Luis Enrique biography

Many of you remember the times when Barcelona was the best team in its league or even in the world. It was sometime around 2017 when the team’s leader was one of the best managers in the world, Luis Enrique.

Don’t get me wrong, Barcelona is still one of the best teams alongside Real Madrid,

, Liverpool, and PSG, but as we proceed in the current era, we see that more and more “low-level clubs” rise and become powerful opponents for these top-class teams.

To change the subject of

Luis Enrique bio

towards the hero of the story, Luis Enrique Martnez Garcia, also known as Luis Enrique, is a former player and manager in the Spanish professional football league.

He is currently the Spain national team's head coach. He had gathered enough information by playing as a midfielder before getting into his managerial career and this was the cause of his amazing leadership and management.

Besides his football-related actions, he has also been working with Nike and other famous brands. He has been featured in many advertsements.

An all-in but brief article of Luis Enrique biography

Enough of the introduction, we are as excited as you are to show you what we have gathered about this world-known coach in order to create

Luis Enrique biography

.

Luis Enrique information

We have prepared a section just for you to read and get general information of who Luis Enrique is and what his football statistics are, thus you wouldn’t get into the details blind and without a foundation to amass all the incoming information on.

Personal information

• Full name

  : Luis Enrique Martínez García

• Current profession

  : Football manager

• Date of birth

  : 8 May 1970

• Age

  : 50

• Star sign

  : Taurus

• Star sign features

  : Intelligent, dependable, hardworking

• Nationality

  : Spanish

• Place of birth

  : Gijón, Spain

• Marital status

  : Married

• Wife

  : Elena Cullell

• Children

  : Xana Enrique (died at the age of 9)

• Religion

  : Christianity

Football information

• Position

  : Midfielder / Forward

• Nickname

  : Lucho

• Current team

  : managing Spain national team

• Total appearances

  : 510 caps

• Club appearances

  : 427 caps

• National appearances

  : 83 caps

• Total goals

  : 122 goals

Physical stats and appearance

• Height

  : 1.80 m

• Weight

  : 73 kg

• Body type

  : Athletic

• Race

  : Hispanic

• Hair color

  : Salt-and-Pepper

• Eye color

  : Brown

Now that you have gathered enough information to prepare your mind for our

Luis Enrique biography

, we wouldn’t waste your precious time on intros and will go down immediately to the details.

Luis Enrique early life

Luis Enrique date of birth

is 8 May 1970.

Luis Enrique life story

began in Gijón, Spain where he spent most of his childhood. Moving on from

Luis Enrique childhood

, we can see that he began his professional career with

, where he earned the nickname Lucho after the team's Mexican forward Luis Flores.

After seeing out his contract and scoring in a 5–0 home win against FC Barcelona in January 1995, he transferred to exactly the arch-rivals at the Camp Nou on a free transfer in 1996.

He later stated that he "rarely felt appreciated by the Real Madrid supporters and didn't have good memories there" and that he "rarely felt appreciated by the Real Madrid supporters and didn't have good memories there."

Luis Enrique profile

He was a versatile player with excellent technique who could play in a variety of positions but preferred to play as a midfielder or forward. He was also known for his temperament and stamina.

He played for

and Barcelona with equal success from 1991 to 2004, appearing in over 500 official games and scoring over 100 goals. He played in three World Cups and one European Championship for the Spanish national team.

Now we are going to discuss the factors that made him famous as a player and his playstyle which was unique in that era.

Style of play

Luis Enrique was known for his outstanding versatility and consistency, having played in a variety of positions. He could play anywhere in midfield or along the front line, and he was used in every position on the field except central defender and goalkeeper throughout his career.

His standard position was as an attacking midfielder in the center of the pitch, due to his ability to link-up the forwards and the midfield, or as a right-winger, but he could play anywhere along the right flank and was often stationed as an attacking full-back or wing-back.

Luis Enrique was usually used as a forward, either in a withdrawn role as a second striker behind the team's primary goalscorer or as an out-and-out striker or center forward – he was also used in deeper midfield positions – due to his keen eye for goal and ability to make attacking runs into the box.

Reception

He stood out for his dedication, temper, determination, and leadership, in addition to his playing skills. Enrique is stern and methodical; he picks the team, wins, and then goes on to the next game.

There is no act, only brutal simplicity, and his team has become the epitome of him. That should be celebrated, but it is often criticized by parts of the Barcelona fan base, who want Enrique to be

.

Goal celebration

Luis Enrique has seen many goals either scored by himself or his team but there has been one celebration that rose controversies.

