Miguel Ángel Russo has died | OneFootball

Miguel Ángel Russo has died. The Boca coach passed away at the age of 69 this Wednesday, around 7pm, at his home in the Federal Capital, surrounded by family and loved ones.

Despite his unwavering fight to move forward and continue with his work, he had deteriorated in recent times due to the progression of a cancer that was diagnosed in 2017, when he was in charge of Millonarios in Colombia.

Since then, Russo underwent various treatments and two surgeries while remaining active in football. After a series of hospitalizations that began in early September, he had struggled to coach regularly and began to be absent.

His last public appearance was on September 23, during a squad practice at Boca Predio, when the club posted a smiling picture on its social networks in which the president and idol Juan Román Riquelme embraced him.

Born in Valentín Alsina on April 9, 1956, he was a talented central midfielder who made his entire career in the First Division with the Estudiantes de La Plata jersey, one of the few 'one-club-man' in the world: he played 435 matches and scored 11 goals between 1975 and 1988.

At Pincha he won two local titles, the Metropolitan 1982 and the National '83, which earned him a call to the Argentina National Team by Carlos Salvador Bilardo. He wore the sky blue and white 17 times (1 goal) and was close to being called up for the 1986 Mexico World Cup.

Russo, in his times as a player for Estudiantes, alongside Insúa, Trobbiani and Saralegui. (@EdelpOficial)

After his retirement, he began to coach Lanús - he promoted them in '92 - and also promoted Estudiantes (1995). He then went through Universidad de Chile, Rosario Central, Salamanca of Spain, Colón, Los Andes and Monarcas Morelia until the jump to Vélez.

His first major achievement in the First Division was the Clausura 2005 with Fortín and in 2007 he touched the sky when he lifted the last Copa Libertadores for Boca. He also went through San Lorenzo and Racing before regaining the category with Canalla (2013).

At Millonarios he was a two-time Colombian champion in 2017 - while undergoing chemotherapy -, he coached Alianza Lima and Cerro Porteño until his second stint at Xeneize, where he won a league head-to-head against River and the Maradona Cup, in the midst of the pandemic. And his last title came on the fifth attempt with his beloved Central, at the end of 2023.

After abruptly ending a brief second period at San Lorenzo, Riquelme called him to take the 'hot iron' of Boca before the Club World Cup, in a cycle that stretched until the 5-0 thrashing of Newell's on Sunday, with the team in the hands of Claudio Úbeda and Juvenal Rodríguez, the assistants.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.