Juan Carlos Lorenzo

Juan Carlos Lorenzo
	Lorenzo circa 1987
Personal information
Full name	Juan Carlos Lorenzo
Date of birth	27 October 1922
Place of birth	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Date of death	14 November 2001 (aged 79)
Place of death	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Position(s)	Midfielder, Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team
1940–1945	Chacarita Juniors
1945–1947	Boca Juniors
1947–1952	Sampdoria
1952–1953	Nancy
1954–1957	Atlético Madrid
1957–1958	Rayo Vallecano
1958	Mallorca
Managerial career
1958–1960	Mallorca
1961–1962	San Lorenzo
1962	Argentina
1962–1964	Lazio
1964–1965	Roma
1965	San Lorenzo
1966	Argentina
1966	River Plate
1967	Mallorca
1968–1971	Lazio
1972	San Lorenzo
1973–1974	Atlético Madrid
1975–1976	Santa Fe
1976–1979	Boca Juniors
1980	Racing Club
1981	Argentinos Juniors
1981–1982	San Lorenzo
1982	Atlante
1982–1983	Vélez Sársfield
1983	Atlanta
1984	Independiente
1984–1985	Lazio
1985	San Lorenzo
1987	Boca Juniors
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Juan Carlos "Toto" Lorenzo (Spanish pronunciation: [xwaŋ ˈkaɾlos loˈɾenso]; 27 October 1922 – 14 November 2001) was an Argentine football player and coach. He became an icon for Boca Juniors fans after he coached the club to its first two Copa Libertadores titles.

Biography

In his teens, Lorenzo played for Chacarita Juniors, and made his professional debut in 1940. He was transferred to Boca Juniors in 1945, and after two years he joined Italian side Sampdoria team, where he remained until 1952. His next clubs would be now-defunct French club Nancy, and Atlético Madrid, Rayo Vallecano and Mallorca, where in 1958 he was coach and player. He then retired from playing, but remained as a coach.

Lorenzo would be the coach that helped Mallorca to promote to Primera División for the first time in 1960.^[1]^[2]

Influenced by Argentine-Italian Helenio Herrera and riding the wave of his success in Spain, Lorenzo coached Argentina's San Lorenzo in 1961, and coached the Argentina national team in the 1962 FIFA World Cup. Back to Europe, he coached Lazio to Italian first division and coached AS Roma in 1964. After coaching the Argentine team again for the 1966 FIFA World Cup, he would return to Mallorca, then moving on to Lazio, before winning his first Argentine title (of a total of two) with San Lorenzo in 1972.^[3]

In 1973, Lorenzo went to Atlético Madrid, who went on to win the league title and lose the 1974 UEFA Champions League final to Bayern Munich. Back in Argentina, he coached recently promoted Santa Fe in 1975.^[4] The next year, he returned to Boca Juniors amid great pressure (rivals River Plate had just won back-to-back titles), and started one of the most successful periods in the history of the club. In his four-year tenure, Lorenzo and Boca took two local and three international titles, including the 1977 Intercontinental Cup (played in 1978).

Lorenzo's Boca was anchored by goalkeeper Hugo Gatti, a longtime Boca fan who fulfilled his dream of playing for Boca, and went on to become the player with most appearances in Argentine football history. In the defense, Vicente Pernía in the right and Alberto Tarantini in the left complemented centrals Francisco Sá and Roberto Mouzo. In the center field, reinforcements such as Jorge Ribolzi and Mario Zanabria played alongside veteran Boca players like Jorge Chino Benítez and Rubén Suñé. The attacking line was based on the speed of Ernesto Mastrángelo and Luis Darío Felman.^[5]

After that cycle, Lorenzo coached a number of different clubs with less success, including Racing Club, Argentinos Juniors, San Lorenzo, Vélez Sársfield, Atlanta and Lazio, before returning to Boca Juniors in 1987. But his second stint with Boca was brief, and Lorenzo finally retired from coaching.^[6]