Luis Diego López

Diego López
Personal information
Full name Luis Diego López Breijo
Date of birth (1974-08-22) 22 August 1974
Place of birth Montevideo, Uruguay
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1996 River Plate Montevideo 37 (2)
1996–1998 Racing Santander 62 (3)
1998–2010 Cagliari 344 (7)
Total 443 (12)
National team
1994–2005 Uruguay 32 (1)
Teams managed
2012–2013 Cagliari (assistant)
2013–2014 Cagliari
2014–2015 Bologna
2017 Palermo
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Luis Diego López Breijo (born 22 August 1974) is an Uruguayan retired footballer who played as a defender, and a current coach.

His career was intimately connected with Cagliari in Italy, for which he appeared in nearly 400 competitive games in 12 years. He later worked with the club as a manager, in several categories.

López represented Uruguay in two Copa América tournaments.

Club career

Born in Montevideo, López started playing professionally with local Club Atlético River Plate. Two years later he signed with Racing de Santander in Spain, playing in 39 La Liga games in his debut season but receiving nine yellow cards and three red in the process; in Cantabria, he shared teams with compatriots Fernando Correa and José Zalazar.[1]

In 1998, López moved to Italy and joined Cagliari Calcio, freshly promoted to Serie A. During his first seven seasons with the Sardinian side, with the exception of his first year – only one match – he never appeared in less than 26 league contests and spent four years (2000–04) in the second division, also being eventually awarded team captaincy.

On 14 April 2009, following a tunnel brawl with ACF Fiorentina's Felipe Melo in a 1–2 away loss, López received – as the Brazilian – a five-match ban.[2] In July, one month shy of his 35th birthday, he signed a one-year contract with Cagliari.[3] In the 2009–10 campaign the veteran appeared in 18 league games his team again managed to avoid relegation, after finishing in 16th position.

On 9 September 2010, after not being called up to Cagliari's 2010–11 pre-season camp,[4] López announced his retirement from professional football, having appeared in nearly 400 official games for his main club (12 professional seasons).[5]

In July 2012, López was named at the helm of the Primavera under-19 team of Cagliari and, on 2 October, was unveiled as new assistant coach for the main squad after the Ivo Pulga-led club parted ways with Massimo Ficcadenti.[6]

López and Pulga swapped roles in July 2013 after the former was admitted to the yearly UEFA Pro Licence course, thus being allowed to serve as head coach in the Italian top flight. The former was sacked from his position on 6 April 2014 by owner Massimo Cellino, this being the 36th manager change he went through in 22 years of tenure.[7]

On 1 July 2014, López was appointed at Bologna F.C. 1909 in the Italian second tier.[8] After a good start to the season, he was removed from his duties on 2 May 2015 following a number of negative results.

López was appointed as U.S. Città di Palermo's fourth manager of the campaign, on 26 January 2017.[9] He was sacked on 11 April, after a run of bad results.[10]

International career

López made his debut for Uruguay on 19 October 1994, in a friendly match with Peru in the Estadio Nacional José Díaz in Lima (1–0 win).[11] The following year he represented the nation at the Copa América, with the tournament being held on home soil and won by the hosts, who conceded just four goals in six matches.[12]

López was overlooked, however, for the squads which appeared at the 2002 and 2010 FIFA World Cups, and amassed a total of 32 caps.

Managerial statistics

As of 11 April 2017.
Team Nat From To Competition Record
G W D L Win %
Cagliari Italy July 2013 April 2014 Serie A 26 6 10 10 023.08
Coppa Italia 1 0 0 1 000.00
Total 27 6 10 11 022.22
Bologna Italy July 2014 May 2015 Serie B 39 16 15 8 041.03
Coppa Italia 0 0 0 0 !—
Total 39 16 15 8 041.03
Palermo Italy January 2017 April 2017 Serie A 10 1 2 7 010.00
Coppa Italia 0 0 0 0 !—
Total 10 1 2 7 010.00
Career totals League 75 23 27 25 030.67
Domestic Cup 1 0 0 1 000.00
Total 76 23 27 26 030.26

Honours

International

Uruguay

References

  1. ↑ "Stuani promete «muchos goles»" [Stuani promises «many goals»] (in Spanish). El Diario Montañés. 10 August 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  2. ↑ "Lengthy bans for Serie A fighters". FIFA.com. 14 April 2009. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
  3. ↑ "Lopez rinnova" [López renews] (in Italian). Cagliari Calcio. 20 July 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  4. ↑ "I convocati per il pre-ritiro" [Players selected to training camp] (in Italian). Cagliari Calcio. 29 June 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  5. ↑ Lopez hangs up his boots; Football Italia, 9 September 2010
  6. ↑ "Nuovo corso" [New path] (in Italian). Cagliari Calcio. 2 October 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  7. ↑ "Cellino sacks Lopez as Cagliari coach just hours after sealing Leeds takeover". Daily Mail. 7 April 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  8. ↑ "E' Diego Lopez il nuovo allenatore del Bologna" [Diego Lopez is the new coach of Bologna] (in Italian). Bologna F.C. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  9. ↑ "Official: Palermo appoint Diego Lopez". Football Italia. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  10. ↑ "Official: Salerno, Lopez out at Palermo". Football Italia. 11 April 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  11. ↑ Uruguay – International Matches 1991–1995 Archived 23 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine.; at RSSSF
  12. ↑ Copa América 1995; at RSSSF
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