Diego Simeone

Diego Pablo Simeone González (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈdjeɣo ˈpaβlo simeˈone]; Italian: [ˈdjɛːɡo simeˈoːne, ˈdjeː-]; born 28 April 1970), nicknamed "Cholo" ([ˈtʃolo]), is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He has been the manager of La Liga club Atlético Madrid since December 2011, making him the second longest serving manager in Europe currently.

In his club career that started in 1987, Simeone played in Argentina, Italy, and Spain for Vélez Sarsfield, Pisa, Sevilla, Atlético Madrid, Inter Milan, Lazio and Racing Club. He won a domestic double with Atlético Madrid in 1996, and the UEFA Cup with Inter in 1998, also winning another domestic double with Lazio in 2000, as well as the 1999 UEFA Super Cup and the 2000 Supercoppa Italiana. Simeone was capped over 100 times for the Argentina national team and represented the country at the 1994, 1998, and 2002 FIFA World Cups, and in four editions of the Copa América, winning the tournament in 1991 and 1993. He also won the FIFA Confederations Cup in 1992, the 1993 Artemio Franchi Cup, and a silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympic games.

As a manager, Simeone has coached Argentine sides Racing Club, Estudiantes, River Plate, San Lorenzo and Italian club Catania, before joining Spanish club Atlético Madrid in 2011. He won the Argentine Primera División both with Estudiantes and River Plate.

Simeone has had his biggest managerial success with Atlético Madrid, turning the team into a competitor for the La Liga and breaking the Real Madrid–Barcelona duopoly. He has won La Liga twice, the Copa del Rey, two UEFA Europa Leagues, two UEFA Super Cups, as well as being runner-up of the UEFA Champions League twice. Simeone is the longest-serving manager in La Liga, having stayed for well over a decade at Atlético. He won Atléti their first derby against arch-rivals Real Madrid in 14 years in the 2013 Copa Del Rey final at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Club career

When Simeone was 14, his youth coach Victorio Spinetto nicknamed him "Cholo", as his energetic play reminded him of former Boca Juniors player and Argentine international Carmelo Simeone (no relation) who possessed the nickname.

After starting his career with Vélez Sarsfield, Simeone moved to Italian Serie A club Pisa in 1990. The club was relegated in his first season and, after it failed to gain promotion the following year, Simeone was sold to Sevilla in the Spanish La Liga. Simeone played two seasons in Seville, after which he was signed by Atlético Madrid. At Atlético, he was part of the team which won the double of the Liga title and Copa del Rey during the 1995–96 season, serving as the club's captain.

In 1997, Simeone returned to Serie A with Inter Milan, and played two full seasons, winning the 1997–98 UEFA Cup in a side spearheaded by Ronaldo up front. In 1999, Simeone joined fellow Argentines Néstor Sensini, Matías Almeyda and Juan Sebastián Verón at Sven-Göran Eriksson's Lazio. The side had gone close to the Scudetto in the season before Simeone's arrival and he helped deliver the championship after a season, where Juventus led the standings by two points going into the last day. A Juve loss at rainy Perugia coupled with Lazio's comfortable 3–0 home win over Reggina at the Stadio Olimpico ensured Simeone's first Serie A title. After winning the double in Spain, he would then add the Italian double as Lazio edged out Inter to claim the 1999–2000 Coppa Italia.

He went on to play three more seasons in Rome, which included more last day drama as Simeone's goal against former club Inter on the last day of the 2001–02 campaign effectively ruined his old employers' title dream.

After cancelling his contract with Lazio, Simeone returned to Atlético Madrid in 2003, spending his next two seasons there. In total, he played in 165 matches for Atlético, scoring 31 goals. In December 2004, it was confirmed that he would leave Europe and return to Argentina to finish his playing career with Racing Club.

International career

In 1992, Simeone represented the Argentina under-23 team at the 1992 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament in Paraguay, which saw Argentina fail to qualify for the 1992 Summer Olympics.

For the Argentina senior team, Simeone amassed 106 caps, the first coming in 1988 in a 4–1 defeat to Australia. He is the first footballer to earn 100 international caps for Argentina, with his century of appearances coming in a match against Venezuela in March 2002.

Although he was left out of the Argentina squad that finished in second place at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, Simeone later won the 1991 and 1993 editions of the Copa América with Argentina. He played in the 1994, 1998, and 2002 FIFA World Cups, captaining the team at the 1998 World Cup. He was also part of the 1995 and 1999 Copa América Argentina squads, as well as the Argentina under-23 squad that won the silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, as one of the three overage players allowed per squad. As a midfielder, Simeone scored 11 goals for his country, including one in the 3–1 final victory over Saudi Arabia in the 1992 FIFA Confederations Cup. He also won the 1993 Artemio Franchi Cup over Denmark 5–4 on penalties following a 1–1 draw, netting Argentina's third spot kick.

He featured in midfield in Argentina's second round tie against Romania at the 1994 World Cup, contributing to Abel Balbo's goal, who scored from the rebound after Simeone's shot had been saved, although he could not prevent Argentina from being eliminated from the competition following a surprise 3–2 defeat. During the round of 16 of the 1998 World Cup, England's David Beckham was sent off for kicking Simeone in retaliation for a foul (see also Argentina–England football rivalry); Argentina won the match on penalties. Simeone later said he simulated the injury from the kick in order to get Beckham sent off. Sports Illustrated was critical of the Argentinian's theatrics in that incident, stating Simeone first delivered a "heavy-handed challenge" on Beckham and then "fell like a ton of bricks" when Beckham retaliated. In the following round, against the Netherlands, Simeone was injured by a tackle from Arthur Numan during his team's late 2–1 defeat. In the 2002 World Cup, his last, Argentina was eliminated in the group stage, which included a 1–0 loss to England in which Beckham converted a penalty.

Simeone said in 2002 that he was "embarrassed" at having surpassed Diego Maradona as Argentina's most capped player, though Simeone has since been surpassed by Roberto Ayala, Javier Mascherano, Javier Zanetti, Ángel Di María, Nicolás Otamendi and Lionel Messi.

Style of play

Simeone was regarded as a tenacious, versatile, hard-working and complete two-way midfielder who was mobile, good in the air, and capable both of winning balls and starting attacking plays, while also having a penchant for scoring several goals himself. This enabled him to play anywhere in midfield throughout his career, although he was usually deployed in the centre in a box-to-box or defensive midfield role. He was also used in an offensive midfield role on occasion, even if it was not his optimal playing position, due to his ability to get forward, in addition to assisting his team defensively. During the 1998 World Cup, he was also deployed as a left-sided wing-back in the round-of-16 match against England. A talented yet combative player, he was primarily known for his leadership, tactical versatility, intelligence, strength and stamina, although he was also praised by pundits for his technique, vision and passing range. Simeone once described his hard-tackling playing style as "holding a knife between his teeth", and likening himself to a "warrior, a fighter who aims to give everything". His main inspirations as a player were Brazilian midfielder Falcão and German midfielder Lothar Matthäus.

Managerial career

Early years

Simeone ended his playing career for Racing Club, playing his last match on 17 February 2006, and then became manager for the same team. After a rough start, the team made an impressive finish in the 2006 Clausura. When a new club president was elected, Simeone left Racing in May 2006 and was replaced by Reinaldo Merlo.