José Antonio Camacho
Coach, Spanish national soccer team.

In 1998, José Antonio Camacho, one time player for the Real Madrid soccer club, took over from Javier Clemente as the coach for Spain's national football team. Honest, forthright and firm, he was a refreshing change from Clemente, whose arrogant manner and mishandling of the media had been compounded by a long losing streak on the Spanish side.

The tide quickly turned under Camacho, who has signed up to coach the Spanish team up to the World Cup in 2002. Spain secured a spot at the European Championships in Paris in 2000, where Spain started off as one of the favourites (Spain reached the quarter finals, but was eliminated after a 2-1 defeat against France).

Following his retirement as a player in 1989, Camacho was part of the Real Madrid coaching team. He later went on to coach three more Spanish teams, two of which-Rayo Vallecano and Espanyol-he took into the First Division. He also coached Real Madrid for a brief 22 days in 1998, but left over disagreements with the club's management.

José Antonio Camacho was born in the village of Cieza (Murcia) in 1955. He joined Real Madrid at age 18, playing left defence between 1973 and 1989 and taking part in 400 First Division matches, in spite of a knee injury which put his soccer career on hold for two years. He also played 81 games for the Spanish national team, taking part in two World Cups.