When Luis Enrique left Real Madrid for

in 1996, he created quite a stir. In a match against his former club, he scored a goal and then celebrated in a strange way, showing his jersey to the audience, which could indicate that he was much happier with Barcelona than he was with his former club.

Luis Enrique outside football

Luis Enrique was a Nike-sponsored athlete who appeared in advertisements for the company.

He starred in a "Secret Tournament" commercial (branded "Scorpion KO") directed by Terry Gilliam in the run-up to the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, alongside footballers

, Thierry Henry, Hidetoshi Nakata, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, and Totti, with former player Eric Cantona serving as the tournament "referee."

After his retirement, Luiz Enrique lived in Australia for a certain period of time and practiced surffing.

He ran the New York City Marathon in 2005, completed the Amsterdam Marathon in 2006, the Firenze Marathon in 2007, and the Marathon des Sables in 2008, and entered and completed the Frankfurt Ironman in 2007. In July 2008, he was scheduled to compete in the Klagenfurt Ironman, but he refused due to his commitment as manager of

.

Luis Enrique personal life

Luis Enrique is a husband and father. Let us take a look at his personal life and discover what lays beneath his sportsman personality.

Family, children and relationships

He is a husband and father and considering

Luis Enrique religion

he is the leader of a Christian family. On the 27th of December 1997, he married his lovely wife, Elena Could. The couples are having a wonderful time together.

Xana Enrique, the couple's toddler, was born to them. Sadly, their daughter, Xana, died of bone cancer on August 29, 2019, at the age of nine. For more than two decades, the couple has successfully maintained their marital status, and their relationship is still going strong. They live together in harmony, with mutual respect, care, and love. In the future, the couple is less likely to divorce.

Philanthropy

Regarding this matter, no records were found, although we know for a fact that Luis Enrique has a kind heart and has done some amount of good deeds in his career and prefers to keep them as a secret.

Legal issues

He has built a reputable reputation in both his personal and professional life, and he has never been involved in any controversies or scandals and same can be said regarding his criminal records because no information can be found related to this matter.

Career statistics

Luis Enrique began his managerial career with Barcelona B in 2008, before moving to

three years later. He managed Celta Vigo in the 2013–14 season before returning to Barcelona, where he won the title in his first year and the double in his second; in 2018, he was named Spain head coach for the first time before resigning due to family obligations, but he came back to the position in 2019 again.

Now let’s go back to scratch and find out what he has gone through before reaching this position.

Club career

Luis Enrique scored 46 La Liga goals in his first three seasons with Barcelona, which finished second in the league in 1996–97 and then won back-to-back domestic titles. In the following season, he was also named Spanish Player of the Year by El Pais. In the 1997 UEFA Super Cup, he scored the opening goal in a 3–1 aggregate victory over

.

Luis Enrique was frequently injured during his final years in Barcelona, and he refused to renew his contract. His first club, Sporting, had offered him a contract, which he turned down, claiming that "he wouldn't be able to reach the level he demanded of himself" and that "he wouldn't be doing Sporting much good by going there."

He retired on August 10, 2004, at the age of 34, due to concerns about his level and fitness, and he finished his professional career with league totals of 400 games and 102 goals. In March, Pelé named him one of the top 125 greatest living footballers.

International

Regarding

Luis Enrique nationality

, he has 62 caps for Spain and has played in three FIFA World Cups: 1994, 1998, and 2002 (as well as UEFA Euro 1996) scoring 12 goals. He was also a member of the gold-medal-winning squad at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and made his first appearance for the main team on April 17, 1991, in a 0–2 friendly loss to

in Cáceres.

Luis Enrique scored his first international goal in a 3–0 win over Switzerland in the round of 16 of the 1994 World Cup in Washington, D.C. Mauro Tassotti's elbow made bloody contact with his face during Italy's 1–2 quarter-final defeat at Foxboro Stadium. 

The action was of such severity that he apparently lost a pint of blood as a result; the incident went unpunished during the match; Tassotti was banned for eight games afterward, and never played internationally again; when Spain met Italy at Euro 2008 on 22 July, he was banned for eight games.

Luis Enrique scored once, assisted once, and won a penalty in Spain's 6–1 defeat of

in the 1998 World Cup final, but the Spaniards were still eliminated. He scored a hat-trick in a 9–0 win over San Marino in the Euro 2000 qualification in Villarreal on June 5, the following year.

Luis Enrique put aside his international football career on June 23, 2002, because he wanted to give younger players more playing time and to focus solely on his club.

Managerial 

Barcelona Atlètic for the season. He claimed, "I have come home," and "I finished playing here and now I will start coaching here," as he succeeded long-time Barcelona teammate Pep Guardiola; in his second season, he found success, helping the club return to the Segunda División after an 11-year absence.

