Rafael Garza Gutiérrez

Rafael Garza Gutiérrez
Personal information
Full name	Rafael Garza Gutiérrez
Date of birth	December 13, 1896
Place of birth	Mexico City, Mexico
Date of death	July 3, 1974 (aged 77)
Place of death	Mexico City, Mexico
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team
1916–1932	América
International career
1923–1930	Mexico
Managerial career
1917–1919	América (player-manager)
1920–1926	América (player-manager)
1929–1931	América (player-manager)
1933–1935	América
1934	Mexico
1935–1936	América
1937–1938	Mexico
1937–1942	América
1946–1949	América
1949	Mexico
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Rafael Garza Gutiérrez (13 December 1896 – 3 July 1974), nicknamed "Récord", was a Mexican football player and coach. He, along with other members of the Garza family, are recognized as the founders of Club América. He was a defender for that club as well as the Selección de fútbol de México (Mexico national team). Upon retiring, he took the reins of his beloved club as an executive and later served as the national team manager on four separate occasions.^{[citation needed]}. He is an Olympian.^[1]

Club América

Garza Gutiérrez, and a group of young men, championed the idea of a Club América when on 12 October 1916 (Columbus Day; Spanish, "Día del descubrimiento de America"/"Day of the discovery of America"), met. There existed Garza's "Récord" (which would later become his personal nickname) and Germán Nuñez's "Unión"; they consolidated forces. The name came from the significance of the day on which the club was established.^{[citation needed]}

Garza continued in 1917 to be a force when América was "promoted" to compete in Liga Mayor de la Ciudad (Major League of Mexico City). Garza led América to four consecutive championships (player in 1924–25; and player/coach in 1925–26, 1926–27, 1927–28). America would have its next league championship in 1965–66.^{[citation needed]}He retired from America in 1932.^[2]

Mexico national football team

Garza's early success brought him to the attention of those that championed the idea of a national team to represent Mexico in international competition. This team would be governed by Mexican Football Federation (Spanish: Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación; FEMEXFUT), when it was created in 1927. Garza was elected to be the team's first head coach, although he had been informally coaching what was then the team since 1923. He continued at his post until 1928. He played as a defender at the first FIFA World Cup, held in Uruguay in 1930. After his retirement as a player, he continued to coach the Mexico national team three times (1934–35, 1937 and 1949).^{[citation needed]}