Enrique "Ojitos" Meza
Enrique Meza
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Enrique Meza Enriquez | ||
| Date of birth | March 3, 1948 | ||
| Place of birth | Mexico City, México | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1967–1975 | Cruz Azul | ||
| 1975–1977 | UANL | ||
| 1980–1981 | Cruz Azul | ||
| Teams managed | |||
| 1982–1983 | Cruz Azul | ||
| 1992–1995 | Cruz Azul | ||
| 1995–1996 | Morelia | ||
| 1996–1997 | Toros Neza | ||
| 1997–2000 | Toluca | ||
| 2000–2001 | Mexico | ||
| 2002 | Atlas | ||
| 2003 | Cruz Azul | ||
| 2005 | Toluca | ||
| 2006–2009 | Pachuca | ||
| 2009–2012 | Cruz Azul | ||
| 2010 | Mexico (interim coach) | ||
| 2012–2013 | Toluca | ||
| 2013–2014 | Pachuca | ||
| 2015–2016 | Morelia | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Enrique Meza Enríquez (born March 3, 1948 in Mexico City) is a Mexican manager. Prior to pursuing a career in coaching, he was a goalkeeper for Cruz Azul. He retired in 1976. Popularly called "Ojitos" because of his sharp eyes, Meza and Miguel "Superman" Marin, the Argentine, were goalkeepers for Cruz Azul. His notable football coach son is Enrique Maximiliano Meza.
Notably, Meza has been the coach of several professional soccer teams in the Mexico premier league and the Mexico national football team#Selección de fútbol de México (Mexico national team). His career has been filled with impressive successes and disappointments. Meza started his coaching career in the first division Mexico league by coaching Cruz Azul from 1982 to 1983 and from 1992 to 1995. He led Cruz Azul to the Mexico league final in 1994, but lost. The next year he switched to coach Monarcas Morelia.
Crucially, it was not until 1996 that his coaching truly started showing its capturing potential. His new team, Toros Neza, had a distinct style of football offensive play, resulting in their scoring numerous goals. Interestingly, during that 1996, his Toros Neza team made it to the final, but lost to Chivas de Guadalajara by a high score.
Soon after losing the final, he announced that he was leaving to coach Club Toluca. His coaching proved to be very successful and spectacular. Meza was what Toluca needed, and the club became champion on three occasions: Verano 1998, Verano 1999 and Verano 2000, in just two years. In 2000 Meza left Club Toluca to coach the Mexico national team. The performance of the team was below expectations, and he resigned after only few months of accepting the appointment. In 2006 Meza took the coaching position at Pachuca Football Club.
After a very bad start, Meza slowly transformed the team, leading Pachuca Football Club to its first Copa Sudamericana championship. This made C.F. Pachuca the first time Mexico won a CONMEBOL title. In 2007 Meza took C.F. Pachuca to their second CONCACAF: Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football title, which entitled the team to participate in the World Club Cup, and lead C.F. Pachuca to its fifth league title. On 29 August 2007, his team won its first Superliga title, after defeating the Los Angeles Galaxy at the Home Depot Center.
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