Diego Lugano
Encyclopedia
Diego Alfredo "Tota" Lugano Moreno (ˈdjeɣo luˈɣano; born November 2, 1980 in Canelones) is a Uruguayan
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

 footballer  who currently plays for Ligue 1
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....

 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Uruguay national football team
Uruguay national football team
The Uruguayan national football team represents Uruguay in international association football and is controlled by the Uruguayan Football Association, the governing body for football in Uruguay. The current head coach is Óscar Tabárez...

 as a central defender
Defender (association football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....

.
Lugano has previously played for Plaza Colonia
Plaza Colonia
Club Plaza are a football club from Colonia in Uruguay. They currently play in the Uruguayan 2nd Division.- History :Plaza are the most successful team from the department of Colonia. They gained their affiliation with AUF in 2000...

, Nacional
Club Nacional de Football
Club Nacional de Football is a Uruguayan sports club based in Montevideo. It is best known for its professional football team, which plays in the Uruguayan Primera División....

, São Paulo and Fenerbahçe. He is also captain of the Uruguayan national football team, and was selected the best captain in the 2010 FIFA World Cup
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...

.

Career

He starts his career in Club Atlètico Tres Esquinas Canelones (child football) and the pass to the Club Atlètico Libertad -Canelones, Uruguay-. In December 1998, he plays on first squad of Libertad to be champion with 18 years old. From Libertad, in 1999, he pass to the formerly Club Nacional de Football -Montevideo, Uruguay- team. He plays some friendlies in Europe with Nacional first team. A few years later, Lugano pass to Club Plaza de Deportes -Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay-.

São Paulo

After Oswaldo de Oliveira
Oswaldo de Oliveira
Oswaldo de Oliveira Filho is a Brazilian football manager. He currently manages Kashima Antlers.-Manager career:...

 left the club in late 2003, Lugano started playing matches more frequently. In 2005, while playing for São Paulo as a centre-back, he led the team to titles in the Campeonato Paulista
Campeonato Paulista
The Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Profissional da Primeira Divisão - Série A1, simply known as the Campeonato Paulista, is the top-flight professional football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. The league is contested between 20 clubs and typically lasts from January to April...

, the Copa Libertadores
Copa Libertadores de América
The Copa Santander Libertadores de América , known simply as the Copa Libertadores and originally known as the Copa Campeones de América , is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960...

, and the FIFA Club World Championship in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. That same year, Lugano was recognized as South America's best defender. His leadership skills and his willingness to fight for ball possession have raised his profile amongst São Paulo's supporters, where he is still highly regarded. Lugano has also mentioned that he still maintains a good relationship with the club.

In 2006, he helped his club to the runner-up stage of the Copa Libertadores.

Fenerbahçe SK

Lugano joined Fenerbahçe on 21 August 2006 for a reported €7.5 million and signed a 3+1 year contract. He and former teammate Edu Dracena
Edu Dracena
Eduardo Luis Abonízio de Souza, better known as Edu Dracena is a Brazilian footballer who plays as defender for Santos Futebol Clube. Dracena also holds Italian citizenship.-Club career:...

's powerful defensive abilities helped Fenerbahçe win the league during the club's 100th anniversary year.
He is notorious for his presence in attack, as was shown with Previous club Fenerbahçe, having scored goals with headers from dead ball situations and support of the forward line. He became a fan favorite with his defensice tenacity and spectacular dead ball goals. Supporters refer to him as 'TOTA' (Talento, Orgullo, Tecnico, Ambicion - Talent, Pride, Skillfulness, Ambition in Spanish). Following a red card, he was suspended for 5 weeks after the derby match against Galatasaray
Galatasaray S.K. (football team)
Galatasaray Anonim Şirketi is a Turkish football club, part of the Galatasaray S.K. multi-sport club of Istanbul. Galatasaray is a major sports club in Turkey, holding 17 Turkish Super League titles and the highest number of Turkish Cups....

 during the 2008–09 season when he beat Emre Aşık
Emre Asik
Emre Aşık is a Turkish former international footballer. He played center back for several clubs in the Süper Lig, most notably, Galatasaray...

 on 12 April 2009 in Ali Sami Yen Stadium
Ali Sami Yen Stadium
Ali Sami Yen Stadium was the home of the football club Galatasaray SK in Istanbul, Turkey, from 1964 to 2010. It is named after the founder of the club, Ali Sami Yen...

