Childhood & Early Life
Guillermo Barros Schelotto was born in La Plata, Argentina, to Cristina and Hugo Barros Schelotto, on May 4, 1973. His father was a doctor, and his mother was a teacher.
His father was one of the presidents of ‘Gimnasia y Esgrima’ in the 1980s.
He grew up with his twin brother, Gustavo Barros Schelotto, who was also a football player. They were teammates in ‘Gimnasia La Plata’ and ‘Boca Juniors.’ His brother works as an assistant manager for ‘LA Galaxy.’ Apart from him, he has an older brother named Pablo, who is a surgeon, and a sister named Carolina, who is an agronomist.
Before taking up professional football, Guillermo studied law with his twin brother, Gustavo. They both gave it up to pursue football.
Continue Reading Below
Club Career
Guillermo started playing professional football at the end of 1991, after he joined ‘Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata,' which was his home team. He scored a total 45 goals and made 181 appearances with ‘Gimnasia’ during his five-season run. He was also with ‘Gimnasia’ when it won the ‘AFA Centenario Cup’ in 1993.
In 1996, ‘River Plate,’ another top club, offered him a spot. However, the deal did not go through, as Enzo Francescoli, who was the club’s icon and ‘Most Valuable Player’ then, was not happy with it.
In 1997, he transferred to ‘Boca Juniors’ of the ‘Primera Division Argentina,’ along with his brother Gustavo, and stayed with them for 10 years. He is still one of the top international scorers for ‘Boca Juniors,’ with 25 goals to his credit.
He made his debut with ‘Boca’ as a substitute for Claudio Caniggia, against ‘Newell’s Old Boys’ and scored in ‘Boca’s 2–1 victory.
He earned his number 7 jersey from his ‘Boca Juniors’ coach Carlos Bianchi and kept it till the 2006–2007 season. Along with teammate and formal rival Martin Palermo, he contributed greatly to the club’s 1998–1999 season, leading to title wins.
Guillermo was struck by a series of injuries, which kept him away from the 2001 and 2003 club international matches.
He was noticed in the 2003 ‘Copa Libertadores’ against Brazilian team ‘Paysandú’ after he made a hat-trick and also assisted teammate Marcelo Delgado to score a goal.
He was again fraught with injuries and played only for 46 minutes in the ‘Copa Intercontinental,’ where he replaced Carlos Tevez. They won against ‘A.C. Milan.’
He saw a slump when the team was under coach Alfio Basile. His missed the first team matches and instead played for the second team in order to maintain his performance.
Continue Reading Below
He scored 87 goals across 302 games for the club.
On April 19, 2007, he signed a 2-year contract with ‘MLS’s ‘Columbus Crew,’ after his contract with ‘Boca’ came to an end.
He made his U.S. debut against the ‘Kansas City Wizards,’ as a replacement in the 75th minute of the match. ‘Columbus Crew’ lost the match 1–0.
Guillermo made his home debut on May 12, 2007, against ‘Chivas USA.’ The match resulted in a 1–1 tie. He assisted the goal for the team. He assisted 11 goals in the season and made 5 of his own, in a total of 22 matches.
He had a splendid 2008, due to the 19 assists and 7 goals during the season. He made 3 assists in the 2008 ‘MLS Cup.’ ‘Crew’ won 3–1 against the ‘New York Red Bulls’ in the match that was held at the ‘Home Depot Center’ on November 23, 2008.
He became ‘Columbus Crew’s ‘Designated Player’ on December 2, 2008, thus becoming the first-ever player to get the title.
His stint with ‘Columbus Crew’ ended on November 16, 2010, as he was not picked up by the team. He became a free agent in the ‘MLS’ when he was not selected in the 2010 ‘MLS Re-entry Draft.’
Guillermo went back to his home team, ‘Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata,’ on January 13, 2011, on an unpaid contract, after he rejected any sort of compensation from the club, (“ad honorem”).
He played 17 matches with ‘Gimnasia’ as a winger and scored 3 goals. His stint with the club ended in 6 months. Interestingly, his last goal came against ‘Boca Juniors.’ It was his 110th goal in the ‘Primera Division.’
Continue Reading Below
Coaching & Management
Guillermo retired from professional football in 2011 and founded the ‘SP Soccer Academy’ in Westerville, Ohio, with Gino Padula, a fellow Argentinian.
He started working as a team manager for the first time in July 2012, for ‘Club Atlético Lanús.’
After Guillermo’s contract with Lanús ended, he became the coach for the Italian team ‘Palermo’ on January 11, 2016. However, he resigned on February 10, 2016, after the ‘UEFA’ refused to hand him a coaching badge. This happened due to the appointment of Giovanni Tedesco as the official head coach, which forced Guillermo to sit on the bench during league games as a “team manager” instead of a coach.
On March 1, 2016, he signed with his former team, ‘Boca Juniors.’ Under him, ‘Boca’ won the 2016–2017 and the 2017–2018 ‘Argentine Primera Division’ in spite of complications. However, ‘Boca’ lost the 2018 ‘Copa Libertadores’ finals against ‘River Plate.’
Since January 2, 2019, he has been coaching the ‘MLS’ club ‘LA Galaxy.’
Awards & Achievements
Guillermo has received several honors, such as the ‘Copa Centenario de la AFA’ in 1993 for ‘Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata.’
For ‘Boca Juniors,’ he has won the ‘Copa Libertadores’ (2000, 2001, 2003, and 2007), the ‘Copa Sudamericana’ (2004 and 2005), the ‘Recopa Sudamericana’ (2005 and 2006), the ‘Primera Division’ (‘Apertura’ in 1998, 2000, 2003, and 2005; and ‘Clausura’ in 1999 and 2006), and the ‘Intercontinental Cup’ (2000 and 2003).
For ‘Columbus Crew,’ he has won the ‘MLS Cup’ (2008), the ‘Supporter’s Shield’ (2008 and 2009), the ‘Eastern Conference Playoffs’ (2008), and the ‘Eastern Conference’ (2008 and 2009).
He won the ‘Copa Sudamericana’ (2013) for ‘Lanús’ and the ‘Primera División’ (2016–2017 and 2017–2018) for ‘Boca Juniors.’
He has been the ‘MLS MVP’ (2008), the ‘MLS Best XI’ (2007 and 2008), the ‘MLS Cup MVP’ (2008), the ‘Sports Illustrated Latino’s Sportsman of the Year’ (2008), and the ‘Designated Player’ for ‘Columbus Crew’ (2008).
Family & Personal Life
Guillermo is married to Matilde Carriquiriborde since 2003. They have three sons: Máximo, Nicolás, and Santiago.
His nephews, Juan, Salvador, Tomás Cataldi, and Bautista Barros Schelotto, too, play football.
His twin brother, Gustavo, manages the ‘LA Galaxy’ team with him.
