Héctor Cúper

Héctor Cúper is an Argentine retired defender and a coach. He was born on 16 November 1955 in Chabás, Santa Fe, Argentina.

At the beginning of his professional career Héctor played several games for Ferro Carril Oeste and then for Independiente Rivadavia. His career really picked up steam during his second ten-year spell at Ferro Carril Oeste. Since 1978 till 1988, Cúper made a total of 424 appearances and scored 24 goals. In 1988, he joined Huracán where played for four years amassing 132 matches for the club.

Héctor Cúper started out his managerial career at Huracán in 1993 and went on leading the Argentine side Lanús to the CONMEBOL Cup victory in 1996. He made a great impact as a manager of the Spanish club Mallorca leading them to the Supercopa de España victory in 1998 and helping to finish as runners-up in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in the 1998/99 season. In 1999, Cúper recorded another Supercopa de España trophy, this time with the powerhouse Valencia in 1999. It was to his immense credit that the club became the UEFA Champions League runners-up in two consecutive seasons (1999/2000 and 2000/20001). After a two-year spell at Valencia, Héctor Cúper moved to Italy and took charge over giants Internazionale in Serie A. The club became the Serie A runner-up in the 2002/03 season.

Since 2004 till 2009, Cúper ruled the roost at several clubs such as Spanish Mallorca and Real Betis, Italian club Parma and was at the helm of the Georgia national team in the 2008/09 season. In 2009, he signed a contract with the Greek side Aris Thessaloniki earning them a second-place finish in the 2009/10 Greek Cup. In 2011, Héctor Cúper took over reins at the Turkish club Orduspor and coached the team till 2013.