 Cocca in 2014 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Diego Martín Cocca | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1972-02-11)11 February 1972 (age 54) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Buenos Aires, Argentina | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Right-back | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Atlas (head coach) | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1990–1992 | River Plate | 25 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 1993 | Deportivo Español | 18 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1994–1996 | Ferro Carril Oeste | 74 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1996–1997 | Lleida | 11 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1997–1999 | Argentinos Juniors | 72 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 1999–2001 | Atlas | 81 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2001–2002 | Banfield | 48 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2003–2004 | Veracruz | 50 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2004 | Banfield | 18 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2005 | Querétaro | 23 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Argentinos Juniors | 14 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 434 | (4) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1991 | Argentina U20 | ||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | C.A.I. | ||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | Godoy Cruz | ||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | Gimnasia LP | ||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Santos Laguna | ||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Huracán | ||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Defensa y Justicia | ||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Racing Club | ||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Millonarios | ||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Racing Club | ||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Tijuana | ||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Rosario Central | ||||||||||||||||
| 2020–2022 | Atlas | ||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | Tigres UANL | ||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | Mexico | ||||||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | Valladolid | ||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | Talleres | ||||||||||||||||
| 2025– | Atlas | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Diego Martín Cocca (born 11 February 1972) is an Argentine professionalfootball manager and former player who played as aright-back. He is the current head coach ofLiga MX clubAtlas.
Cocca started his career withRiver Plate in 1990. He was part of the squad that won the Apertura 1991 title. Subsequently, the defender had spells withDeportivo Español andFerro Carril Oeste in theArgentine Primera División, before joiningLleida in Spain for the 1996–97 season.
Cocca returned to Argentina in 1997 to play forArgentinos Juniors. In 1999, he went to Mexico to play forAtlas.
In his later career, he had two spells withBanfield, and played forVeracruz andQuerétaro in Mexico. He then returned to Argentinos Juniors in 2005. In 2006, he retired at the age of 34.[1]
In 1991, Cocca was selected to join theArgentina U20 team to play in the1991 FIFA World Youth Championship.
Cocca took his first step into management by taking over atComisión de Actividades Infantiles in theArgentine second division.[2] On 29 October 2008, he took over managerial duties atfirst division teamGodoy Cruz, after then-coachDaniel Oldrá stepped down to return to the club's youth divisions. On 3 November 2009, Cocca left Godoy Cruz.[3]
On 23 December 2009,Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata hired Cocca as its coach on a one-year deal.[4] The former defender helped Gimnasia avoidrelegation from the first division during the2009–10 season, after defeatingAtlético de Rafaela in the relegation playoff. However, Cocca resigned from his managerial duties after the 8th fixture of the2010–11 season, due to the team's bad results during the start of the season.[5]
On 21 February 2011, Cocca was named manager of Mexican sideSantos Laguna. On 4 September, he was sacked from his job after a series of defeats.[6]
During the subsequent decade, Cocca managed multiple clubs, namelyHuracán,Defensa y Justicia,Racing Club, andRosario Central in Argentina, in addition toMillonarios in Colombia andTijuana in Mexico.
In August 2021, Cocca assumed the role of head coach atAtlas. Under his leadership, the club won two consecutive league titles, bringing an end to a 70-year drought.[7]
On 16 November 2022,Tigres UANL appointed Cocca as their new head coach. Following the disclosure of his private negotiations with theMexican Football Federation for the role of the national team's manager, Cocca was relieved of his duties on 8 February 2023.[8]
On 10 February 2023, Cocca became the manager of theMexico national team.[9] On 19 June, following a disappointing showing at the2023 CONCACAF Nations League Finals that included a 3–0 semifinal loss to theUnited States, he was dismissed from his position.[10]
On 14 December 2024, Cocca was appointed manager ofLa Liga sideReal Valladolid, signing a contract until the end ofthe season.[11] On 17 February 2025, he was relieved of his duties after just eight games in charge.[12]
On 28 May 2025, Cocca was named manager ofTalleres back in his home country.[13] On 8 July, Cocca resigned from his position without having coached a single match.
On 12 August 2025, Cocca took on the position of head coach atAtlas, starting his second spell with the club.[14]
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | ||||
| C.A.I. |  | 15 October 2007 | 5 June 2008 | 27 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 40 | 35 | +5 | 040.74 |
| Godoy Cruz | 30 October 2008 | 2 November 2009 | 38 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 42 | 52 | −10 | 031.58 | |
| Gimnasia LP | 1 January 2010 | 30 September 2010 | 29 | 8 | 8 | 13 | 27 | 39 | −12 | 027.59 | |
| Santos Laguna |  | 21 February 2011 | 3 September 2011 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 21 | 18 | +3 | 045.45 |
| Huracán | | 2 October 2011 | 27 February 2012 | 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 15 | 17 | −2 | 026.67 |
| Defensa y Justicia | 1 July 2013 | 30 June 2014 | 43 | 21 | 13 | 9 | 68 | 46 | +22 | 048.84 | |
| Racing Club | 1 July 2014 | 31 December 2015 | 69 | 40 | 14 | 15 | 101 | 57 | +44 | 057.97 | |
| Millonarios |  | 17 August 2016 | 31 December 2016 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 21 | 14 | +7 | 063.64 |
| Racing Club | | 1 January 2017 | 27 November 2017 | 36 | 18 | 8 | 10 | 53 | 46 | +7 | 050.00 |
| Tijuana | | 1 January 2018 | 30 October 2018 | 45 | 15 | 14 | 16 | 43 | 48 | −5 | 033.33 |
| Rosario Central | | 19 March 2019 | 30 June 2020 | 33 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 41 | 44 | −3 | 036.36 |
| Atlas | | 11 August 2020 | 4 October 2022 | 95 | 35 | 25 | 35 | 106 | 94 | +12 | 036.84 |
| Tigres UANL | 1 January 2023 | 9 February 2023 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 060.00 | |
| Mexico | 10 February 2023 | 19 June 2023 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 8 | +2 | 042.86 | |
| Valladolid |  | 14 December 2024 | 17 February 2025 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 21 | −16 | 012.50 |
| Talleres | | 28 May 2025 | 8 July 2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | !— |
| Atlas | | 12 August 2025 | present | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 22 | 28 | −6 | 033.33 |
| Total | 489 | 200 | 128 | 161 | 623 | 569 | +54 | 040.90 | |||
River Plate
Racing
Atlas
Individual
Media related toDiego Cocca at Wikimedia Commons