Diego Alfredo Lugano Morena (; (born 2 November 1980) is a Uruguayan former professional

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, rugb ...

who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

. Nicknamed ''Tota'', Lugano played for a number of clubs in South America and Europe, including Plaza Colonia,

Club Nacional de Football Club Nacional de Football (, ''National Football Club'' or simply as Nacional) is a Uruguayan professional sports club based in Montevideo. The club was founded on 14 May 1899 as a result of the merger between ''Uruguay Athletic Club'' and ''Mon ...

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaW ...

, Fenerbahçe,

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

, Malaga and

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

, before finishing his career with a second spell at Brazilian club São Paulo, where he now works as an administrator. Throughout his career, Lugano netted goals in the football leagues of Uruguay, Brazil, Turkey, England, France and Paraguay. In 2015, Paraguayan newspaper ExtraPRESS named Lugano one of the most expensive player in Paraguay, and he was also awarded by

Diario Popular ''Diario Popular'' is a local newspaper published in Sarandí, Argentina. It is read widely in the surrounding southern Greater Buenos Aires suburbs of Avellaneda, Lanús, and Quilmes and maintains third place behind the two large Argentine new ...

as the most popular player in Paraguayan football. Lugano made 95 appearances for the Uruguay national team, captaining his country at two

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...

s. He was named best captain at the 2010 tournament.

Club career

Early years

Born to Alfredo Lugano and Diana Morena in Canelones,

Canelones Department The Departamento de Canelones ( es, Departamento de Canelones; ) is one of the 19 uruguayan departments. With an area of and 518,154 inhabitants, it is located in the south of Uruguay. Its capital is Canelones. Geography and climate Neighbou ...

, Lugano started playing football for his hometown club Club Atlético Libertad, like his father Alfredo. In December 1998, he played his first match with the first-team squad of Libertad, becoming league champions with the club at the age of 18 years. From Libertad, in 1999, Lugano transferred to

Montevideo Montevideo () is the capital and 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 . Montevideo is situated on the southern co ...

. Three years later, Lugano was loaned out to Plaza Colonia for the duration of the playing season.

São Paulo

Lugano came to

São Paulo FC São Paulo Futebol Clube (), commonly referred to as São Paulo, is a professional football club in the Morumbi district of São Paulo, Brazil, founded in 1930. It plays in the Campeonato Paulista (the State of São Paulo's premier state le ...

in 2003. He was contracted by club President

Marcelo Portugal Gouveia Marcelo is a given name, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Marcellus. The Italian version of the name is Marcello, differing in having an additional "l". Marcelo may refer to: * Marcelo Costa de Andrade (born 1967), Brazilian serial killer, rapi ...

without

consulting A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

the head coach Oswaldo de Oliveira. President Gouveia's actions led to the ascribing of the nickname ''"Homem do Presidente"'' ("President's Man") to Lugano. After Oswaldo de Oliveira left the club in late 2003, Lugano started playing matches more frequently. In 2005, he led the team to titles in the

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the FPF, the league is contested between 16 clubs and t ...

, the

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 ...

, and the

FIFA Club World Championship 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 20 ...

in Japan. That same year, Lugano was recognized as South America's best defender. His leadership skills and his willingness to fight for ball possession have raised his profile amongst São Paulo's supporters, where he is still highly regarded. Lugano has also mentioned that he still maintains a good relationship with the club. In 2006, he helped his club to the runner-up stage of the Copa Libertadores.

Fenerbahçe

Lugano joined Fenerbahçe on 21 August 2006 for a reported transfer fee of €7.5 million, where he signed a -year contract with the Turkish club. He and

Edu Dracena Eduardo Luís Abonízio de Souza (born 18 May 1981), better known as Edu Dracena, is a Brazilian retired footballer who played as a central defender. Club career Guarani Born in Dracena, São Paulo, Dracena (nickname earned from his birthpla ...

's powerful defensive abilities helped Fenerbahçe win the league during the club's 100th anniversary year. Lugano is notorious for his presence in attack, as was shown with his scored goals from headers from dead ball situations and support of the forward line. He became a fan favourite with his defensive tenacity and his spectacular play from free kick situations. Following a

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or dia ...

, he was suspended for five weeks after the derby match against Galatasaray during the 2008–09 season when he clashed with

Emre Aşık Emre Aşık (born 13 December 1973) is a Turkish former international footballer. He played centre-back for several clubs in the Turkish Süper Lig, most notably, Galatasaray. Aşık began his career with Sönmez Filamentspor in the TFF Third Lea ...

on 12 April 2009 at Ali Sami Yen Stadium. Since then, he has a strong connection with supporters, especially with the ''

Genç Fenerbahçeliler Genç () is a Turkish name, it may refer to: People * Aytek Genc (born 1966), Turkish Australian footballer * Burhan Genç (born 1983), Danish R&B and pop singer * Kamer Genç (1940–2016), Turkish politician * Süleyman Genç (1944–2022), Turk ...

''. He was one of the captains of the team. He signed a new four-year contract in 2009 with Fenerbahçe.

