Diego Aguirre

Diego Vicente Aguirre Camblor (born 13 September 1965) is a Uruguayan football manager and former player who played as a forward. He currently manages Peñarol on the Uruguayan Primera División.

Playing career A Liverpool Montevideo youth graduate, Aguirre joined the club in 1982 at the age of 16, and made his senior debut in the following year. In 1986, he moved to city rivals Peñarol, and was a part of the squad which won the 1987 Copa Libertadores, scoring a last-minute winner in the Final.

In 1988, after an unassuming spell with Olympiacos, Aguirre had a brief stint with Sven-Göran Eriksson's ACF Fiorentina, appearing only in the Coppa Italia. He subsequently moved to Brazil, representing Internacional and São Paulo.

In the following years Aguirre rarely settled into a club, and played for Portuguesa, Independiente, Peñarol, Bolívar, CA Marbella, Danubio, CD Ourense, Deportivo FAS, River Plate Montevideo, Deportes Temuco and Rentistas.

Managerial career After starting his career with Plaza Colonia in 2002, Aguirre returned to his former club Peñarol in 2003. Despite winning the year's championship, he was sacked in December 2004.

On 20 December 2005, Aguirre was named in charge of Aucas, but was sacked the following March. In 2007, he was appointed manager of Montevideo Wanderers, and was subsequently in charge of Alianza Lima for just five matches.

In 2008, Aguirre was named Uruguay under-20 manager, after a request of Óscar Tabárez. On 7 December 2010 he returned to Peñarol, winning another national championship and reaching the finals of the 2011 Copa Libertadores, where his side lost to Santos.

On 5 September 2011, Aguirre signed for Al-Rayyan, remaining in charge until 4 November 2013. He subsequently replaced Zico at the helm of Al-Gharafa, being appointed on 2 February 2014.

On 22 December 2014, Aguirre was named manager of another club he represented as a player, Internacional, being relieved from his duties the following 6 August. On 3 December 2015, he signed a two-year deal with Atlético Mineiro, resigning on 19 May.

On 27 June 2016, Aguirre replaced Pablo Guede at the helm of San Lorenzo. On 22 September of the following year, he resigned after being knocked out of the year's Copa Libertadores.

On 11 March 2018, Aguirre was appointed manager of another former club, São Paulo. On 11 November, after falling down from the first to the fifth position, he left the club.

Aguirre returned to Al Rayyan for a second spell in July 2019. In his first season, the club finished second in the league without to win any trophies, being also eliminated in the AFC Champions League play-off round.

During Aguirre's second season as head coach, he saw key players Hamid Ismail, Sebastián Soria and Rodrigo Tabata leaving the club, and after a poor run of results in their first matches, he announced on the media that he would be leaving the club by mutual agreement. He was linked to São Paulo in October 2020, and officially left the club after the disappointing draw against Al-Arabi on 11 December, being later replaced by French coach Laurent Blanc.

On 19 June 2021, Aguirre returned to Brazil and Internacional, after replacing Miguel Ángel Ramírez. He left the club on a mutual agreement on 15 December, after missing out a Copa Libertadores spot in the last round.

On 30 May 2022, Aguirre switched teams and countries again after being named in charge of Liga MX side Cruz Azul. He was sacked on 21 August, after a 7–0 loss to Club América.

On 11 March 2023, Aguirre replaced Julio César Cáceres at the helm of Club Olimpia in Paraguay. He was dismissed on 20 July, after a poor league campaign.

On 6 August 2023, Aguirre returned to Brazil and became Santos' third permanent head coach of the season. He was sacked on 15 September, after four defeats in just five matches, and returned to Peñarol after 12 years on 21 November.

Managerial statistics

Honours Player Peñarol Uruguayan Primera División: 1986 Copa Libertadores: 1987

Deportivo FAS Salvadoran Primera División: 1996

Manager Peñarol Uruguayan Primera División: 2003, 2009–10, 2024 Copa AUF Uruguay: 2025 Supercopa Uruguaya: 2026

Al-Rayyan Qatar Crown Prince Cup: 2012 Emir of Qatar Cup: 2013 Sheikh Jassem Cup: 2012, 2013

Internacional Campeonato Gaúcho: 2015

Cruz Azul Supercopa de la Liga MX: 2022