" (in Spanish). SD Huesca. 28 June 2021.
  21. ^ "Ignacio Ambriz fue cesado como técnico del Huesca" (in Spanish). ESPN México. 25 October 2021.
  22. ^ "Nacho Ambriz es, oficialmente, el nuevo técnico de Toluca" (in Spanish). Fox Deportes. 1 December 2021.
  23. ^ "Toluca anuncia salida del técnico Ignacio Ambriz" (in Spanish). ESPN México. 25 October 2023.
  24. ^ "Oficial: Ignacio Ambriz es nuevo técnico de Santos Laguna" (in Spanish). ESPN México. 12 February 2024.
  25. ^ "Ignacio Ambriz dejó de ser técnico de Santos Laguna" (in Spanish). ESPN México. 11 November 2024.
  26. ^ Ignacio Ambríz coach profile at Soccerway
  27. ^ "Necaxa". FIFA. Archived from the original on September 14, 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  28. ^ De la Cruz, Luis (16 December 2020). "Liga MX: León, Pumas y Cruz Azul se 'roban' el 11 ideal del Guardianes 2020". SoyFutbol.com (in Spanish).
[edit]