.jpg) Solari in 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Santiago Hernán Solari Poggio | ||
| Date of birth | (1976-10-07)7 October 1976 (age 49)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Rosario, Argentina | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Left midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Real Madrid (Director of Football) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1994–1995 | Newell's Old Boys | ||
| 1995–1996 | Renato Cesarini | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1994 | Stockton Ospreys | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1996–1998 | River Plate | 67 | (13) |
| 1999–2000 | Atlético Madrid | 46 | (7) |
| 2000–2005 | Real Madrid | 131 | (10) |
| 2005–2008 | Inter Milan | 39 | (4) |
| 2008–2009 | San Lorenzo | 26 | (4) |
| 2009–2010 | Atlante | 33 | (5) |
| 2010–2011 | Peñarol | 9 | (0) |
| Total | 351 | (43) | |
| International career | |||
| 1999–2004 | Argentina | 11 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2016–2018 | Real Madrid Castilla | ||
| 2018–2019 | Real Madrid | ||
| 2020–2022 | América | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Santiago Hernán Solari Poggio (born 7 October 1976) is an Argentine professionalfootballmanager and former player who played as aleft midfielder.
He spent the better part of his 16-year professional career in Spain, amassingLa Liga totals of 177 matches and 17 goals mainly withReal Madrid, but also played in Italy forInter Milan, winning 13 major titles between both teams.
Solari began working as a coach in 2013, going on to spend several years associated with Real Madrid in different capacities.
Born inRosario, Santa Fe,[2] Solari played youth football forNewell's Old Boys and Renato Cesarini, after returning from the United States where he attendedRichard Stockton College inNew Jersey.[3] He joinedRiver Plate midway through the1995–96 season, making hisPrimera División debut on 12 May.
Solari appeared in 24 league games in hisfirst full campaign, helping River to both theApertura and Clausura tournaments.[4]
Solari moved to Spain late in the 1999 Januarytransfer window, signing withAtlético Madrid. He played his firstLa Liga game on 7 February, in a 2–1 away loss againstSalamanca.[5]
Solari had his best individual season in1999–2000 when he scored six goals in 34 matches, but theColchoneros were relegated from the top division.[6]
Subsequently, Solari moved acrossthe city to joinReal Madrid, who paid Atlético hisbuyout clause of 600 millionpesetas.[6] After a poorfirst season he became a regular, albeit as asubstitute; inthe final of the2001–02 UEFA Champions League, in which he played the full 90 minutes, he was involved in the play that led toZinedine Zidane's wonder strike againstBayer Leverkusen, in an eventual 2–1 win.[7]
Solari's best season with Real was2003–04, but his five goals from 34 appearances – 15 starts, 1,539 minutes of action – could only help the side to the fourth position in the league. During his five-year spell he also played 49 matches in the Champions League, netting seven times.[8]
Solari signed a three-year contract withInter Milan in the summer of 2005 for€6 million,[9][10] being sparingly used during his three-year stint (maximum 21 games inhis second season) but winning three consecutiveSerie A titles to add to his trophy cabinet, the2006 edition due to theCalciopoli scandal.[11][12]
On 30 June 2008, Solari's contract with theNerazzurri expired and he joinedSan Lorenzo shortly after.[13] On 9 July of the following year, he moved teams and countries again and signed withAtlante from Mexico, again on afree transfer.[14]
In early September 2010, the 34-year-old Solari signed with Uruguayan clubPeñarol for one year, yet again as afree agent.[15] He retired after only a couple of months.
