WHO IS
LAUREANO RUIZ?
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Laureano Ruiz played professional soccer himself, but is best known today as a youth coach.
In the 1970’s he was the youth coach for FC Barcelona
In 1976 he was the coach of FC Barcelona’s first team (adults)
Since 1987, he has been the head of the Municipal School of Soccer in Santander, home of Racing de Santander. The school is part of the Instituto Municipal de Deportes of Ayuntamiento de Santander
He is known for introducing the 4-3-3 and 3-4-3 as a customary formation of play for his youth teams long before any others were using this formation
His teams have won seven Spanish youth titles: five with FC Barcelona and two with Racing de Santander.
He is currently an instructor to the South Korean Soccer Federation
In his years of coaching, he has developed such notable players as Iván de la Peña, Iván Helguera, Johan Neeskens, and Juan Carlos, who later became the captain of FC Barcelona and the Spanish National Team.
Mr. Ruiz also worked with Johan Cruyff. When Mr. Cruyff coached the Dream Team at FC Barcelona, he felt that part of their success was due to his use of the principles he learned during his time with Mr. Ruiz.
Hristo Stoichkov was also mentored by Mr. Ruiz. Like Johan Cruyff, Hristo Stoichkov also employs Mr. Ruiz’s methods at his Hristo Stoichkov Academy in Catalunia.
He is the Author of The Spanish Coaching Soccer Bible and The Spanish Goalkeeping Bible.
It is his method of training and coaching that is used by coaches at our Academy to develop young players to their full potential.