• Born in Murcia, Spain on June 8, 1955• 1973: Made debut for Real Madrid as a hard-tackling left-side defender. Won nine league titles, three King’s Cups and two UEFA Cups in 15 seasons at the club. Played a total of 414 first division games, all for Real, and scored nine goals.• 1975: Won the first of 81 full caps (no goals) for Spain in an European championship game against Scotland in Valencia. Part of Real side that completed Spanish league and cup double.• 1989: Retired and became part of Real’s youth team coaching staff.• 1990: Acted as assistant coach to John Toshack and continued the job under Alfredo di Stefano after Toshack was sacked.• 1991: Joined second division Rayo Vallecano as coach, winning promotion to the top flight in his debut season.• 1993: Joined second division Espanyol as coach, again winning immediate promotion to the top flight.• 1997: Joined Sevilla but was sacked midway through the season. Joined Espanyol again but had a mediocre season, finishing 12th.• 1998: Appointed coach of Real Madrid but resigned 23 days later after a row with club President Lorenzo Sanz over backroom staff. Replaced Javier Clemente as Spain’s national team coach following 3-2 defeat by Cyprus in a Euro 2000 qualifier.• 2000: Guided Spain to Euro 2000 quarter-finals, where they were beaten 2-1 by eventual champions France.• 2002: Took Spain to World Cup quarter-finals, where they lost to co-hosts South Korea on penalties. Resigned after the competition. Later appointed coach of Portuguese side Benfica.• 2003: Guided Benfica to second place in the league behind Porto.• 2004, May 24: Named Real Madrid coach after the club failed to win a trophy under Carlos Queiroz.Took team through the Champions League qualifying round but lost opening game in group phase 3-0 to Bayer Leverkusen. Three days later, Real lost 1-0 at Espanyol after dropping club captain Raul and England midfielder David Beckham.• Sept 19: Offered resignation, persuaded by club president Florentino Perez to think over his decision.
