Did New Tigres Manager Guido Pizarro Have the Wildest Week in Global Soccer? | OneFootball

Guido Pizarro has had a week few will ever get to experience.

After playing 90 minutes for Liga MX side Tigres in a 2-1 win over Necaxa on March 1, he quickly realized it would be the last game of his career.

Moments after the match, Tigres dismissed head coach Veljko Paunović and appointed Pizarro as the new manager. By Sunday, the 35-year-old defensive midfielder wasn’t in his usual training attire but a new outfit and leading the club’s training session.

In 24 hours, he went from captaining the side to a win to deciding the club's short-term outlook.

In dismissing Paunović, who previously coached MLS side Chicago Fire FC, Tigres hoped to move on from the rumored rift between him and several players, which has impacted their contention in the  2024-25 Clausura season. They are currently third and significantly behind the top two sides, Club Léon and Club América.

Pizarro, who played for Argentina four times in his career, has long wanted to become a coach. As crazy as his turnaround from retiring to coaching is, it’s always been the plan.

Because of that, he’s entirely done playing and won’t serve as a player-manager.

In preparation for the role, he earned his pro license from the Mexican Football Federation after pursuing a Master’s in Sports Management from the University of Barcelona, focusing on emotional coaching.

Additionally, he brings instant locker-room relationships to the group, having played at the club from 2018 and from 2013-2017, before a brief La Liga spell with Sevilla. Throughout his career, he has won four Liga MX titles, one Concacaf Champions Cup, three Campeón de Campeones titles, one Copa MX title, and two Campeones Cup titles.

Coaching debut against MLS best in Champions Cup

Guido Pizarro made his managerial debut on North America's most prominent club soccer stage, the Concacaf Champions Cup. / Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

While the move came as somewhat unexpected given the club’s win over Necaxa and some success they’d enjoyed under Paunović, it didn’t sway them too much in Pizarro’s managerial debut.

On Tuesday, three days into his new life, he led the club into the first leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 tie against top MLS side FC Cincinnati and their new $16.2 million striker, Kévin Denkey.

Things started rough, conceding to a linkup from Yuya Kubo, Denkey and Pavel Bucha in the third minute. Still, Tigres settled into the match soon after, getting a tying goal in the 17th minute from Nicolas Ibañez, with the match ending 1–1.

After splitting the first leg on the road, Tigres will welcome Cincinnati to Estadio Universitario on Tuesday. Buoyed by their away goal, they hope to advance to the quarterfinals.

Before then, Pizarro will make his Liga MX coaching debut on Friday night when Tigres take on Queretaro, a club battling near the bottom of the Clausura table.