Jaime Lozano

Jaime Arturo "Jimmy" Lozano Espín (born 29 September 1978) is a Mexican professional football manager and former player. He is the current head coach of the Mexico national team.

Lozano spent the majority of his playing career with Club Universidad Nacional, playing in over 160 matches with the club. He also had spells with Tigres UANL and Cruz Azul, and Monarcas Morelia.

A Mexico international, Lozano made his debut in 2000, earning 34 caps and scoring 12 goals during a seven-year period. He participated with the national team in various competitions, including two Copa América tournaments, the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, and the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Club career
He debuted with Pumas UNAM in 1998, and until 2001, when he moved to Celaya to play for a team that then contested in the Primera División (First Division), but has since been relegated. In 2002, he returned to Pumas where he won the Mexican Championship twice. After that, Lozano had problems renewing his contract for the following tournament and became a free agent. He signed on with Tigres UANL for the next two years.

International career
Lozano was capped 34 times for the Mexico national team; he made three appearances in the team's fourth-place finish at the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, and eleven in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. A series of injuries kept him away from the team in the months leading up to the World Cup. Nevertheless, Lozano was named by Ricardo La Volpe in a provisional list of 26 players. However, he did not make the final list.

Lozano was one of the players selected by Hugo Sánchez to compete in the Copa América 2007. He made his first appearance in the tournament coming on as a substitute in Mexico's opening 2–0 group stage victory over Brazil.

International goals

Managerial career

Querétaro
After winning the U-20 Clausura Liga MX title with Querétaro FC's U-20 team, Lozano was promoted to be an assistant coach at Querétaro's senior team under Víctor Manuel Vucetich.

After Vucetich was sacked on 31 January 2017, Lozano was appointed manager. On 16 July, Lozano won his first career title as a manager when Querétaro defeated América 2–0 to clinch the 2017 Supercopa MX. On 22 October, Lozano was sacked after a poor run of form which left Querétaro in last place, being replaced by Luis Fernando Tena.

Mexico U23
On 18 December 2018, Lozano was named manager of the Mexico U-23 national team.

At the 2019 Toulon Tournament, Lozano took the team to a third-place finish, defeating the Republic of Ireland in a penalty shoot-out 4–3 following a scoreless draw. Disputing the Pan American Games the following month, he led the team to a third-place finish, defeating Uruguay 1–0, receiving the bronze medal. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Lozano took the U-23 team to a third place finish, defeating hosts Japan 3-1 in the bronze medal match.

Necaxa 
On 9 February 2022, Lozano was appointed as manager of Liga MX side Necaxa. He lead the team to the Reclassification phase of the Clausura 2022, where they tied 1-1 on aggregate but lost 3-1 in a penalty shoot-out to Cruz Azul. After Necaxa failed to get past the Reclassification phase in the Apertura 2022 following a 2-0 defeat to Tigres UANL, Necaxa mutually parted ways with Lozano.

Mexico national team 
After Mexico's 3–0 loss to the United States in the 2023 CONCACAF Nations League semi-finals and the subsequent firing of head coach Diego Cocca, Lozano was appointed as interim head coach by the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) to lead the side for the forthcoming Gold Cup. Mexico went on to win the tournament, defeating Panama 1–0 in the final. On 10 August, FMF president Ivar Sisniega announced that Lozano would stay on as head coach of the national team.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player
UNAM
Mexican Primera División: Clausura 2004, Apertura 2004
Campeón de Campeones: 2004

Morelia
North American SuperLiga: 2010

Individual
Mexican Primera División Best Full-back: 2003–04
Mexican Primera División Best Attacking Midfielder: Apertura 2009

Manager
Querétaro
Supercopa MX: 2017

Mexico U23
Pan American Bronze Medal: 2019
CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship: 2020
Olympic Bronze Medal: 2020

Mexico
CONCACAF Gold Cup: 2023

Personal life
Lozano's parents were both telenovela actors, and was given the nickname "El Actor" during his playing career. His mother is actress Ana Bertha Espín and his father is actor of the same name Jaime Lozano. 

During the peak of his career, Lozano was featured on the North American cover of EA Sports' 2006 FIFA World Cup video game. He did not make Mexico's final roster that participated at the World Cup.

References

External links

 

1978 births
Living people
Mexico men's international footballers
2004 Copa América players
2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players
2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
2007 Copa América players
Footballers from Mexico City
Cruz Azul footballers
Liga MX players
Club Universidad Nacional footballers
Tigres UANL footballers
Atlético Morelia players
Men's association football midfielders
Mexican men's footballers
Mexican football managers
Mexico national football team managers
Querétaro F.C. managers
Club Necaxa managers
Liga MX managers
2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup managers
CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning managers