Albert Roca

Albert Roca Pujol (born 20 October 1962) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a central defender, and the current fitness coach of Spanish club FC Barcelona.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Roca and the second or maternal family name is Pujol.
Albert Roca
Roca during his coaching spell with Barcelona
Personal information
Full name Albert Roca Pujol
Date of birth (1962-10-20) 20 October 1962
Place of birth Granollers, Spain
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Centre back
Club information
Current team
 FC Barcelona (fitness coach)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1982–1983 Hospitalet 21 (1)
1983–1984 Sabadell 34 (0)
1984–1986 Zaragoza B 67 (2)
1986 Zaragoza 1 (0)
1986–1987 Sabadell 26 (1)
1987–1988 Zaragoza 4 (0)
1988–1990 Atlético Madrileño 55 (3)
1990–1992 Palamós 17 (0)
Total 225 (7)
Teams managed
1997–1998 Europa (assistant)
1998–1999 Europa
1999–2000 Manlleu
2001–2003 Sabadell (assistant)
2003–2008 Barcelona (assistant)
2009–2010 Galatasaray (assistant)
2011–2013 Saudi Arabia (assistant)
2014–2015 El Salvador
2016–2018 Bengaluru
2020 Hyderabad
2020– Barcelona (assistant)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Born in Granollers, Barcelona, Catalonia, Roca spent most of his career with clubs in his native region, starting out at CE L'Hospitalet in Segunda División B. In 1984 he signed with Real Zaragoza, being assigned to the B-team also in that level and helping them promote to Segunda División in his first season.

Roca's input at the professional level consisted of a combined 75 games and three goals in the second tier with Zaragoza B, Atlético Madrid B and Palamós CF, and 31 matches and one goal in La Liga with Zaragoza and CE Sabadell CF. He scored his only goal in the latter competition on 8 March 1987, in a 1–3 away loss against RCD Español whilst playing for the latter side;[1] he retired at the end of the 1991–92 campaign, aged 29.

Coaching career

Roca began working as a head coach in 1998, at CE Europa in Tercera División.[2] He won the Copa Catalunya against FC Barcelona, before switching to neighbouring club AEC Manlleu the following year.

In 2001, Roca joined Sabadell's coaching staff, leaving two years later for Barcelona under newly appointed Frank Rijkaard. The pair went on to work together at Galatasaray SK and the Saudi Arabia national team.[3][4][5][6][7]

On 12 May 2014, Roca was appointed as manager of El Salvador.[8][9] His first game in charge occurred on 4 June at the Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, ending with a 1–2 friendly defeat to Ivory Coast;[10] his first win came against the Dominican Republic in another exhibition match, on 30 August (2–0).[11]

Roca returned to club duties on 6 July 2016, signing a two-year contract with I-League champions Bengaluru FC.[12] They immediately proceeded to reach the final of the AFC Cup, becoming the first team in the country to achieve the feat but eventually losing 0–1 to Iraq's Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya;[13][14] subsequently, and still under his guidance, the side won the 2016–17 edition of the Federation Cup[15] and reached the finals in the Indian Super League.[16][17]

On 12 January 2020, Roca became head coach of Hyderabad FC also in the Indian top flight.[18][19]

On 29 August 2020, it was announced that Hyderabad FC and Roca had decided to part ways after agreeing to a mutual termination of the two-year contract, after he was appointed as the new fitness coach of Barcelona, as a part of the first-team staff under Ronald Koeman.[20]

References
  1. Tarín Alonso, Manuel (9 March 1987). "3–1: No hay fronteras para este Español" [3–1: There's no stopping this Español]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  2. "A look at Bengaluru FC's new manager Albert Roca". Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  3. Ortuño, Xavier (15 February 2010). "Albert Roca: "Nunca pudimos determinar que producía las lesiones de cruzados"" [Albert Roca: "We could never determine what was causing the cruciate injuries"]. Sport (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  4. Bruña, Manel (28 February 2010). "Albert Roca: "Tener lesiones es normal"" [Albert Roca: "It's normal to sustain injuries"]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  5. Çiftçi, Memet (20 October 2010). "El Galatasaray destituye a Rijkaard" [Galatasaray fire Rijkaard]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  6. "Arabia Saudí, con mando culé" [Saudi Arabia, culés in charge] (PDF). Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 24 August 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  7. Alonso Filgueira, Álvaro (7 September 2012). "Arabia Saudí, territorio "español"" [Saudi Arabia, "Spanish" territory] (in Spanish). Vavel. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  8. "Roca presented as El Salvador's new head coach". CONCACAF. 12 May 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  9. Duarte, Alfredo (5 February 2018). "Albert Roca suena para entrenar otra vez a una selección nacional" [Albert Roca poised to coach a national team again]. El Gráfico (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  10. "Drogba y Gervinho acaban con El Salvador" [Drogba and Gervinho finish El Salvador]. Marca (in Spanish). 5 June 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  11. "La Selecta vence 2–0 a Dominicana" [Selecta defeat Dominican 2–0] (in Spanish). ElSalvador.com. 30 August 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  12. "Albert Roca appointed as Bengaluru FC coach". Bengaluru FC. 6 July 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  13. "AFC Cup final preview: JSW Bengaluru FC vs Air Force Club". Fox Sports Asia. November 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  14. "Bengaluru FC go down to Iraq Air Force Club in AFC Cup final". India Today. 6 November 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  15. "Federation Cup: Bengaluru FC beat Mohun Bagan 2–0, win title". India Today. 21 May 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  16. "Bengaluru FC storm into Indian Super League semifinals". Bengaluru FC. 9 February 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  17. "Indian Super League final shifted to Bengaluru from Kolkata". The Times of India. 8 March 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  18. "ISL: Albert Roca to take full charge of Hyderabad FC from 2020–21 season". The Hindu. 12 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  19. "Ex-Bengaluru FC manager Albert Roca appointed as coach of Hyderabad FC". News 18. 12 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  20. "Hyderabad FC part ways with Albert Roca as FC Barcelona come calling". 29 August 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
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