Miguel Ángel Russo · Biography

Miguel Ángel Russo won the first title of his career in 1982: the Metropolitano with Estudiantes de La Plata, the only club he played for as a professional. Born on 9 April 1956 in Lanús, in Buenos Aires Province, he was a midfielder from 1975 to 1988. He then coached for more than three decades in Argentina, Chile, Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Paraguay and Saudi Arabia. With Boca Juniors he won the 2007 Copa Libertadores. He died in Buenos Aires on 8 October 2025.

A one-club player

Russo made his Estudiantes debut in 1975 and played his whole career there. He was part of Carlos Bilardo’s side that won the 1982 Metropolitano. A year later, with Eduardo Luján Manera in charge, he added the 1983 Nacional. He made more than 400 competitive appearances for the La Plata club and scored 11 goals. A knee injury forced him to retire in 1988.

Argentina international

Between 1983 and 1985 he won 17 caps for Argentina and scored once. He played three matches at the 1983 Copa América and five in qualifying for the 1986 World Cup, scoring against Venezuela in one of them. Early in 1986 he needed knee surgery, and Bilardo, by then the national coach, left him out of the squad that travelled to Mexico and won the tournament.

Early years as a coach

He began coaching in 1989 at Lanús, his hometown club. He stayed until 1994 and won promotion to the Argentine top flight in 1992. In 1995 he earned another promotion with Estudiantes, where he shared the job with Luján Manera. In 1996 he took Universidad de Chile to the Copa Libertadores semi-finals, where they lost to River Plate. Spells followed at Rosario Central (1997-1998), at UD Salamanca in Spain’s top flight (1998-1999), at Colón, back at Lanús, at Los Andes and at Morelia in Mexico.

Vélez and the Libertadores with Boca

After a second stint at Rosario Central from 2002 to 2004, which brought third place in the 2003 Clausura and a Libertadores spot, he moved to Vélez Sarsfield. There he won the 2005 Clausura, his first Argentine league title as a coach, and reached the Copa Sudamericana semi-finals the same year. Boca Juniors hired him in December 2006. In 2007 the team won the Copa Libertadores, beating Grêmio 5-0 on aggregate in the final. That December Boca lost the Club World Cup final 4-2 to AC Milan, and Russo left the club.

From San Lorenzo to Colombia

He coached San Lorenzo from 2008 to 2009. In 2009 he returned to Rosario Central and kept them up through the relegation play-off against Belgrano. In February 2010 he took over at Racing Club. After a brief return to Estudiantes in 2011, he began a fourth spell at Rosario Central. He won the 2012-13 Primera B Nacional, and in 2014 he lost the Copa Argentina final to Huracán on penalties. He went back to Vélez in 2015. In December 2016 he joined Millonarios, winning the 2017 Torneo Finalización against Independiente Santa Fe and the 2018 Superliga against Atlético Nacional. In 2017, while working in Bogotá, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He had surgery in the Colombian capital in 2018 and kept coaching through his treatment.

Back at Boca and a fifth Rosario spell

In 2019 he had spells at Alianza Lima and Cerro Porteño. In January 2020 he returned to Boca Juniors. He won the 2019-20 Superliga with them, followed on 17 January 2021 by the 2020 Copa de la Liga Profesional, settled on penalties against Banfield. He left in August 2021. That December he went to Saudi Arabia to coach Al-Nassr until June 2022, and he was named the Saudi league’s manager of the month for January 2022. In his fifth spell at Rosario Central he won the 2023 Copa de la Liga Profesional that December, before leaving in August 2024. In October 2024 he went back to San Lorenzo and took them to the 2025 Apertura semi-finals.

Third spell at Boca

On 2 June 2025 he took charge of Boca Juniors for a third time and led the team at that year’s FIFA Club World Cup in the United States. In the following weeks his health declined and he stopped attending training. He died of cardiac arrest at his home in Buenos Aires on 8 October 2025.