Néstor Gabriel Lorenzo (born 26 February 1966) is an Argentine

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former player who played as a defender. He is the current head coach of the Colombia national team. Lorenzo played for

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

, A.S. Bari,

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Boedo neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its football team, which plays in the Primera División, the first tier of the Argentine foot ...

Ferrocarril Oeste Ferro Carril Oeste, known simply as Ferro Carril Oeste or familiarly, Ferro, is an Argentine sports club from the neighbourhood of Caballito, Buenos Aires. Although many activities are hosted by the club, Ferro is mostly known for its football ...

and

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

. Lorenzo also represented

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 ...

in the

1990 FIFA 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 ...

in Italy, including the final which the Argentines lost to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Club career

Born in

Villa Celina Ciudad Celina (formerly Villa Celina) is a city in La Matanza Partido, in the Buenos Aires Province of Argentina. It's is bordered to the north by Avenida General Paz, to the west by Ricchieri Freeway, to the south by , and to the east by the banks ...

La Matanza ( Spanish for 'The Massacre') refers to a communist- Indigenous rebellion that took place in El Salvador between 22 and 25 January 1932. After the revolt was suppressed, it was followed by large-scale government killings in western El Salv ...

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...

, Lorenzo was a product of

' youth categories. After making his first team debut in 1985, he spent four seasons at the club before moving to Italian side

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

in 1989. After ''Italia '90'' and after an attempt by

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Englis ...

to sign Lorenzo for

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

fell through, Argentine legend

Ossie Ardiles Osvaldo César Ardiles (born 3 August 1952), more commonly known as Ossie Ardiles, is an Argentine football manager, pundit and former player. A competitive and skilled midfielder, Ardiles became a cult hero in England, along with Glenn Hoddl ...

signed the defender for

on loan and eventually the deal became a permanent switch. He played 27 times for The Robins, scoring two goals: one in his debut at the County Ground against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

in a 3–0 win, and one away at

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

in a 2–2 draw. After seeing out his contract, Lorenzo returned to Argentina and signed for

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Villa San Lorenzo, town and municipality in Salta P ...

in 1992. After two seasons as a starter, he had one-year spells at Banfield,

Ferro Carril Oeste Club Ferro Carril Oeste, known simply as Ferro Carril Oeste or familiarly, Ferro, is an Argentine sports club from the neighbourhood of Caballito, Buenos Aires. Although many activities are hosted by the club, Ferro is mostly known for its assoc ...

and

Primera B Nacional Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, (English "National B Division"), and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 38 team ...

side

Quilmes Quilmes () is a city on the coast of the Rio de la Plata, in the , on the southeast end of the Greater Buenos Aires, being some away from the urban centre area of Buenos Aires. The city was founded in 1666 and is the seat of the eponymous '' ...

, retiring with the latter in 1998.

International career

After featuring in the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

, Lorenzo made his international debut with the Argentina national team on 6 July 1988, in a 2–2 friendly against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. He was included in

Carlos Bilardo Dr. Carlos Salvador Bilardo (born 16 March 1938) is an Argentine former physician, football player, and manager. Bilardo achieved worldwide renown as a player with Estudiantes de La Plata in the 1960s, and as the manager of the Argentina side t ...

's 23-man squad for the

, featuring in two matches in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

before starting in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

against

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

Managerial career

Assistant coach

After retiring, Lorenzo joined José Pékerman's staff in the Argentina national under-20 team in 2000, as an assistant coach. He worked with Carlos Aimar at Spanish side

CD Leganés Club Deportivo Leganés, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Leganés, Community of Madrid. They currently compete in La Liga, the first tier of the Spanish league system. Leganés was officially founded 23 June 1928 and played thei ...

under the same role, before reuniting with Pékerman in the Argentina national team in 2004. Lorenzo remained working with Pékerman at

Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the States of Mexico, state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. Toluca has a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the Grea ...

Tigres UANL Club Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, abbreviated as Tigres UANL and simply known as Tigres or internationally as Tigres de México, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in the Monterrey metropo ...

and the Colombia national team.

Melgar

On 16 December 2020, Lorenzo had his first managerial experience after being named at the helm of

Peruvian Primera División The Peru First Division (; known simply as ''First Division'', and Liga 1 Te Apuesto for sponsorship reasons), officially known as Liga 1, is the top flight of association football in Peru. It has been referred to as Torneo Descentralizado since ...

side

FBC Melgar Foot Ball Club Melgar, known simply as FBC Melgar or Melgar, is a Peru, Peruvian professional Association football, football club based in Arequipa. It is one of Peru's oldest football teams, founded in 1915 under the name Juventud Melgar by a ...

. After a poor start in the Fase 1, as the club finished in the last position of their group, they finished fourth in the Fase 2 and qualified to the

2022 Copa Sudamericana The 2022 Copa CONMEBOL Sudamericana was the 21st edition of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana (also referred to as the ''Copa Sudamericana''), South America's secondary club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. On 14 May 2020, CONMEBOL announced t ...

. Under Lorenzo's guidance, Melgar won the 2022 Apertura tournament in July. He left after qualifying the club to the quarterfinals of the Copa Sudamericana.

Colombia national team

On 2 June 2022, the

Colombian Football Federation The Colombian Football Federation () is the governing body of association football, football in Colombia. The organization was founded in 1924, and has been affiliated with FIFA since 1936. It is a member of CONMEBOL and in charge of the Colombi ...

announced Lorenzo as head coach of the national team for the following four years; he remained in charge of Melgar until July. On 20 June 2023, Colombia beat the Germany national team for the first time in its history in a dominant 2–0 victory under Lorenzo. In July 2024, Colombia went 28 games undefeated under Lorenzo and had significant victories over the national teams of Germany,

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

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 ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Another major achievement of Lorenzo's was leading the national team to its first Copa America final in 23 years and managing Colombia to score 12 goals in the 2024 Copa America, their highest record in the competition; they lost the final on extra time to Argentina.

Career statistics

England

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Argentinos Juniors *

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 ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

AS Bari *

Mitropa Cup The Mitropa Cup, officially called Coupe de l'Europe Centrale, Mitteleuropäischer Pokal or Central European Cup, was one of the first international major European association football, football cups for club sides. It was conducted among the suc ...

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

Argentina *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

runner-up:

Manager

FBC Melgar * Torneo Apertura:

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Colombia *

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

runner-up:

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

References

External links