Francisco Xabier Azcargorta Uriarte (born 29 September 1953 in Azpeitia

Azpeitia

Azpeitia is a town and municipality within the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country of Spain, located on the Urola river a few kilometres east of Azkoitia. Its population is 13,708 . It is located 16 miles southwest of Donostia/San Sebastián.Azpeitia is the birth place of Ignatius of Loyola...

), usually called Xabier Azkargorta, is a former Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 player and manager.

During his playing career he played for Real Sociedad

Real Sociedad

Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 September 1909...

 and Athletic Bilbao

Athletic Bilbao

Athletic Club, also known as Athletic Bilbao, is an association football club from Bilbao in Biscay, Spain. The club has played in the Primera División of La Liga since its start in 1928. They have won La Liga on eight occasions...

. Later he became a manager, coaching club teams such as CD Tenerife

CD Tenerife

Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in Tenerife . Founded in 1922, it currently plays in Segunda División B, holding home matches at Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez López, with a 24,000-seat capacity.-History:Club Deportivo Tenerife was founded in...

, RCD Espanyol

RCD Espanyol

Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona is a sports club based in Barcelona, Spain. It is best known for its football team. Espanyol currently play in the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat with seats for 40,500 spectators. It was inaugurated on 2 August 2009...

, Sevilla FC

Sevilla FC

Sevilla Fútbol Club S.A.D. is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, Spain that plays in the Spanish La Liga championship.They are one of the most successful clubs in Spanish football having won a 1 La Liga title, 5 Spanish "Copa del Rey" Cups, 1 Spanish Super Cup and 2 UEFA...

, Real Valladolid

Real Valladolid

Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Valladolid, in the autonomous community of Castile and León, from where the nickname Pucela is derived....

, and Club Deportivo Guadalajara, and national teams including Bolivia

Bolivia national football team

The Bolivia national football team is the national team of Bolivia and is controlled by the Federación Boliviana de Fútbol. After playing in the 1930 and 1950 World Cups, they qualified just once—in 1994...

 and Chile

Chile national football team

The Chilean national football team represents Chile in all major international football competitions. The team is controlled by the Federación de Fútbol de Chile which was established in 1895. They have appeared in eight World Cup tournaments and were hosts of the 1962 FIFA World Cup finishing in...

.

He most recently worked as a television pundit for Digital+'s coverage of the South American World Cup qualifiers.

As of July 2008, Xabier Azkargorta has been appointed the "Director Deportivo" of Spanish La Liga side Valencia CF

Valencia CF

Valencia Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football club based in Valencia, Spain. They play in La Liga and are one of the most successful and biggest clubs in Spanish Football and European Football. Valencia have won six La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey trophies, two Fairs Cups which was the...

. In Spain, the manager role differs from that which the English Premiereship assigns to it in the sense that the manager is only in charge of the team's training, strategy and lineup. The decision to scout or pursue other players is left to the "Director Deportivo". In England, both job functions are assumed by the manager.

The Valencia move marks a long-awaited return to Spanish football for Azkargorta (Azkargorta regularly features as an expert witness for the Spanish sporting newspaper AS, where he has frequently stated his desire to return—usually at the fans' request). Valencia midfielder (and former Spanish international) Ruben Baraja has stated to the Spanish daily Marca that "Azkargorta is a man of football, with a distinguished career path and discriminating quality as a manager and national side coach. Further, he holds the respect and esteem of the footballing world, which is a difficult claim to make".

Manager

Yokohama Marinos

• • J-League: 1997–1998 Bolivia national football team
    Bolivia national football team
    The Bolivia national football team is the national team of Bolivia and is controlled by the Federación Boliviana de Fútbol. After playing in the 1930 and 1950 World Cups, they qualified just once—in 1994...
    
    
  • Qualification of Bolivia for a World Cup (USA 94') and manager of Bolivia in World Cup of 1994
    1994 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)
    Listed below are the dates and results for the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the South American zone . For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification....
    
    : 1993–1994