Shock at Boca: Arruabarrena favourite to replace Úbeda | OneFootball

Juan Román Riquelme already has a leading candidate in mind to replace Claudio Úbeda: Rodolfo Arruabarrena is the main contender to become Boca’s next head coach.

The Vasco is the president’s top choice to take over the team and could return to the club after a decade.

Arruabarrena was Boca’s head coach between 2014 and 2016: he won two domestic titles during his spell (the 2015 league title and the Copa Argentina).

On the other hand, his tenure was also marked by painful eliminations against River in the 2014 Copa Sudamericana and the 2015 Copa Libertadores. The latter came in the remembered pepper spray incident, in the round of 16 of the continental tournament, which ended with the match at La Bombonera being suspended and Conmebol deciding to disqualify Boca.

After his spell as Boca coach, the Vasco moved to Middle Eastern football: he managed Al Wasl of the United Arab Emirates, Al-Rayyan of Qatar, and Shabab Al-Ahli (UAE). He later also had a stint at Egypt’s Pyramids (between 2020 and 2021).

He also coached the United Arab Emirates national team in 2022: he failed to lead the team to the Qatar World Cup and eventually left the position in April 2023. The last team he managed was Al-Taawoun, in that country, in 2024.

A decade after the end of his spell at Boca, Juan Román Riquelme has him as the main option to replace Claudio Úbeda following the painful Copa Libertadores elimination. The Vasco—who as a player won the Copa Libertadores in 2000 with Boca under Carlos Bianchi—could be the team’s next head coach for the second half of the year.

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