Rodolfo Diego Flores (born 11 December 1980) is an Argentine football

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 ...

and former player who played mainly as a midfielder. He is the current manager of Godoy Cruz.

Career

Born in Córdoba, Flores only played amateur football before deciding he would become a coach at the age of 24. He began his managerial career with General Paz Juniors, later working at Taborín's youth categories and Sportivo Belgrano de Almafuerte before moving to Ireland in 2013 to study for UEFA qualifications. While in Ireland, Flores worked as a

barista A barista (; ; from the Italian/Spanish for "bartender") is a person, usually a coffeehouse employee, who prepares and serves espresso-based coffee drinks. Etymology and inflection The word ''barista'' comes from Italian where it means a male ...

in a

coffeehouse A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...

and played for Dublin-based side Kingswood Castle; at the club, he also helped managing the youth teams. After leaving Ireland at the end of 2013, he moved to Southampton where he met

Mauricio Pochettino Mauricio Roberto Pochettino Trossero (; born 2 March 1972) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player. He was most recently the head coach of Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. Pochettino played as a central defender and be ...

, and later Marcelo Bielsa; after a chat with Diego Reyes, a member of Bielsa's staff, he was invited by Bielsa to join his coaching staff at

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club pl ...

. Flores worked under Bielsa for a total of seven years, at Lazio,

Lille OSC Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional football club based in Lille, Hauts-de-France that competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French football. Lille has played its ...

and Leeds United. On 31 August 2021, he was appointed manager of

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 ...

side Godoy Cruz. Flores' first professional match occurred on 5 September 2021, a 4–0 home routing of

Gimnasia La Plata Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata (; ''La Plata Gymnastics and Fencing Club''), also known simply as Gimnasia, is an Argentine professional sports club based in the city of La Plata, Buenos Aires Province. Founded in 1887 as "Club de Gimnasia ...

. The following April, he left the club on a mutual agreement. On 3 November 2022, Flores returned to Godoy Cruz, after being appointed manager for the upcoming season.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Flores, Diego 1980 births Living people Footballers from Córdoba, Argentina Argentine footballers Association football midfielders Argentine football managers Olympique de Marseille non-playing staff S.S. Lazio non-playing staff Lille OSC non-playing staff Leeds United F.C. non-playing staff Argentine Primera División managers Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba managers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France Argentine expatriate sportspeople in England