ISL: Atletico de Kolkata announce Jose Molina as new head coach

Spain international and former Villarreal boss Jose Francisco Molina Jimenez will replace Antonio Lopez Habas as Atletico de Kolkata’s head coach

Indian Super League (ISL) football franchise Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) on Tuesday announced the appointment of Jose Francisco Molina Jimenez as their head coach, for the third and upcoming edition of the tournament.

He will be filling in the void created by Antonio Lopez Habas, who has switched allegiance to rivals FC Pune City.

Atletico are the champions of the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2014. They reached the semi-finals last year.

Jose Molina represented his national side Spain at the 1998 World Cup and two European Championships in 1996 and 2000. Molina’s club career was intimately related with Spanish giants Atletico Madrid, ATK’s co-owner, for whom he featured in 189 matches over a period of five years as their goal keeper.

As a player, Molina went on to win the La Liga and Copa Del Rey titles with Atletico Madrid in 1995-96 season before joining Deportivo La Coruna with whom he lifted the Copa Del Rey trophy. Molina has previously managed teams like Villarreal, and Kitchee.

“I welcome Jose Molina into our Atletico de Kolkata family. Molina’s experience with leading clubs of Spain and other parts of the world makes him an ideal candidate to take our on field performance few notches higher in his forthcoming assignment,” ATK co-owner Sanjiv Goenka said in a release.

“He will be instrumental in building the team’s strategy and help us select some good prospective footballers for the upcoming season. We wish him all the success and I am definitely sure that he will showcase the finest quality of football under his able guidance that has become synonymous to Atlético de Kolkata.”