Luis Diego Arnáez Villegas (born 6 November 1967) is a Costa Rican

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 ...

manager and former player who manages Municipal Grecia.

Club career

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, Arnáez made his professional debut on 2 August 1987 for

Puntarenas Puntarenas () is a city in the Puntarenas Province, on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Puntarenas canton, it is awarded the title of city, which comprises the Puntarenas, Chacarita and El Roble districts. A ...

against Ramonense and he scored his first senior goal on 14 February 1988 against San Carlos. After almost 200 games for Puntarenas he left for

Alajuelense Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA, ), commonly known as Alajuelense and nicknamed La Liga (), is a Costa Rican multisport club based in the borough of El Llano, Alajuela, Alajuela province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Al ...

where he would play over 400 matches. His trophies for Alajuelense included seven league titles and the

2004 CONCACAF Champions' Cup The 2004 CONCACAF Champions' Cup was the 39th edition of the annual international club football competition held in the CONCACAF region (North America, Central America and the Caribbean), the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. It was won by Liga Deportiva A ...

, when Alajuelense defeated rival

Deportivo Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its Association football, football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, Costa Rica, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aym ...

in the two-leg final. His final game was on 23 April 2005, against Pérez Zeledón.

International career

Nicknamed ''el Flaco'' (the Skinny one), he made his debut for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

in an April 1991

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, collecting a total of 31 caps and scoring 9 goals. Arnáez appeared in seven of Costa Rica's qualifying matches for the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

, as well as two qualifiers for the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

. He also represented Costa Rica at the

1997 UNCAF Nations Cup This page details the 1997 UNCAF Nations Cup, played in Guatemala. Squads :For a complete list of all participating squads see ''UNCAF Nations Cup 1997 squads'' Preliminary round Participating teams 6 Central American Football Union, UNCA ...

and in the

1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the fourth edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, Gold Cup, the association football, soccer championship for the member associations of CONCACAF, which governs the sport in North America, Central America, and the Caribb ...

, playing against

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Upon Alajuelense's triumph in the 2004 CONCACAF Champions' Cup, he was recalled to the national team at the age of 36 by coach Jorge Luis Pinto. His final cap came in a 5–2 loss in World Cup qualifying against

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

on 18 August 2004.

Managerial career

Later, Arnáez coached the first division team

in his home country. After getting fired from the team, he coached Liga Deportiva Alajuelense for six months. He then had a spell as an assistant coach for the

Costa Rica national football team The Costa Rica national football team () represents Costa Rica in men's international Association football, football. The national team is administered by the Costa Rican Football Federation, Federación Costarricense de Fútbol (), the governi ...

and was appointed manager of Herediano in December 2009 but returned to Puntarenas in March 2014.Luis Diego Arnáez es el nuevo técnico de Puntarenas
- Al Día

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first.''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Arnaez, Luis Diego 1967 births Living people CONCACAF Champions Cup–winning players Footballers from Guanacaste Province Men's association football midfielders Costa Rican men's footballers Costa Rica men's international footballers 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Puntarenas F.C. players Liga Deportiva Alajuelense footballers Costa Rican football managers Liga Deportiva Alajuelense managers C.S. Herediano managers Liga FPD players Puntarenas F.C. managers Municipal Grecia managers