Solari made elevenappearances for theArgentina national team in five years,[clarification needed] but was not selected for any major international tournaments.[16]
Solari started working as a manager in 2013, first being in charge ofReal Madrid's youths.[17][18] Ahead of the2016–17 season, he was appointed atthe reserves who competed inSegunda División B.[19]
On 29 October 2018, Solari was namedcaretaker manager of the first team after the dismissal ofJulen Lopetegui. He assumed the role the next day,[20] and became the official coach 14 days later because in Spain no club was allowed to have a caretaker for more than two weeks.[21][22] He won theFIFA Club World Cup during his tenure, extending Real's reign in the competition to three consecutive titles.[23]
Solari was sacked on 11 March 2019, following a humiliating elimination from theUEFA Champions League byAjax.[24]
On 29 December 2020, Solari was unveiled as the new manager ofClub América from Mexico after signing a two-year contract, replacing the firedMiguel Herrera.[25] He did not obtain his work permit in time, and as a result could not be on the sideline for the team's opening match ofthe season againstAtlético San Luis.[26] He made hisLiga MX debut the following week in a 1–0 away defeat toMonterrey,[27] and earned his first win againstJuárez on 26 January.[28] He led the side to a second-place finish in the general table, but was eliminated in the quarter-finals byPachuca.[29]
América began theApertura 2021 tournament with four victories and one draw from five matches, taking Solari's total tally with the club to 18 wins from his first 27 games, tying the mark set byLeo Beenhakker during the1994–95 campaign.[30] He guided them tothe final of theCONCACAF Champions League in late October, losing 1–0 to Monterrey.[31] The team finished the Apertura regular phase first in the table with 37 points, though once again falling at thequarter-final stage, being ousted byClub Universidad Nacional 3–1 on aggregate; they had managed to remain unbeaten athome throughout the 2021 calendar year (winning 13 and drawing three).[32]
Solari was dismissed on 2 March 2022, after a poor run of results, departing after eight games in the Grita México Clausura 2022.[33]
A dynamic and versatile left-footedwinger, with excellent technical ability, Solari was mainly known for hisdribbling skills, although he was also an accurate passer and was capable of striking the ball from distance with both feet.[34]
Since 2010, Solari worked as pundit forESPN.[35][36]
NicknamedIndiecito (Little Indian in Spanish), Solari came from a sporting family: his uncleJorge, his father Eduardo and two of his four siblings, youngerEsteban andDavid, were also footballers.[37][38][39] His younger sister,Liz, worked as an actress.[40] He is of Spanish and Italian descent.[41]
His uncle Jorge played for several clubs during his career, mostly River Plate, whilst his cousin Natalia marriedFernando Redondo who also represented Real Madrid. All but David played for Argentina.[42][43]
| Club | Season | League | Cup[a] | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| River Plate | 1996–97 | Primera División | 24 | 2 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 25 | 2 | ||
| 1997–98 | 27 | 6 | — | 9 | 1 | — | 36 | 7 | ||||
| 1998–99 | 16 | 5 | — | — | — | 16 | 5 | |||||
| Total | 67 | 13 | — | 10 | 1 | — | 77 | 14 | ||||
| Atlético Madrid | 1998–99 | La Liga | 12 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 16 | 1 | |
| 1999–2000 | 34 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | 45 | 6 | |||
| Total | 46 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 61 | 7 | ||
| Real Madrid | 2000–01 | La Liga | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 2 |
| 2001–02 | 28 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 53 | 5 | ||
| 2002–03 | 28 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 44 | 1 | ||
| 2003–04 | 34 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 53 | 9 | ||
| 2004–05 | 27 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | — | 34 | 5 | |||
| Total | 131 | 10 | 24 | 5 | 57 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 217 | 22 | ||
| Inter Milan | 2005–06 | Serie A | 13 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 5 |
| 2006–07 | 21 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 1 | ||
| 2007–08 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 | ||
| Total | 39 | 4 | 17 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 71 | 7 | ||
| San Lorenzo | 2008–09 | Primera División | 26 | 4 | — | 3 | 0 | — | 29 | 4 | ||
| Atlante | 2009–10 | Liga MX | 29 | 4 | — | — | 5 | 0 | 34 | 4 | ||
| 2010–11 | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | 4 | 1 | |||||
| Total | 33 | 5 | — | — | 5 | 0 | 38 | 5 | ||||
| Peñarol | 2010–11 | Primera División | 9 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 351 | 43 | 48 | 8 | 87 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 496 | 59 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 1999 | 1 | 0 |
| 2000 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2002 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2003 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2004 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 11 | 1 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 December 2000 | Memorial Coliseum,Los Angeles, United States |  Mexico | 1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly[46] |
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | Ref | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||||
| Real Madrid B |  | 19 July 2016 | 29 October 2018 | 86 | 32 | 29 | 25 | 112 | 92 | +20 | 037.21 | [48] |
| Real Madrid | | 30 October 2018 | 11 March 2019 | 32 | 22 | 2 | 8 | 71 | 37 | +34 | 068.75 | [49] |
| América | | 29 December 2020 | 2 March 2022 | 50 | 26 | 12 | 12 | 68 | 48 | +20 | 052.00 | [50] |
| Total | 168 | 80 | 43 | 45 | 251 | 177 | +74 | 047.62 | — | |||
River Plate
Real Madrid
Inter Milan
Real Madrid
América