Paris Saint-Germain

On 27 August 2011, Fenerbahçe announced Lugano was leaving the club to join

in the French

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. ...

for a fee worth €3 million. His first season in France, however, ended poorly and Lugano made just 12 appearances, mostly being cut out of the side due to injury and poor form.

Málaga

On 21 January 2013, Lugano signed with Spanish side

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

until 30 June on loan. As he was not in PSG manager

Carlo Ancelotti Carlo Ancelotti , (born 10 June 1959) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of La Liga club Real Madrid. Regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, Ancelotti is the most decorated manager ...

's plans, Lugano was not inscribed in the Champions League for that season; this way, he was not cup tied for his new club and represented Málaga in their European ambitions. He returned to PSG on 1 July 2013, with Málaga failing to make the loan move permanent.

West Bromwich Albion

On 2 August 2013, Lugano joined Premier League club

on a two-year contract. He scored his first goal for West Brom on 20 January 2014, heading in an equalizer in a 1–1 home draw with Everton. On 17 May 2014, West Bromwich announced the release of five players of their squad, including Lugano.

BK Häcken

On 26 March 2015, Lugano signed for Swedish side

BK Häcken Bollklubben Häcken, more commonly known as BK Häcken or simply Häcken (), is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. It currently plays in Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. Formed on 2 August 1940, Häcken has p ...

on a short-term contract until the summer. Lugano became one of the most merited players ever to play in the Swedish top league.

Cerro Porteño

On 7 July 2015,

La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal '' Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argentina. Its motto is: "''La N ...

reported that

Primera División Paraguaya Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air Primera Air Scandinavia A/S, trading as Primera Air, was a Danish airline owned by Primera Travel Group. It provided scheduled and charter passenger services from Northern Europe to ...

team Cerro Porteño had assured the signing of Lugano. On 12 July, Lugano's transfer was officially made. Upon arriving to Paraguay, Lugano was received at the airport by Cerro Porteño managers and fans, and was presented as a Cerro Porteño footballer. He signed a 1-year contract. At the presentation, Lugano pointed "I arrived at Cerro for the need of returning to South America and to be closer to my country. The proposal from Cerro closed everything I wanted, it's a big club, it will demand me and oblige me to return to my level". He was then received by his teammates and began training with the first roster. Lugano revealed that since arriving at Cerro Porteño, he received better offers, but decided to stay. In August 2015, Lugano debuted for Cerro Porteño in a 4–0 victory against General Díaz, scoring the first goal of the game in the first half, scoring with a header. This was his first league goal since January 2014 for West Bromwich Albion. On 13 September 2015, Lugano scored a second half double in a 3–1 home victory against Sol de America. His goals occurred in the 69th, from a header. and 75th minutes. By that moment, Lugano had scored 3 goals in 5 Primera División Paraguaya appearances being a defender. On 20 September, he scored in a 2–1 home victory against Deportivo Santani, scoring in the 19th minute of the first half. On 7 November, he scored a 90 + 8th minute penalty in a 3–1 home defeat against Libertad. On 9 December 2015, he made his last appearance of the year in a 2–1 defeat against Olimpia Asunción, scoring an own goal in the 63rd minute. In December 2015, Lugano was awarded by

as the most popular player in Paraguayan football. In January 2016, the club president informed that Lugano was still a Cerro Porteño player and that would speak with him personally if he wanted to leave. Lugano had discarded his trip with the team to Encarnación for the pre-season preparation for the Torneo Apertura. On 5 January 2016, Lugano reached an agreement with Cerro Porteño to leave the club and was available to negotiate a return to Brazilian team Sao Paulo, who were interested in his services. The termination of the contract came after an interview between Lugano and Juan José Zapag, Cerro Porteño's president. Following Lugano's departure, the club's directives and fans were bothered. Upon his departure from the club, Lugano left a message of grattitude to Cerro Porteño through his

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...

channel of

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

. Lugano totalled 5 goals, 10 yellow cards and 1 expulsion in 16 games for Cerro Porteño, amassing 1, 438 minutes.

Return to São Paulo

In January 2016, after almost 10 years, Lugano returned to

, in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, where he won

2005 Copa Libertadores The 2005 Copa Libertadores was the 46th edition of the Copa Libertadores. The champion also qualified for the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship. It was the first time ever that two teams from the same country reached the final. This year's tour ...

and 2005 FIFA Club World Championship, he instantly became São Paulo's idol. On 12 January 2016, he was welcomed at the

Guarulhos Airport Guarulhos () is a Brazilian municipality. It is the second most populous city in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, the 13th most populous city in Brazil, and is also the most populous city in the country that is not a state capital. In the l ...

by nearly 1000 fans of Tricolor paulista. In January 2018, Lugano accepted the role of director of institutional relations at São Paulo, confirming his retirement as a player.

International career

Lugano made 95 appearances for the

Uruguay national football team The Uruguay national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de Uruguay) represents Uruguay in international football, and is controlled by the Uruguayan Football Association, the governing body for football in Uruguay. The Uruguayan team i ...

after making his debut in the

2006 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification competition was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America) ...

match against

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to t ...

