Héctor Cúper

Héctor Cúper

Cúper in 2008 as Parma manager
Personal information
Full name	Héctor Raúl Cúper
Date of birth	(1955-11-16) 16 November 1955
Place of birth	Chabás, Santa Fe, Argentina
Height
Position(s)	Centre back
Team information
Current team	Egypt (manager)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1976–1977	Ferro Carril Oeste	5	(0)
1977–1978	Independiente Rivadavia	6	(2)
1978–1988	Ferro Carril Oeste	424	(24)
1988–1992	Huracán	132	(8)
Total		567	(34)
International career
1984	Argentina	3	(0)
Managerial career
1993–1995	Huracán
1995–1997	Lanús
1997–1999	Mallorca
1999–2001	Valencia
2001–2003	Internazionale
2004–2006	Mallorca
2007	Real Betis
2008	Parma
2008–2009	Georgia
2009–2011	Aris Thessaloniki
2011	Racing Santander
2011–2013	Orduspor
2013–2014	Al Wasl
2015–	Egypt
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Héctor Raúl Cúper (born 16 November 1955 in Chabás, Santa Fe Province) is a former Argentine footballer and current manager who manages the Egyptian national football team.

Managerial career

Cúper started his coaching career with Huracán, a year and a half after his retirement. After three years he moved to Lanús, and two years later he made the jump to Europe. In 1997 he was hired by Mallorca, and in the very first season he drove the modest club to the final of the Copa del Rey, which he would lose against Barcelona. The following season the team reached the final of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, where they lost to Lazio. However, in the same season the team had its revenge against Barcelona, winning the 1998 Supercopa de España. That season Mallorca also recorded their best historical position at the end of the league with a 3rd place, allowing the team to play in the UEFA Champions League.

Cúper moved to Valencia in 1999, where he maintained his bad luck in finals, losing the final of the Champions League two consecutive times; in 2000 against Real Madrid, and in 2001 against Bayern Munich on penalty shoot-out.

In 2001, Cúper was hired by Italian club Internazionale, where he reached the third and second place of the championship in successive seasons. In the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League, his team lost in the semi-finals to city rivals AC Milan on away goals. Inter under his command infamously lost what could have been the club's first scudetto since 1989 on 5 May 2002 ater losing 4–2 against Lazio and handed the scudetto over to fierce rivals Juventus on the last day of the league season. He was fired from the club after six matches of the 2003–04 season, when the team was in 8th place in Serie A.

After a year off, due to a contractual argument with Inter, Cúper managed Mallorca again during the 2004–05 season, when the team was already in a relegation position after 10 matches, saving the team from relegation in the last match of the season. Suffering bad results in spite of his many signings, Cúper decided to leave the team in February 2006, with the team at the bottom of the league.

He started the 2007–08 season at the helm of Real Betis, but was sacked on 2 December 2007 following his side's loss against Atlético Madrid. On 11 March 2008 he was unveiled as the new boss of relegation-battling Serie A team Parma, replacing Domenico Di Carlo at the helm of the gialloblù. He was then sacked two months later before the final game of the season after winning only two in 10 matches as manager, this eventually leading to Parma's relegation to Serie B.

On 1 August 2008, Cúper became the head coach of the Georgia national team. But due to his failure to win a single match as Georgia's head coach, he didn't prolong the contract when it expired in December 2009.

On 3 November 2009, Cúper agreed to continue his managerial career with Greek club Aris Thessaloniki until the end of the 2009–10 season. On 15 December 2009, Cúper extended his contract with Aris until June 2011. On 24 April Cúper lost another final, this time in the Greek Football Cup against Panathinaikos, continuing his negative streak in finals.

In the 2010–11 season, Cúper lead Aris in its first participation in the Round of 32 of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League, taking the club to second place in Group B with 10 points, after two surprise wins against Atlético Madrid. On 18 January 2011 after some bad results in Greece, Cúper decided to step down from his managerial position.

On 29 June 2011 Cúper moved to Racing Santander signing for one season. However, after five months he resigned from his position due to the poor performance of the team, which was placed at the bottom in La Liga. He signed a contract with Süper Lig side Orduspor on 19 December 2011, but left by mutual consent on 13 April 2013.

On 14 November 2013, Cúper was announced as new head coach of the UAE League side Al Wasl. He was sacked on 4 March 2014 due to poor results.

On 2 March 2015, the Egyptian Football Association appointed Cúper as the new manager of their national football team.

Managerial statistics

As of 26 November 2015

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %
Mallorca	1997	1999	56	24	20	12	42.86
Valencia	1999	2001	102	50	26	26	49.02
Internazionale	2001	2003	107	56	29	22	52.34
Mallorca	2004	2006	50	13	12	25	26.00
Real Betis	2007	2007	14	2	5	7	14.29
Parma	2008	2008	10	2	3	5	20.00
Georgia	2008	2009	16	1	4	11	06.25
Aris Thessaloniki	2009	2011	62	26	14	22	41.94
Racing Santander	2011	2011	13	1	6	6	07.69
Orduspor	2011	2013	50	14	18	18	28.00
Al Wasl	2013	2014	0	0	0	0	!—
Egypt	2015	---	7	6	0	1	85.71
Total			489	195	139	155	39.88

Honours

Manager

Huracán

• Primera División: Runners-up: 1994 Clausura

Lanús

• Copa Conmebol: 1996

Mallorca

• Supercopa de España: 1998
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Runners-up: 1998–99
• Copa del Rey Runners-up: 1997–98

Valencia

• Supercopa de España: 1999
• UEFA Champions League Runners-up: 1999–2000, 2000–01

Inter

• Serie A: Runners-up: 2002–03

Aris

• Greek Cup Runners-up: 2009–10

External links

• BDFutbol profile
• Worldfootball profile