Hugo Ibarra
FullnameHugo Benjamín Ibarra
Height1.71 m
Birth date1 April 1974 (age 52)
Birth placeEl Colorado, Formosa, Argentina
PositionRight back
Youthclubs 1Colón
Years 11995–1998
Clubs 1Colón
Caps 1140
Goals 18
Years 21998–2001
Clubs 2Boca Juniors
Caps 285
Goals 22
Years 32001–2005
Clubs 3FC Porto
Caps 320
Goals 30
Years 42002–2003
Clubs 4→ Boca Juniors (loan)
Caps 425
Goals 44
Years 52003–2004
Clubs 5→ Monaco (loan)
Caps 525
Goals 50
Years 62004–2005
Clubs 6→ Espanyol (loan)
Caps 631
Goals 61
Years 72005–2010
Clubs 7Boca Juniors
Caps 7124
Goals 73
Totalcaps450
Totalgoals18
Nationalyears 11998–2007
Nationalteam 1Argentina
Nationalcaps 111
Nationalgoals 10
Manageryears 12011–2014
Managerclubs 1Boca Juniors (youth)
Manageryears 22015–2021
Managerclubs 2Boca Juniors II (assistant)
Manageryears 32021–2022
Managerclubs 3Boca Juniors II
Manageryears 42022–2023
Managerclubs 4Boca Juniors

Hugo Benjamín Ibarra (born 1 April 1974) nicknamed "Negro," is an Argentine football manager and former player who played as a right back. He last managed Boca Juniors.

With 324 matches played, 10 goals scored and 15 titles won with Boca Juniors,[1] Ibarra is considered the best right back in the history of the club.[2][1][3]

Playing career

Born in Pirané Department, northern province of Formosa, Ibarra went to Santa Fe Province to start playing in Colón. It was a second division team when he started playing professionally in 1993, but two years later the team got promoted to first division. His performance called Boca Juniors' attention, and he was transferred to the club he would late refer to as "my home".

After three successful seasons in Boca, Ibarra moved to Europe. Because he did not have a European passport, Ibarra was loaned back to Boca Juniors after playing his first season in Portuguese FC Porto. Porto loaned him to French Monaco FC a year later, and then to Spanish RCD Espanyol.

Ibarra played six matches for Argentina national football team, including Copa América 1999. While in Monaco, the team reached UEFA Champions League finals, beating in its way such teams as Real Madrid and Chelsea, to later lose 3–0 to his former club Porto, club that owned him at that moment.

In July 2005, after some difficult negotiations due to the economic crisis in Argentina, Hugo Ibarra went back to Boca Juniors, his last team. On 18 April 2007, he got back to Argentina national football team, as Argentina's captain, to play a friendly match against Chile.

In September 2010, he announced his retirement from professional football.

Coaching career

At the end of 2011, Ibarra was hired in a youth coordinator role at Boca Juniors' youth academy.[4] From the 2015 season, Ibarra became assistant coach of Boca's reserve team under manager Rolando Schiavi.[5]

In 2021, he began in a new role where he would be the nexus between amateur football and the Football Council in Boca Juniors.[6] On 17 August 2021, Boca's reserve team manager, Sebastián Battaglia, was appointed first-team manager on an interim basis, while Ibarra and Mauricio Serna took charge of the reserve team, also on an interim basis.[7]

Ibarra was named interim manager of Boca in July 2022, after Battaglia was sacked.[8] On 29 November, he was confirmed as manager for the upcoming season.[9] On 28 March 2023, he was sacked by the club.

Managerial statistics

Managerial record by team and tenure
TeamNatFromToRecord
GWDLGFGAGDWin %
Boca Juniors IIrowspan="2|17 August 20217 July 2022
Boca Juniors8 July 202228 March 2023
Total

Honours

Player

Boca Juniors

Monaco

Porto

Argentina

Manager

Boca Juniors

References

  1. ^ Se cumplen 10 años del último partido de Ibarra en Boca on TyC Sports, 14 May 2020
  2. ^ Boca y el estigma Ibarra: once nombres en once años, La Nación, 22 Feb 2021
  3. ^ «el Negro» Ibarra cumple hoy 42 años by Sofía Zavala, 21 Apr 2020
  4. ^ Declaraciones de Angelici, Macri y Hugo Ibarra, soyboca.com.ar, 21 November 2011
  5. ^ FACUNDO TABORDA FUE CITADO POR EL FLACO SCHIAVI PARA LA PRETEMPORADA CON LA RESERVA DE BOCA, rtpemultimedios.com, 11 January 2015
  6. ^ Riquelme, cerca de sumar a otro histórico de Boca a la estructura del fútbol, infobae.com, 12 February 2021
  7. ^ Sebastián Battaglia es el nuevo director técnico de Boca y en su reemplazo en Reserva asumirá la dupla conformada por Hugo Ibarra y Chicho Serna, tntsports.com.ar, 17 August 2021
  8. ^ "Boca e Ibarra llegaron a un acuerdo por su continuidad" (in Spanish). TyC Sports. 28 November 2022.
  9. ^ "Hugo Ibarra sigue en Boca: las caras nuevas que tendrá en 2023 y en qué refuerzos piensa" [Hugo Ibarra remains at Boca: the new faces he will have in 2023 and who he thinks as an addition] (in Spanish). TyC Sports. 29 November 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.