Diego Fernando Pérez Aguado (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈdjeɣo ˈpeɾes]; born 18 May 1980), nicknamed "Ruso" (Spanish for "Russian"), is a Uruguayan football manager and former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He has played 89 matches for the Uruguay national football team, including the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2011 editions of the Copa América. He is currently the manager of the Uruguay A' national team.
 Pérez with Uruguay in 2011 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Diego Fernando Pérez Aguado[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 18 May 1980 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Montevideo, Uruguay | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Defensive midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Uruguay A' (manager) | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1999–2003 | Defensor Sporting | 138 | (12) | ||||||||||||||
| 2003–2004 | Peñarol | 13 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2004–2010 | Monaco | 146 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2010–2015 | Bologna | 108 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 405 | (16) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2014 | Uruguay | 89 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | Uruguay U20 (interim) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Uruguay A' | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Club career
editPérez was born in Montevideo. At the age of 19, Pérez joined one of the clubs of his hometown, Defensor Sporting, soon becoming a first-team regular. He joined a larger club from Montevideo, C.A. Peñarol, in 2003 but only played 13 games with them before being shipped off to France to play for Didier Deschamps' AS Monaco. During his time at Monaco he had to battle for his place in the defensive midfield spot against Lucas Bernardi, Akis Zikos and Gerard López and was especially favored by the manager Francesco Guidolin during the Italian's reign in the 2005–06 season.
Bologna
editOn 31 August 2010, he was signed by Italian Serie A team Bologna for €2.1 million (including 5% solidarity contribution to youth clubs).[2][3][4] No fee was scheduled to pay on that day, but 2 equal installments was scheduled on 31 December 2010 and 30 June 2011.[4][5] At Bologna, he has teamed up with fellow Uruguayan internationals, Henry Damián Giménez, Gastón Ramírez and Miguel Britos, before this left the squad to join S.S.C. Napoli. In Pérez first season in the Serie A, Bologna managed 16th place and finished six points clear of relegation, confirming a fourth successive season in the Italian top flight. He also managed three assists during the campaign, tied for most on the team along with Riccardo Meggiorini.[6]
After being without a club for 1+1⁄2 months, Pérez signed a new two-year contract with Bologna in August 2013.[7] He retired at the end of the 2014–2015 season.
International career
editPérez was capped for Uruguay in four successive editions of the Copa América, helping his country lift their 15th South American championship in 2011. He was also selected to 2010 FIFA World Cup. On 16 July 2011, he scored his first goal for the national team in a match against hosts Argentina in the Copa America quarterfinals, although he was also sent off in the same match.[8] Pérez was back for the final match against Paraguay, starting in defensive midfield in a 3–0 win.[9][10]
Managerial career
editPérez was the assistant manager of the Uruguay under-20 team which won the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup and finished as runners-up at the 2023 South American U-20 Championship.[11]
In May 2024, Pérez was named as the first ever manager of the Uruguay A' national team.[12]
Personal life
editHis older brother Omar Pérez is also a professional footballer, who played for Cerro as a midfielder.
Career statistics
editInternational
edit- Source:[13]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uruguay | 2001 | 8 | 0 |
| 2002 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2003 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2004 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2005 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2006 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2007 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2008 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2009 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 12 | 0 | |
| 2011 | 14 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2013 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2014 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 89 | 2 | |
International goals
edit| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 16 July 2011 | Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao López, Santa Fe, Argentina |  Argentina |
1–0 | 1–1 | 2011 Copa América | ||||||||
| 2. | 23 June 2013 | Itaipava Arena Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil |  Tahiti |
3–0 | 8–0 | 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup | ||||||||
| Correct as of 7 October 2015[14] | ||||||||||||||
Honours
editInternational
edit- Uruguay
- Copa América Winner: 2011; Third Place: 2004; Fourth Place: 2001, 2007
- FIFA World Cup Fourth Place: 2010
References
edit- ^ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Argentina 2023™ SQUAD LIST: Uruguay (URU)" (PDF). FIFA. 22 May 2023. p. 22. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
- ^ "Perez è del Bologna" (in Italian). Bologna FC 1909. 31 August 2010. Archived from the original on 3 September 2010. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
- ^ "Diego Perez s'engage avec Bologne". AS Monaco FC (in French). 31 August 2010. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
- ^ a b Bologna FC 1909 Accounts and Report (in Italian)
- ^ "Bilancio intermedio al 31 dicembre 2010: Nota integrativa: parte 2" (PDF). Bologna FC 1909 (in Italian). 4 April 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 April 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
- ^ ESPN profile: Bologna Archived 4 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine ESPN Soccernet
- ^ "Perez al Bologna" (in Italian). Bologna FC 1909. 17 August 2013. Archived from the original on 31 December 2013.
- ^ "Uruguay destruye el sueño de Argentina y clasifica a las semis". Fox Sports (in Spanish). 16 July 2011. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
- ^ Copa America joy for Uruguay Sky Sports, 24 July 2011
- ^ Uruguay light the way Archived 26 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine ESPN Soccernet, 25 July 2011
- ^ "Diego Pérez, la conquista del Mundial Sub 20, su función en el cuerpo técnico de Uruguay y su impresión de Marcelo Bielsa". 21 June 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
- ^ "AUF confirmó el cuerpo técnico de la selección del medio local que enfrentará a Costa Rica". 16 May 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
- ^ "Diego Pérez - AUF". Retrieved 26 November 2020.
- ^ Diego Fernando Pérez - International Appearances
External links
edit- Diego Perez atYahoo! sports
- Diego Pérez at L'Équipe Football (in French)
- Unofficial Diego Perez fan site