José Antonio Camacho Alfaro (born 8 June 1955 in Cieza, Murcia) is a former Spanish defender, who spent the entire professional career playing for Real Madrid; actually is the manager of CA Osasuna.

After playing youth football at Albacete Balompié, Camacho moved to Real Madrid aged 18.

Left defender with a very strong nature and charisma, very soon the young Josè Antonio was part of the legendary team dressing in white. At the end he would play nearly 600 games winning, among the other titles, 9 times the Spanish championship (“La Liga”) and 2 times the UEFA Cup (1984/85 , 1985/86), notwithstanding a serious injury he suffered in training (January 1978), which put his career on hold for nearly two years. His temper made him ready to come back on the pitch to lift up new trophies.

Internationally Camacho played 81 games for the Spanish national team, being selected for the 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cups, as well as UEFA Euro 1984 and 1988.

Following his retirement as a player in 1989, Camacho began coaching, first in Real Madrid's coaching staff, hence at Rayo Vallecano and RCD Espanyol, taking both to first division. Seville, Espanol and Benfica are the other teams he managed, passing through the Spanish National team he had the chance to train from 1998 and 2002, reaching the quarterfinals in the FIFA World Cup 2002 and the same stage in the UEFA Euro 2000.

After working as co-commentator on Spanish TV 4, during UEFA Euro 2008 campaign, Camacho became the manager of CA Osasuna in Spain.

Did you know?

- From 1974 and 1989 Camacho played 414 times for Real Madrid scoring 9 goals in the Spanish league.

- He made his debut with Spain when he was 20, on 5 February 1975 in Valencia, in a 1–1 draw against Scotland (UEFA Euro 1976 qualifiers).

- In the 1998 summer, Camacho took over Real Madrid's first team. His experience lasted only 22 days because of disagreements with the club's management.

(S. Siviero)