Despite having two years left on his contract, Luis Enrique announced in mid-March 2011 that he would leave Barcelona B at the end of the season. He led the team to the playoffs, but they were unable to advance because they were ineligible for promotion.

Luis Enrique signed a contract with Italian Serie A club A.S. Roma to become the Giallorossi's new head coach on June 8, 2011. He signed a two-year contract and was joined by a four-member staff, including technical collaborator Iván de la Pea, who spent two years with crosstown rivals, S.S. Lazio.

K Slovan Bratislava knocked Roma out of the UEFA Europa League, sparking heated debate over the substitution of legendary Francesco Totti for Stefano Okaka Chuka. The capital club also lost their first game in the domestic league to Cagliari Calcio, just the third time in 18 years that they have lost their first game.

Luis Enrique decided to leave Roma at the end of the season, despite having two years left on his contract, after failing to qualify for any European competition.

Luis Enrique accepted the role of management of RC Celta de Vigo on June 8, 2013, replacing former national teammate Abel Resino. In his first and only season, he led the Galicians to ninth place, with highlights including a 2–0 home victory over Real Madrid, which ended the opposition's chances of winning the league title.

After agreeing to a three-year contract, Luis Enrique was presented as the new manager of Barcelona on May 19, 2014. His former national teammate, sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta, recommended him.  

His debut was in a 3–0 home league victory match over Elche CF, in which he gave a chance to play to new signings Claudio Bravo, Jérémy Mathieu, and

, as well as to the ones that rose from the academy, Munir El Haddadi, Rafinha, and Sandro, while summer signing Luis Suárez was unavailable due to suspension. 

Luis Enrique announced his departure from Celta on May 16, 2014.

Luis Enrique's first defeat in the competition came on October 25, 2014, away to Real Madrid, and while Barcelona had a successful year, his management faced criticism for his tactics, which included multiple lineup changes in subsequent games. Furthermore, a squabble with Lionel Messi and other team members added to the team's bad form.

Barcelona defeated Sevilla FC 5–4 in the 2015 UEFA Super Cup on August 11, 2015. Luis Enrique decided against bringing on a new player following Mathieu's injury with 12 minutes to go in the Copa del Rey Round of 32 matches against

on December 2, despite the fact that two substitutes were still available because the score was 6–1 at the time and the manager did not want to risk further setbacks.

Luis Enrique exchanged his goalkeepers playing patterns in his first two seasons, with Bravo playing league games and Marc-André ter Stegen playing cup and European games. Both players have expressed their opposition to this policy.

A second double was reached on May 22, 2016, after a 2–0 Copa del Rey victory over Sevilla FC in extra time, during which the team played more than 50 minutes with one player less due to Javier Mascherano's dismissal.

Luis Enrique announced on March 1, 2017, that he would step down as team manager after his contract expired on June 30.

On July 9, 2018, Luis Enrique was appointed coach of the Spanish national team, replacing Fernando Hierro, a former club and country teammate. His first match in command was on September 8, when he led the team to a 2–1 victory over England at Wembley Stadium in the UEFA Nations League.

Luis Enrique resigned from his position in June 2019 due to personal reasons. He returned to the same bench on November 19th. For the last section of Luis Enrique biography, we would like to list down all of his achievements both as a player and a manager.

Luiz Enrique honors!

It is now fair to end this article with his honors while we believe that we should have started with this section so you could see how great of a manager he was and is. This long list of achievements in the

Luis Enrique biography

is alone an illustration of the success that he has reached by his determination and devotion.

Just to mention he has now won any international trophies as a player except Summer Olympic Games 1992. Playing in La Liga has been very rewarding for Luis, thus most of the awards of Luis Enrique biography are related to la Liga.

Starting off with Real Madrid, the team won the league title in 1994-95 and managed to get the Copa del Ray award in 1992 as well.

Barcelona managed to get the league title for 2 years while Luis was in the team. They won double Copa del Ray awards and a Supercopa de España trophy. As for top class awards, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Super Cup are amongst the list.

He did a lot as a manager, almost more than he did as a player. Barcelona reached its peak performance with Enrique, winning 2 league titles, 3 Copa del Rays, and a Supercopa de España.

3 of his biggest achievements are UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup and his team won all of them in the same year which is 2015. For these achievements, he was nominated as the La Liga coach of the year in 2015, The World Soccer Manager of the Year, and the European Coach of the Season.

He lifted La Liga Manager of the Month trophy in May 2016 as his last trophy to this day.

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