Hugo Eduardo de León Rodríguez (born 27 February 1958) is a Uruguayan

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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 1980, and the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

. In 1981, he left Nacional to play for Gremio missing the final game of the 1980 Intercontinental Cup which Nacional would subsequently win. With Gremio he won the

and the Intercontinental Cup in 1983. After spells in Brazil and Spain he returned to Nacional in 1988, to win the

and Intercontinental Cup in that year, and the

Copa Interamericana The Copa Interamericana () was an international association football, football competition endorsed by CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean) and CONMEBOL (South America). Established in 1969, it was discontinued in 1998 after CONCACAF ...

and

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana (), also known as Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club Association football, football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1988. It ...

in 1989. At the end of the year, he left Nacional to play for River Plate of

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, where he won the 1989/1990 league title. He returned to Nacional in 1992 and won his third Uruguayan league title as a player. He retired in 1993.

International career

The 189 cm defender was

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

ped 48 times for

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

between July 1979 and June 1990, including four games at the

1990 World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

. De León helped the Uruguay national team win the 1980 Mundialito, a tournament celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first World Cup. De Leon also led Uruguay to a 2nd place finish at the 1989 Copa America hosted in Brazil.

Coaching career

As a coach, De León was in charge of several clubs in Uruguay, Brazil and México, including Nacional, Gremio and

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

. As coach of Nacional, they won the Uruguayan league titles of 1998, 2000 and 2001. Because of a conflict with the Uruguayan coaches' association, who does not validate the coach course he took in Brazil, De León has not worked in Uruguay since 2004.

Political career

De León was a candidate for Vice President of Uruguay, alongside

Pedro Bordaberry Juan Pedro Bordaberry Herrán (born 28 April 1960) is a Uruguayan attorney, lecturer, and politician, serving as Senate of Uruguay, Senator of the Republic since 2025. He previously served in the same position from 2010 to 2020, as Ministry of To ...

, in the

2009 Uruguayan general election General elections were held in Uruguay on 25 October 2009 alongside a 2009 Uruguayan referendum, two-part referendum. As no candidate for president received more than 50% of the vote, a second round was held on 29 November between the top two can ...

.Bordaberry se jugó por el "patriarca" tricolor

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leon, Hugo de 1958 births Living people Footballers from Rivera Department Uruguayan men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Uruguayan people of Spanish descent Men's association football defenders Uruguayan Primera División players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Argentine Primera División players La Liga players Uruguay men's under-20 international footballers Uruguay men's international footballers 1979 Copa América players 1989 Copa América players 1990 FIFA World Cup players Uruguayan football managers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A managers Expatriate football managers in Argentina Expatriate football managers in Brazil Expatriate football managers in Mexico Club Nacional de Football players Copa Libertadores–winning players Grêmio FBPA players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players Club Atlético River Plate footballers Santos FC players CD Logroñés footballers Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players Ituano FC managers Fluminense FC managers C.F. Monterrey managers Club Nacional de Football managers Grêmio FBPA managers Uruguayan vice-presidential candidates Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Japan 20th-century Uruguayan sportsmen Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Argentina