Ricardo Daniel Caruso Lombardi (born 10 February 1962 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 ...

) is an Argentine football manager, currently in charge of

Deportivo Español Club Social, Deportivo y Cultural Español de la República Argentina (commonly referred to as Deportivo Español) is an Argentine sports club from the Parque Avellaneda district of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, wh ...

, and former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. He is best known for saving teams from being relegated to second division.

Playing career

Lombardi started his playing career with Argentinos Juniors in 1981. His career was then mostly in the lower leagues of Argentine football apart from 1984 when he played a single season for

Club Atlético Atlanta Club Atlético Atlanta is an Argentine sports club from the Villa Crespo district of Buenos Aires. Nicknamed ''Los Bohemios'' ("The Bohemians"), Atlanta is mostly known for its football team, although the institution also hosts the practise of ba ...

in the Primera Division. In 1986, he was part of the Deportivo Italiano team that won the Primera B championship.

Managerial career

After retirement, Caruso Lombardi took up coaching, initially in lower league teams. In the 1995–96 season, he won the

Primera B Metropolitana Primera B Metropolitana is one of two professional leagues that form the third level of the Argentine football league system. The division is made up of 17 clubs mainly from the city of Buenos Aires and its metropolitan area, Greater Buenos Aires. ...

(third division) with

Sportivo Italiano Club Sportivo Italiano is an Argentine football club located in Ciudad Evita, La Matanza Partido, Greater Buenos Aires. The team currently plays in the Primera B Metropolitana, the third division of the Argentine football league system. T ...

, and in the 2004–05 he won it again with Tigre. Caruso Lombardi was then in charge of

Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was recognized as one of the ...

, until resigning five games into the 2007 Apertura tournament, despite his team's 3–2 win over

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

only three weeks previously. He was then hired by

Newell's Old Boys Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football. A ...

, with which he obtained his second victory over Boca in the same 2007 Apertura tournament, beating them 1–0. On 24 February 2009, Caruso Lombardi became Racing Club's head coach, signing a two-year contract. He helped Racing avoid relegation in his first season; however, he resigned on October 2009, after coaching 11 games without a win in the Apertura tournament. After three years, on 17 December 2009, the coach returned to Tigre, replacing Diego Cagna. Caruso Lombardi has a preference towards using physically tall footballers on all the positions of the field. In 2010, while coaching Tigre, he was accused by one of his players ( Juan Camilo Angulo) of requesting a bribe to put him on the first team. The coach denied the truth of the accusations. On 8 March 2011, Caruso Lombardi was appointed as head coach of

Quilmes Quilmes () is a city on the coast of the Río de la Plata, Rio de la Plata, in the , on the south east of the Greater Buenos Aires. The city was founded in 1666 and it is the seat of the Quilmes Partido, eponymous county. With a population of 230 ...

, with the club languishing at the bottom of the table and fighting relegation. It is expected that he would remain in that role until his contract expired in June 2012. After a successful spell at Quilmes, during the night of 3 April of the next season, he signed a contract 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 ...

, replacing Leonardo Madelón in the charge, after their bad results. On 26 February 2019, Lombardi was appointed as the manager of San Martín Tucumán.Caruso Lombardi es el nuevo técnico de San Martín
lagaceta.com.ar, 26 February 2019

Honours

Player

; Deportivo Italiano * Primera B: 1985–1986

Manager

; Deportivo Italiano *

: 1995–1996 ; Tigre *

: 2004–2005

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caruso Lombardi, Ricardo Living people 1962 births Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentine footballers Argentinos Juniors footballers Club Atlético Atlanta footballers Club Almagro players Defensores de Belgrano footballers Argentine Primera División players Argentine football managers All Boys managers Club Atlético Platense managers Club Atlético Tigre managers Argentinos Juniors managers Newell's Old Boys managers San Lorenzo de Almagro managers Racing Club de Avellaneda managers Defensores de Belgrano managers Quilmes Atlético Club managers Estudiantes de Buenos Aires managers Arsenal de Sarandí managers Club Atlético Sarmiento managers Club Atlético Huracán managers Association football midfielders