. Since then he has a strong connection with supporters, especially with the Genç Fenerbahçeliler
Genç Fenerbahçeliler
Genç Fenerbahçeliler is a fan group of Turkish football team Fenerbahçe. Founded in 1998 by group leader Sefa Kalya .-Aim:Its aim is to unconditionally support Fenerbahçe.-GFB Europe:...

.

He signed a new 4-year contract in 2009 with Fenerbahçe.

Paris Saint-Germain

On August 27, 2011 Fenerbahçe announced Lugano was leaving the club to join Paris-Saint Germain for a fee worth €3 million.

Personal life

Lugano is married to Karina Roncio and has three children: Nicolás, Thiago and Bianca. Nicolás, the oldest child, plays for Fenerbahçe youth teams. Thiago and Bianca were born in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

. He has cited the defenders Hugo de León
Hugo De León
Hugo Eduardo de León Rodríguez, is a Uruguayan football coach and former player.-National team player career:The 189 cm defender was capped 48 times for Uruguay between July 1979 and June 1990, including four games at the 1990 World Cup...

 and Paolo Montero
Paolo Montero
Paolo Rónald Montero Iglesias is a former Uruguayan footballer who played as a central defender or left back. He has been described as "skillful on the ball and calm under pressure", and a "wonderfully talented and intelligent footballer"...

 as his personal football heroes.

International appearances and goals


Club

Nacional
Club Nacional de Football
Club Nacional de Football is a Uruguayan sports club based in Montevideo. It is best known for its professional football team, which plays in the Uruguayan Primera División....

  • Primera División: 2000


São Paulo
  • Campeonato Paulista
    Campeonato Paulista
    The Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Profissional da Primeira Divisão - Série A1, simply known as the Campeonato Paulista, is the top-flight professional football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. The league is contested between 20 clubs and typically lasts from January to April...

    : 2005
  • Copa Libertadores: 2005
  • FIFA Club World Cup
    FIFA Club World Cup
    The FIFA Club World Cup is a football competition between the champion clubs from all six continental confederations.The first FIFA Club World Championship took place in Brazil in January 2000...

    : 2005
    2005 FIFA Club World Championship
    -Quarter-finals:-----Semi-finals:-----Fifth Place:-Third Place:-Final:-Scorers: 2 goals Amoroso Peter Crouch Mohammed Noor Alvaro Saborio...

  • Série A
    Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
    The Campeonato Brasileiro de Clubes da Série A , popularly known as the Brasileirão , is a professional football league at the top of the Brazilian football league system held annually since 1959. Contested by twenty clubs, it operates a system of promotion and relegation with the Série B...

    : 2006


Fenerbahçe
  • Süper Lig: 2006–07, 2010–11
    2010–11 Süper Lig
    The 2010–11 Süper Lig is the 53rd season since its establishment. Bursaspor are defending champions having won their first Turkish championship last season. The season began on 14 August 2010 and concluded on 22 May 2011...

  • Turkish Super Cup
    Turkish Super Cup
    The TFF Süper Kupa, as it is currently known, is the annual super cup football match contested between the previous season's Süper Lig champions and the Turkish Cup winners in Turkey. It was originally known as the Cumhurbaşkanlığı Kupası from 1966 to 1998. No competition was held between 1999 and...

    : 2007, 2009, 2011
    2011 Turkish Super Cup
    -References:...


International

Uruguay
Uruguay national football team
The Uruguayan national football team represents Uruguay in international association football and is controlled by the Uruguayan Football Association, the governing body for football in Uruguay. The current head coach is Óscar Tabárez...

  • 2007 Copa América: Fourth Place
  • 2010 World Cup
    2010 FIFA World Cup
    The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...

    : Fourth Place
  • 2011 Copa América
    2011 Copa América
    The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, better known as the 2011 Copa América or the Copa América Argentina 2011, was the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America...

    : Winner

External links

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