Diego López (footballer, born August 1974) facts for kids
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Luis Diego López Breijo | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 22 August 1974 | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Montevideo, Uruguay | |||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | |||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Defender | |||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||
| 1994–1996 | River Plate Montevideo | 37 | (2) | |||||||||||||
| 1996–1998 | Racing Santander | 62 | (3) | |||||||||||||
| 1998–2010 | Cagliari | 314 | (7) | |||||||||||||
| Total | 413 | (12) | ||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||
| 1994–2005 | Uruguay | 39 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Cagliari (assistant) | |||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Cagliari | |||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Bologna | |||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Palermo | |||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Cagliari | |||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Peñarol | |||||||||||||||
| 2020 | Brescia | |||||||||||||||
| 2020 | Brescia | |||||||||||||||
| 2022 | Universidad de Chile | |||||||||||||||
| 2023–2024 | Barcelona SC | |||||||||||||||
| 2025 | River Plate Montevideo | |||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||
Luis Diego López Breijo (born 22 August 1974) is a football manager and former player from Uruguay. He played as a defender, which means he helped protect his team's goal. He was most recently the manager of River Plate Montevideo.
Diego López spent a big part of his playing career with Cagliari in Italy. He played over 300 games for them during 12 years. He also played for the Uruguay national team in two Copa América tournaments.
After retiring as a player, López became a football manager. He coached Cagliari twice and also managed other teams in Italy's top league, Serie A. In 2018, he led Peñarol to win the Uruguayan Primera División, which is Uruguay's main football league.
Contents
Playing Career Highlights
Club Football Journey
Diego López was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. He began his professional football career with a local team, Club Atlético River Plate. After two years, he moved to Spain to play for Racing de Santander. In his first season there, he played 39 games in La Liga, Spain's top league.
In 1998, López moved to Italy and joined Cagliari Calcio. This team had just been promoted to Serie A, the highest football league in Italy. For seven seasons, he played in almost every game for Cagliari. He even spent four years (2000–2004) playing in Serie B, which is Italy's second division. During his time at Cagliari, he became the team's captain.
In July 2009, just before his 35th birthday, he signed a new one-year contract with Cagliari. In the 2009–10 season, he played 18 games. His team managed to stay in Serie A, finishing in 16th place. On 9 September 2010, Diego López announced he was retiring from playing professional football. He had played 344 official matches for Cagliari, his main club.
International Games for Uruguay
Diego López played his first game for the Uruguay national team on 19 October 1994. It was a friendly match against Peru in Lima, which Uruguay won 1–0.
The next year, in 1995, he played for Uruguay in the Copa América tournament. This important competition was held in Uruguay, and his home country won the trophy! Uruguay's team was very strong, only letting in four goals in six matches. Diego López played a total of 32 games for his country during his career.
Coaching Career Journey
Starting as a Coach
In July 2012, Diego López began his coaching career with Cagliari. He first coached their under-19 team. On 2 October, he became the assistant coach for Cagliari's main team. In July 2013, he became the head coach after completing a special course called the UEFA Pro Licence. This course allows coaches to manage teams in top leagues. However, he was dismissed on 6 April 2014.
On 1 July 2014, López was appointed manager of Bologna F.C. 1909 in Italy's second division. After a good start, he was removed from his role on 4 May 2015, following a difficult period for the team.
Managing in Italy and Uruguay
López then became the manager of U.S. Città di Palermo on 26 January 2017. He was sacked on 11 April after a series of poor results. On 18 October 2017, he returned to Cagliari as head coach. His team managed to avoid relegation from Serie A that season. After the season ended, he left the club by agreement.
In June 2018, López went back to his home country, Uruguay, to coach Peñarol. His team was five points behind their main rivals, Club Nacional de Football. But he led Peñarol to win the league title in 2018 by beating Nacional 1–0 in the final game. After losing to Nacional in the next season's final, he left Peñarol in December 2019.
On 5 February 2020, López returned to Italy's top division, Serie A, to coach Brescia Calcio. His contract was ended on 12 August after the team was relegated to a lower league. However, he returned to coach Brescia again on 6 October 2020. He was dismissed once more on 7 December after three defeats.
Personal Life
Diego López has three sons named Thiago, Ian, and Inty. They were all born in Italy. His oldest son, Thiago, also played football for the Cagliari youth team and later for Peñarol.
Managerial Statistics
Diego López has managed several teams. Here is a summary of his coaching record:
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | ||||
| Cagliari |  |
1 July 2013 | 7 April 2014 | 33 | 7 | 11 | 15 | 31 | 46 | −15 | 21.21 |
| Bologna | |
1 July 2014 | 4 May 2015 | 40 | 16 | 15 | 9 | 47 | 35 | +12 | 40.00 |
| Palermo | |
26 January 2017 | 11 April 2017 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 26 | −18 | 10.00 |
| Cagliari | |
18 October 2017 | 7 June 2018 | 31 | 9 | 6 | 16 | 28 | 49 | −21 | 29.03 |
| Peñarol |  |
8 June 2018 | 17 December 2019 | 67 | 36 | 17 | 14 | 98 | 60 | +38 | 53.73 |
| Brescia | |
5 February 2020 | 20 August 2020 | 16 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 38 | −23 | 12.50 |
| Brescia | |
6 October 2020 | 7 December 2020 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 13 | +1 | 33.33 |
| Universidad de Chile |  |
31 May 2022 | 9 September 2022 | 13 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 18 | −6 | 23.08 |
| Barcelona SC |  |
12 July 2023 | 19 April 2024 | 24 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 39 | 22 | +17 | 54.17 |
| River Plate Montevideo | |
30 December 2024 | 30 March 2025 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 15 | −7 | 0.00 |
| Total | 252 | 90 | 74 | 88 | 300 | 322 | −22 | 35.71 | |||
Honours and Achievements
As a Player
Uruguay
- Copa América:
- Winner: 1995
- Runner-up: 1999
As a Manager
Peñarol
- Uruguayan Primera División:
- Winner: 2018
See also
In Spanish: Luis Diego López para niños
