The 51-year-old Spaniard has signed for the Bhubaneswar-based franchise for a year with an option to extend after the season.
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Odisha FC have announced the signing of their new head coach Francisco “Kiko” Ramirez Gonzalez ahead of the upcoming eighth season of the Indian Super League (ISL). The 51-year-old Spaniard has signed for the Bhubaneswar-based franchise for a year with an option to extend after the season. Coach Ramirez started his coaching career with Spanish club Gimnastic as its assistant coach first in 2002 and then as its youth coach, after his retirement from professional football as a player. In 2010, he joined Pobla Mafumet and returned to Gimnastic again in 2012. Ramirez has further coached other Spanish clubs like CE L’Hospitalet, CD Castellon, and CE Sabadell.
“I am very excited to arrive in India and start working on this amazing project with Odisha FC to make our fans feel proud of the team. We are going to work hard to build a strong team with good players that represent our fan base,” said the newly appointed Odisha FC coach, indicating his enthusiasm as quoted by the franchise’s official website.
Club President Raj Athwal expressed his delight, highlighting the wealth of experience that Ramirez enjoys.
“We are delighted to welcome Coach Ramirez to the Odisha family. He brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the club and has an impressive record with the clubs he has managed in Europe. Throughout the process, he impressed with his vision and ambition and demonstrated a desire to create a winning mentality at Odisha Football Club. I am sure our supporters and everyone in Odisha will welcome Coach Ramirez with open arms. We wish him well in achieving success for our football club.”
Ramirez was the second coach at Nastic de Tarragona in the first division in Spain as well. His first foreign assignment was with Polish football club Wisla Krakow in 2017. The UEFA Pro License holder was the manager of Greek professional side AO Xanthi FC in 2019 before coming to India.
Ramirez had started his footballing career with Gimnastic’s youth team and was then promoted to the senior side. The Odisha FC manager went on to represent other clubs in Spain like Cartagonova, Ceuta, Malaga, Sabadell among others before deciding to hang his boots and taking up coaching.
OFC have further roped in the services of Joaquin “Kino” Garcia Sanchez as Assistant Coach and Head of Football Development ahead of the 2021-22 ISL season. Joaquin has a lot of experience in developing players. The UEFA Pro License holder is a former coach at Valencia CF’s youth teams. He has coached many important players who are currently playing in the first division in Spain. Joaquin also directed the Valencia CF Academy in Seoul.
“I am also pleased to welcome our Assistant Coach Joaquin who has an impressive track record of developing players from the youth set up to the first team. His experience of coaching and developing the youth teams at Valencia CF will be paramount as we look to build and strengthen our Academy in Odisha. As an expert in Coaching, we have no doubt Joaquin alongside Coach Ramirez will bring much-needed success to Odisha Football Club,” concluded Athwal.
