Santiago Solari

Santiago Solari
Solari in 2019
Personal information
Full name Santiago Hernán Solari Poggio
Date of birth (1976-10-07) 7 October 1976 (age 47)
Place of birth Rosario, Argentina
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
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
2013–2016 Real Madrid (youth)
2016–2018 Real Madrid B
2018 Real Madrid (interim)
2018–2019 Real Madrid
2020–2022 América
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Santiago Hernán Solari Poggio (born 7 October 1976) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a left midfielder.

He spent the better part of his 16-year professional career in Spain, amassing La Liga totals of 177 matches and 17 goals mainly with Real Madrid, but also played in Italy for Inter 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.

Playing career

Club

Early career and River

Born in Rosario, Santa Fe, Solari played youth football for Newell's Old Boys and Renato Cesarini, after returning from the United States where he attended Richard Stockton College in New Jersey. He joined Club Atlético River Plate midway through the 1995–96 season, making his Primera División debut on 12 May.

Solari appeared in 24 league games in his first full campaign, helping River to both the Apertura and Clausura tournaments.

Atlético Madrid

Solari moved to Spain late in the 1999 January transfer window, signing with Atlético Madrid. He played his first La Liga game on 7 February, in a 2–1 away loss against UD Salamanca.

Solari had his best individual season in 1999–2000 when he scored six goals in 34 matches, but the Colchoneros were relegated from the top division.

Real Madrid

Subsequently, Solari moved across the city to join Real Madrid, who paid Atlético his buyout clause of 600 million pesetas. After a poor first season he became a regular, albeit as a substitute; in the final of the 2001–02 UEFA Champions League, in which he played the full 90 minutes, he was involved in the play that led to Zinedine Zidane's wonder strike against Bayer 04 Leverkusen, in an eventual 2–1 win.

Solari's best season with Real was 2003–04, 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.

Inter and later years

Solari signed a three-year contract with Inter Milan in the summer of 2005 for 6 million, being sparingly used during his three-year stint (maximum 21 games in his second season) but winning three consecutive Serie A titles to add to his trophy cabinet, the 2006 edition due to the Calciopoli scandal.

On 30 June 2008, Solari's contract with the Nerazzurri expired and he joined San Lorenzo de Almagro shortly after. On 9 July of the following year, he moved teams and countries again and signed with Atlante F.C. from Mexico, again on a free transfer.

In early September 2010, the 34-year-old Solari signed with Uruguayan club Peñarol for one year, yet again as a free agent. He retired after only a couple of months.

International

Solari won 11 caps for Argentina in five years. He was not selected for any major international tournaments, however.

Coaching career

Real Madrid

Solari started working as a manager in 2013, first being in charge of Real Madrid's youths. Ahead of the 2016–17 season, he was appointed at the reserves who competed in Segunda División B.

On 29 October 2018, Solari was named caretaker manager of the first team after the dismissal of Julen Lopetegui. He assumed the role the next day, and became the official coach 14 days later because in Spain no club was allowed to have a caretaker for more than two weeks. He won the FIFA Club World Cup during his tenure, extending Real's reign in the competition to three consecutive titles.

Solari was sacked on 11 March 2019.

América

On 29 December 2020, Solari was unveiled as the new manager of Club América from Mexico after signing a two-year contract, replacing the fired Miguel Herrera. 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 of the season against Atlético San Luis. He made his Liga MX debut the following week in a 1–0 away defeat to C.F. Monterrey, and earned his first win against FC Juárez on 26 January. He led the side to a second-place finish in the general table, but was eliminated in the quarter-finals by C.F. Pachuca.

América began the Apertura 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 by Leo Beenhakker during the 1994–95 campaign. He guided them to the final of the CONCACAF Champions League in late October, losing 1–0 to Monterrey. The team finished the Apertura regular phase first in the table with 37 points, though once again falling at the quarter-final stage, being ousted by Club Universidad Nacional 3–1 on aggregate; they had managed to remain unbeaten at home throughout the 2021 calendar year (winning 13 and drawing three).

Solari was dismissed on 2 March 2022, after a poor run of results, departing after eight games in the Grita México Clausura 2022.

Style of play

A dynamic and versatile left-footed winger, with excellent technical ability, Solari was mainly known for his dribbling skills, although he was also an accurate passer and was capable of striking the ball from distance with both feet.

Broadcasting

Since 2010, Solari worked as pundit for ESPN.

Personal life

Solari playing in the 2014 Match Against Poverty

Nicknamed Indiecito (Little Indian in Spanish), Solari came from a sporting family: his uncle Jorge, his father Eduardo and two of his four siblings, younger Esteban and David, were also footballers. His younger sister, Liz, worked as an actress. He is of Spanish and Italian descent.

His uncle Jorge played for several clubs during his career, mostly River Plate, whilst his cousin Natalia married Fernando Redondo who also represented Real Madrid. All but David played for Argentina.

Career statistics

Club

Club performance League Cup Continental Other Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Argentina League CONMEBOL Other Total
1996–97 River Plate Primera División 24 2 1 0 25 2
1997–98 27 6 9 1 36 7
1998–99 16 5 16 5
Spain League Copa del Rey UEFA Other Total
1998–99 Atlético Madrid La Liga 12 1 3 0 1 0 16 1
1999–2000 34 6 4 0 7 0 45 6
2000–01 Real Madrid 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
Italy League Coppa Italia UEFA Other Total
2005–06 Inter Milan 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
Argentina League CONMEBOL Other Total
2008–09 San Lorenzo Primera División 26 4 3 0 29 4
Mexico League CONCACAF Other Total
2009–10 Atlante Liga MX 29 4 5 0 34 4
2010–11 4 1 4 1
Uruguay League CONMEBOL Other Total
2010–11 Peñarol Primera División 9 0 2 0 11 0
Total Argentina 93 17 13 1 106 18
Spain 177 17 31 5 57 7 5 0 270 29
Italy 39 4 17 3 15 0 0 0 71 7
Mexico 33 5 5 0 38 5
Uruguay 9 0 2 0 11 0
Career total 351 43 48 8 87 8 10 0 496 59

International

Argentina
Year Apps Goals
1999 1 0
2000 1 1
2001 0 0
2002 3 0
2003 4 0
2004 2 0
Total 11 1
Argentina score listed first, score column indicates score after the Solari goal.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 20 December 2000 Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States  Mexico 1–0 2–0 Friendly

Managerial statistics

As of 2 March 2022
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record Ref
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Real Madrid B Spain 19 July 2016 29 October 2018 86 32 29 25 112 92 +20 037.21
Real Madrid Spain 30 October 2018 11 March 2019 32 22 2 8 71 37 +34 068.75
América Mexico 29 December 2020 2 March 2022 50 26 12 12 68 48 +20 052.00
Total 168 80 43 45 251 177 +74 047.62

Honours

Player

River Plate

Real Madrid

Inter Milan

Manager

Real Madrid

América


This page was last updated at 2024-03-15 16:22 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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