. He has represented the country at two

s, two

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 ...

tournaments and one

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships (AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...

. He captained the team for eight years, beginning in May 2006, when he was given the armband of ''La Celeste'' for the first time prior to a 2–1 friendly defeat to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wembl ...

. During the

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oc ...

campaign, Lugano scored his first international goal in a 1–1 draw with

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

's Estadio Centenario. He went on to score three further goals during qualification, including the only goal of a 1–0 win in San José against

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

in the inter-continental play-off. U02 Diego Lugano 3036

Lugano was a first choice player for Uruguay at the

2007 Copa América The 2007 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, known simply as the 2007 Copa América or 2007 Copa América Venezuela, was the 42nd edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The ...

, captaining the team in each of its six matches. In the team's semi-final against

, Lugano had his decisive kick in the

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

saved by Doni. Lugano was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

in the 3–1 third-place play-off defeat to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

at the Estadio Olímpico in

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in th ...

. At the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, Lugano led Uruguay to an impressive fourth-placed finish. Lugano also captained Uruguay to victory at the

2011 Copa América The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, better known as the 2011 Copa América or the Copa América 2011 Argentina, was the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South Americ ...

, playing in all six games for the eventual champions. On 2 September 2011, Lugano scored a goal as Uruguay defeated

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

3–2 in an international friendly away in

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

. In his next call up to the national side, on 7 October 2011, Lugano netted a brace in Uruguay's 4–2 defeat of

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

in World Cup qualifying. On 20 June 2013, Lugano scored his ninth goal for Uruguay against

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

in a 2–1 win at the

2013 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup was the ninth FIFA Confederations Cup, which was held in Brazil from 15 to 30 June 2013 as a prelude to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The most recent winners of the six continental championships appeared in the tour ...

in Brazil, where the nation eventually finished in fourth place. He also participated in the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from ...

, playing in his first and only game of the tournament as the captain against Costa Rica on 14 June 2014, where Uruguay lost 1–3. A knee injury saw Lugano miss the remainder of Uruguay's World Cup matches, with 19-year-old José Giménez replacing him as

Diego Godín Diego Roberto Godín Leal (born 16 February 1986) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Argentine Primera División club Vélez Sarsfield and captains the Uruguay national team. Regarded as one of the best defe ...

's partner in defence. Lugano was omitted from

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 ...

's first post-World Cup squad for friendly matches against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

in September 2014. Later, the 34-year-old stated that he had not retired from the national team and would be available for selection if required. However, he was not named in Uruguay's squad for the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:Source: :''Scores and results list Uruguay's goal tally first.''

Honours

Club

Nacional *

Uruguayan Primera División The Liga Profesional de Primera División (American Spanish , en, First Division Professional League, local: , ''First Division''), named "Torneo Uruguayo Copa Coca-Cola" for sponsorship reasons, is the highest professional football league in Uru ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

São Paulo * Série A:

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

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 ...

Fenerbahçe *

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

: 2006–07,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup ( Turkish: ''TFF Süper Kupa''), as it is currently known, is the annual super cup football match contested between the previous season's Süper Lig champions and the Turkish Cup winners in Turkey. It was originally known as ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

International

Uruguay *

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 celebrates ...

Individual

* Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Team of the Year:

Personal life

Lugano is married to Karina Roncio and has three children: Nicolás, Thiago, and Bianca. Nicolás, the oldest child, played for Fenerbahçe youth teams. Nicolás now played for the U-19 Defensor squad. Thiago and Bianca were born in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

. He has cited the defenders

Hugo de León Hugo Eduardo de León Rodríguez (born 27 February 1958) is a Uruguayan football coach and former player, who played as a defender. Club career De León joined Nacional in 1977. With Nacional, he won two Uruguayan league titles, in 1977 and 19 ...

and

Paolo Montero Rónald Paolo Montero Iglesias (born 3 September 1971) is a Uruguayan football manager and former player, who played as a central defender or left-back and is the manager of Primavera 1 team Juventus U19. Montero began his career in Uruguay ...

as his personal football heroes. A sports complex in the Uruguayan city Canelones, the Complejo Diego Lugano, is named after him, and serves Club Social y Deportivo SAC de Canelones. In 2015, Lugano gained international wide media attention when his wife and he travelled on a bus in Asunción after having a problem with his vehicle.

References

External links

*
Football Database provides Diego Lugano's profile and stats
* * * * *
My first World Cup: Diego Lugano
BBC Sport. Published 25 May 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lugano, Diego 1980 births Living people People from Canelones Department Uruguayan footballers Uruguay international footballers 2004 Copa América players 2007 Copa América players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2011 Copa América players 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players Copa América-winning players Association football central defenders Club Nacional de Football players Plaza Colonia players São Paulo FC players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players Málaga CF players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players BK Häcken players Cerro Porteño players Expatriate footballers in Brazil Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Sweden Expatriate footballers in Paraguay Uruguayan expatriate footballers Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in France Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in England Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Uruguayan Primera División players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Süper Lig players Ligue 1 players La Liga players Premier League players Allsvenskan players Paraguayan Primera División players