Jose' Mourinho named World's Best Coach of the Year

Since 1996 the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) chooses the World's Best National Coach and it is calendar year based. Meanwhile the 2005 voting has just ended and we would report shortly on their results .

The 2004 results saw the Awards going to Otto Rehhagel as Best National Coach and to Jose' Mourinho as Best Club Coach . The German, who coached Greece to a memorable win in the European Championship in Portugal, has wiped the table receiving twice as many votes of the second classified, Marcelo Bielsa of Argentina.

Among the 2004 list revelations is Claudio Gentile (pictured, Copyrights La Repubblica.it)) who led the Italian U-21 team to glory by winning the category European title in Slovakia. Ironically, the former Italy 1982 world champion full back received twice as many preferences than his former mentor Giovanni Trapattoni, who was penalised by Italy's early exit from the Euro 2004 tournament.

Otto Rehhagel succeeds Jacques Santini of France, the World Best Coach for year 2003. Elsewhere Sven Goran Ericsson finished behind Zico, the Brazil 1982 star, who is taking Japan to levels never seen before.

In the Club Coaches category Jose'Mourinho of Chelsea, was elected World Best Coach as the 'Special one' led Porto to the European Championship crown beating AS Monaco in 3-0 in the final. Mourinho succeeded Carlo Bianchi of Boca Junior, who brought the Buenos Aires squad to world glory beating AC Milan in the Toyota Cup final for the 2004 World Club title after winning the Copa Libertatores. The Chelsea manager received more than three times the votes of his London rival Arsene Wenger of Arsenal FC, who came good second ahead of another Frenchman Didier Deschamp, who inspired AS Monaco to reach its best achievement of their short history. Bobby Robson, at the time managing Newcastle Utd FC, closed the top world 15 coaches ranking. So far, Alex Ferguson is the only British coach to win the award in 1999.


IFFHS 2004 World Coach of the Year ranking:
Year Winner Country Club No.Votes

1. Otto Rehhagel Greece 261
2. Marcelo Bielsa Argentina 134
3. Luiz Scolari Portugal 98
4. Karel Bruckner Czech Rep. 74
5. Carlos Parreira Brazil 56
6. Morten Olsen Denmark 29
7. Zico Japan 23
8. Sven-Goran Eriksson England 22
9. Roger Lemerre Tunisia 19
10. Adnan Hamad Majeed Iraq 18
11. Claudio Gentile Italy[U-21] 13
12. Branko Ivankovic Iran 11
13. Richard Perez Venezuela 9
14. Bruce Arena USA 8
15. Giovanni Trapattoni Italy 6
Aleksandrs Starkovs Latvia 6

Previous Winners :
Year Winner Country

1996 Hans "Berti" Vogts Germany
1997 Mario Zagallo Brazil
1998 Aimar Jacquet France
1999 W. Luxemburgo Brazil
2000 Roger Lemerre France
2001 Marcelo Bielsa Argentina
2002 Luiz Felipe Scolari Brazil
2003 Jacques Santini France


IFFHS' World's Best Club Coach of the Year 2004
Year Winner Country Club No.Votes

1. Jose Mourinho Portugal Chelsea FC London 271
2. Arsene Wenger France Arsenal FC London 86
3. Didier Deschamps France AS de Monaco 72
4. Franklin Rijkaard Netherlands FC Barcelona 71
5. Rafael Benitez Spain Liverpool FC 62
6. Carlos Bianchi Argentina CA Boca Juniors 57
7. Luis Montoya Colombia CD Once Caldas Manizales 56
8. Carlo Ancelotti Italy Milan AC 48
9. Alexander Ferguson Scotland Manchester United 26
10. Vanderley Luxemburgo Brasil Santos FC 19
11. Claudio Ranieri Italy Valencia CF 18
12. Fabio Capello Italy Juventus Torino 13
13. Hugo Sanchez Mexico UNAM Ciudad de Mexico 11
14. Javier Irureta Spain RC Deportivo de La Coruna 9
15. Robert Robson England Newcastle United FC 6


Previous Winners :
Year Winner Country Club

1996 Marcello Lippi Italy Juventus FC Torino
1997 Ottmar Hitzfeld Germany Borussia Dortmund
1998 Marcello Lippi Italy Juventus FC Torino
1999 Alex Ferguson Scotland Manchester United FC
2000 Carlos Bianchi Argentina CA Boca Juniors
2001 Ottmar Hitzfeld Germany FC Bayern Munchen
2002 Vicente Del Bosque Spain Real Madrid CF
2003 Carlos Bianchi Argentina CA Boca Juniors

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