Former La Liga stars gone in different career direction: coaches abroad

Therersquos many former LaLiga stars currently using the experience and skills picked during their time in Spanish football in managerial and coaching careers all around the world The list is almost unrivalled Pep Guardiola Manchester City Zinedine Zidane Real Madrid Diego Simeone Atletico de Madrid Mikel Arteta Arsenal Rafa Beniacutetez Dalian Pro Xavi Hernaacutendez Al Sadd Miacutechel Pumas UNAM lsquoGutirsquo UD Almeria Rauacutel Gonzaacutelez Real Madrid Castilla Van Nistelrooy PSV U19 Unai Emery Mauricio Pochettino Quique Saacutenchez Flores Laurent Blanc Ernesto Valverde Mark van Bommel Aitor Karanka Clarence Seedorfhellip but here are five more with very special stories1 Giovanni Van Bronckhorst ndash FC Barcelona to FeyenoordAll the lessons learned winning two LaLiga titles with FC Barcelona in the early 2000s as an attackminded left back have definitely proved useful for Giovanni Van Bronckhorstrsquos coaching career The former Netherlands international became first team coach in summer 2015 at Feyenoord the Rotterdam club where he started and finished his playing career His first season brought the KNVB Cup trophy while the following year he led the club to its first Eredivisie title in 18 years a historic achievement Last January he was announced as manager of Chinese club Guangzhou RampF2 Jonathan Woodgate Real Madrid to MiddlesbroughJonathan Woodgatersquos spell at Real Madrid famously did not get off to a great start with an own goal and red card on his LaLiga debut However when fit and available the classy defender made a valuable contribution to Los Blancos 200506 campaign with the team keeping seven clean sheets in his eight other games The following summer he joined hometown club Middlesbrough where he also returned after hanging up his boots to begin his coaching career in 2017 Last summer Woodgate was named first team manager at Boro and he took Decemberrsquos Championship Manager of the Month award3 Jordi Cruyff Camp Nou to EcuadorSon of Barcelona legend Johan Cruyff Jordi made his LaLiga debut in September 1994 against R Sporting The winger or attacking midfielder scored 22 LaLiga goals across spells at FC Barcelona RC Celta RCD Espanyol and most successfully D Alaves where he helped the Basque club reach the 2001 UEFA Cup final only to lose 54 in agonizing fashion to Liverpool Cruyff also represented Manchester United Metallurg Donetsk and the Netherlands national team nine senior caps during his playing career He has since worked in Malta Cyprus China and Israel where he oversaw three consecutive league titles as sporting director at Maccabi Tel Aviv In January 2020 he was appointed Ecuador senior international manager4 Diego Forlan Pichichi to Pentildearol One of the very few players in history to have won LaLigarsquos Pichichi top scorer prize with two different clubs Diego Forlan clinched it at Villarreal CF in 200405 and Atletico de Madrid in 200809 A strike rate of 128 goals in 240 LaLiga games counts among the very best A long playing career also brought goals scored in England Italy Brazil Japan and Hong Kong and appearing at three World Cups and a 2011 Copa America triumph during 112 caps for Uruguayrsquos senior team In December 2019 Forlan returned to his former Uruguayan club Pentildearol to start his managerial career5 Fabio Cannavaro ndash Santiago Bernabeu to China2006 was quite a year for Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro who won the World Cup in Germany signed for Real Madrid and was then awarded the Ballon DrsquoOr Cannavaro won two LaLiga titles during his three years in the Spanish capital where he continued a strong relationship with mentor Fabio Capello His first managerial job was at Dubai club AlAhli where he won UAE Pro League and UAE League Cup titles He also won the China League One title with Tianjin Quanjian guided Guangzhou Evergrande to the Chinese Superleague title last year and even took charge of the China national team for a time in 2019Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates hereAlso download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news