Roberto Jorge D'Alessandro di Ninno (born 28 July 1949) is an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

retired

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 ...

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. He is also one of the hosts of the Spanish TV program '' El Chiringuito de Jugones'', which specializes in football-related debates. He played most of his career with

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...

in Spain, appearing in nine

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

seasons and more than 300 official games with the club. He subsequently embarked in a managerial career in the same country, coaching several teams.

Playing career

Born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, D'Alessandro played six years in his country with

San Lorenzo de Almagro Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro, commonly known as San Lorenzo de Almagro or simply San Lorenzo (in English: ''Saint Lawrence''), is a sports club of Argentina in the Boedo district of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its football team ...

, being part of the squads that won four

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

championships. In June 1974 the team played

UD Salamanca Unión Deportiva Salamanca, S.A.D. () was a historical Spanish football team based in Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 February 1923 and nicknamed ''Los Charros'', the club played in white shirts and black ...

in a friendly, and the Spaniards were so impressed by the player they decided to purchase him, having to (successfully) deal with the

Argentine Football Association The Argentine Football Association ( es, Asociación del Fútbol Argentino, ; AFA) is the governing body of football in Argentina based in Buenos Aires. It organises the main divisions of Argentine league system (from Primera División to Torn ...

first – players under 26 were prohibited from playing abroad – he was 25. D'Alessandro stayed in goal for the

Castile and León Castile and León ( es, Castilla y León ; ast-leo, Castiella y Llión ; gl, Castela e León ) is an autonomous community in northwestern Spain. It was created in 1983, eight years after the end of the Francoist regime, by the merging of the ...

side over ten seasons, nine of those in

. In a match against

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

during the 1976–77 season, his collision with

's Dani resulted in a tear in his

kidney The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blood ...

, even though the player finished the game. After having the organ removed, he resumed his football activity against all medical advice, still putting on several solid campaigns. D'Alessandro retired in June 1984 at the age of 35 following Salamanca's relegation, having made 242 appearances in the Spanish top flight (284 across all competitions), a club record.D'Alessandro recibe 45 años después el Trofeo Zamora a mejor portero de la Liga (D'Alessandro receives Zamora Trophy for the best League goalkeeper 45 years later)
Marca, 16 December 2019 (in Spanish)

Coaching career

D'Alessandro started coaching at his last club, being in charge of both the youth and reserve teams. His first three professional seasons were spent in

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 ...

, with

UE Figueres Unió Esportiva Figueres is a Spanish football team based in Figueres, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1919 and refounded in 2007 it plays in the Primera Catalana league, holding home matches at ''Estadi Municipal de Vilateni ...

(two years) and

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

. In late March 1994, d'Alessandro became

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 ...

's sixth coach in the season, being appointed as the team, led by elusive chairman

Jesús Gil Gregorio Jesús Gil y Gil (12 March 1933 – 14 May 2004) was a Spanish businessman and politician. He served as Mayor of Marbella between 1991 and 2002, and presided for a 16-year tenure as president of the football club Atlético de Madrid ...

, was placed in the relegation zone. The ''Colchoneros'' eventually finished in 12th position, and his contract was not renewed; he returned to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

for a second spell in November, taking the place of

Francisco Maturana Francisco Antonio Maturana García, also known as ''Pacho'' Maturana (born February 15, 1949) is a Colombian ex-football player and football manager. Under his management, Atletico Nacional was the first team of the nation to win the Copa Liber ...

and being himself dismissed after 13 games. D'Alessandro briefly worked with Salamanca in 1995–96, with the team suffering top-division relegation. He then signed for

CP Mérida Club Polideportivo Mérida was a Spanish football team based in Mérida, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Having played twice in La Liga ( 1995–96 and 1997–98), the club was dissolved in 2000, due to serious economic debts. Its ...

of the second tier, being promoted in his first yearEl Mérida regresa a la máxima categoría (Mérida return to the top tier)
Mundo Deportivo, 2 June 1997 (in Spanish) and relegated in his second. He continued his career at that level, working with three teams including another spell with his main one. In April 2010, after several years working as a

sports commentator In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

in both radio and television, d'Alessandro returned to Salamanca for his third stint as a manager, eventually managing to avoid relegation from the second division. On 31 October 2011 he joined another team in that tier,

Gimnàstic de Tarragona Club Gimnàstic de Tarragona, commonly known as Gimnàstic Tarragona or sometimes just Nàstic, is a Spanish sports club based in Tarragona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Its football team plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2. ...

, replacing fired

Juan Carlos Oliva Juan Carlos Oliva Fornos (born 4 January 1965) is a Spanish football manager. Football career Born in Mequinenza, Province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Oliva started coaching at an early age, his beginnings being in amateur football. In 2005 he arrive ...

as the team ranked in last position. His first game in charge was a 5–0 home win against

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

neighbours

CE Sabadell FC Centre d'Esports Sabadell Futbol Club, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team based in Sabadell, a city in the province of Barcelona in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1903, it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holdi ...

; however, after not being able to prevent the final drop even though the results improved overall, he resigned.El Nàstic baja a Segunda B (Nàstic relegated to ''Segunda B'')

Sport Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...

, 19 May 2012 (in Spanish)

Honours

Individual

Ricardo Zamora Trophy The Zamora Trophy ( es, Trofeo Ricardo Zamora, link=no) is a football award, established by Spanish newspaper '' MARCA'' in 1958. The award goes to the goalkeeper who has the lowest "goals-to-games" ratio.Similar to goals against average in ic ...

: 1974–75, 1976–77

Manager

Mérida *

: 1996–97

References

External links

* * *
Nàstic Grana profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalessandro, Jorge 1949 births Living people Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentine footballers Association football goalkeepers Argentine Primera División players San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers La Liga players Segunda División players UD Salamanca players Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine football managers La Liga managers Segunda División managers UE Figueres managers Real Betis managers Atlético Madrid managers UD Salamanca managers Elche CF managers Rayo Vallecano managers Gimnàstic de Tarragona managers SD Huesca managers Argentine expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Spain