Diego Martín Alonso López (; born 16 April 1975) is a Uruguayan professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

head coach and former player who played as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

. Other than in his own country, he played football in Argentina, Spain, Mexico and China in a 16-year career, notably winning the

2001–02 Segunda División The 2001–02 Segunda División season saw 22 teams participate in the second flight Spanish league. The teams that promoted to La Liga were Atlético Madrid, Racing de Santander and Recreativo de Huelva. The teams that relegated to Segunda Divis ...

with

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

while being crowned top scorer. He represented Uruguay at the

1999 Copa América The 1999 Copa América was a football tournament held in Paraguay, from 29 June to 18 July. It was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. There was no qualifying for the final tournament. Mexico and Japan were invited to ...

. Alonso began working as a coach in 2011, being in charge of clubs in Uruguay, Paraguay, Mexico and the United States and leading Pachuca to the 2016 Clausura and the

2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League The 2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2016–17 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) was the 9th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 52nd edition of the prem ...

titles. In December 2021, he was appointed at the Uruguay national side.

Playing career

Club

Alonso was born in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, the country's capital. He made his professional debut with C.A. Bella Vista where he remained four seasons, helping the side to the second division title in 1997. After a brief spell in Argentina for Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata (he would also represent the club towards the end of his career), Alonso moved to Spain, where he played with five teams in as many years: Valencia CF,

(where he scored 22 goals in 2001–02's second division, helping the ''Colchoneros'' return to La Liga and forming an efficient attacking partnership with countryman

Fernando Correa Fernando Edgardo Correa Ayala (born 6 January 1974) is a Uruguayan retired footballer who played as a striker, and is a current manager. Having represented in his country River Plate and Peñarol, he had a lengthy spell in Spain with Atlétic ...

, who added 13), Racing de Santander,

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a association football, football club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, that competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, ...

and Real Murcia, where he did not have a good scoring record overall. In between his fourth and fifth club, he played one year in Mexico with

Club Universidad Nacional Club Universidad Nacional, A.C., commonly referred to as UNAM, is a professional football club based in Ciudad Universitaria of Mexico City, Mexico. The club competes in the Liga MX, the top division in the Mexican football league system. Fo ...

. In 2006, the 31-year-old Alonso returned to his country and joined hometown's Club Nacional de Football. However, shortly after, he moved abroad again, signing with

Shanghai Shenhua F.C. Shanghai Shenhua F.C. () is a Chinese professional football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under license from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The term ''shen hua'' literally translates as "the Flower of Shanghai" in E ...

in the Chinese Super League; after two seasons with Gimnasia, the veteran switched to Peñarol.

International

Alonso made seven appearances for the Uruguay national team in five years. His debut came on 17 June 1999 in a 3–2

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

win over Paraguay, in Ciudad del Este. Alonso was chosen for the nation's squad for that year's

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

, and scored on his quarter-final penalty shootout attempt (5–3 victory) for the eventual runners-up, also against Paraguay, the hosts. In spite of his season with Atlético he was not selected for the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, and subsequently criticised manager

Víctor Púa Víctor Haroldo Púa Sosa (born 31 May 1956 in Paso de los Toros) is a Uruguayan former football player and currently a football manager. Career He coached the Uruguay U-20 national team, finishing runner-up in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Champio ...

Coaching career

Alonso started working as a manager in 2011, being in charge in quick succession of Bella Vista,

Club Guaraní Club Guaraní is a Paraguayan football team, based in the neighbourhood of Pinozá in outer Asunción. Founded on 12 October 1903, it is one of the oldest and one of the most successful in the country, with eleven Primera División titles, and ...

, Peñarol and

Club Olimpia Club Olimpia is a Paraguayan sports club based in the city of Asunción. The club promotes the practice of various sports with most importance given to the football, rugby and basketball sides, the former being the highest priority and most s ...

(the second and fourth sides from the Paraguayan Primera División). In December 2014, he was appointed at C.F. Pachuca of the Mexican

Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...

, leading them to the 2016 Clausura and the subsequent edition of the

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

. On 4 May 2018, he was released. On 2 June 2018, Alonso was named coach of

C.F. Monterrey Club de Fútbol Monterrey, often known simply as Monterrey or their nickname Rayados, is a Mexican professional association football, football club based in Monterrey, Nuevo León which currently plays in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican footba ...

. In May of the following year, after the 2–1 aggregate victory over Tigres UANL in the

Champions League final The UEFA Champions League is a seasonal football competition established in 1955. Prior to the 1992–93 season, the tournament was named the European Cup. The UEFA Champions League is open to the league champions of all UEFA (Union of European ...

, he became the first manager to win the competition with two different clubs. On 30 September 2019, following a 0–2 loss to the same opposition that left his team in 12th place on the general table, he was dismissed. On 30 December 2019, Alonso was announced as the inaugural head coach of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

side Inter Miami CF. On 7 January 2021, he left by mutual consent. Alonso was appointed manager of Uruguay on 14 December 2021, replacing

Óscar Tabárez Óscar Washington Tabárez Silva (; born 3 March 1947), known as ''El Maestro'' (The Teacher), is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former player. He most recently coached the Uruguay national team. After an unassuming career as a ...

who had occupied the position for the previous 15 years. On 24 March 2022, after four wins in his first four games in charge, he secured qualification for the World Cup in Qatar. In December, after failing to progress from the group stage in the finals, he resigned.

Personal life

Alonso is a cousin of Iván Alonso, who also played several years in Spain, mainly with Deportivo Alavés.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Club

Bella Vista * Uruguayan Segunda División: 1997 Atlético Madrid *

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

: 2001–02 UNAM *

: Apertura 2004 * Campeón de Campeones:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Shanghai * A3 Champions Cup:

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Peñarol * Uruguayan Primera División: 2009–10 *

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

runner-up:

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

International

Uruguay *

runner-up:

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

Individual

Pichichi Trophy In Spanish football, the Trofeo Pichichi is awarded by the sports newspaper '' Marca'' to the top goalscorer of each La Liga season. Named after the Athletic Bilbao striker Rafael "Pichichi" Moreno, the trophy has been awarded annually since the ...

(Segunda División): 2001–02

Manager

Pachuca *Liga MX: Clausura 2016 *

: 2016–17 * Copa MX runner–up: Apertura 2017 *

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

third place:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Monterrey *CONCACAF Champions League:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Individual *CONCACAF Champions League Team of the Tournament:

References

External links