Diego Aguirre · Biography

On 31 October 1987, at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago, Chile, Peñarol and América de Cali met in the play-off of the Copa Libertadores final. It was the 120th minute of extra time, and a draw would have given the Colombians the title, when Diego Aguirre cut inside and beat goalkeeper Julio César Falcioni with an angled shot. The 1-0 win gave Peñarol their fifth Copa Libertadores. Diego Vicente Aguirre Camblor, born in Montevideo on 13 September 1965, played as a striker for sixteen years. In 2002 he began a coaching career that took him to Uruguay, Ecuador, Peru, Qatar, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Paraguay.

Early years at Liverpool

Aguirre came through the youth ranks of Liverpool of Montevideo and made his first-team debut in 1983. In three seasons with the club from the Belvedere district he scored 18 goals in 34 league games. He was a penalty-box striker, 1.80 metres tall and with a strong left foot, and in 1986 those numbers earned him a move to Peñarol.

Peñarol and the 1987 final

His first season with Peñarol brought the 1986 Uruguayan championship and the Liguilla Pre-Libertadores, which secured the club's place in the following year's Copa. In the 1987 final América won 2-0 in Cali and Peñarol replied with a 2-1 win in Montevideo, Aguirre scoring one of the goals. Goal difference did not count, so a third game was played in Santiago, where the 120th-minute winner came. That year he was named in the South American Team of the Year. In his first spell at Peñarol he scored 24 goals in 46 league matches.

A striker on three continents

In 1988 he moved to Olympiacos in Greece and then to Fiorentina, but played little at either club. Between 1989 and 1991 he played in Brazil on loan from Central Español: first at Internacional of Porto Alegre, then at São Paulo in 1990 and Portuguesa in 1991. In 1992 he had a short return to Peñarol and a spell at Independiente in Argentina. Spain came next, with Marbella from 1993 to 1994 and Ourense in 1995, with a stop at Danubio in between. In 1996 he played for Deportivo FAS, winning the 1995-96 Salvadoran league. He returned to Montevideo with River Plate in 1997 and 1998, apart from a brief stint at Deportes Temuco in Chile, and retired at Rentistas in 1999.

First coaching jobs and the Under-20s

He began coaching at Plaza Colonia in 2002 and by 2003 was in charge of Peñarol, winning the Torneo Clausura and the 2003 Uruguayan championship. He left the club in December 2004. He then coached Aucas in Ecuador from December 2005 to March 2006, and Montevideo Wanderers and Alianza Lima in 2007. That year he also took over Uruguay's Under-20 side. In 2009 they finished third at the South American championship in Venezuela and reached the round of 16 at the Under-20 World Cup in Egypt.

From the 2011 final to Qatar

In his second spell at Peñarol he won the 2009-10 Uruguayan championship and took the team to the 2011 Copa Libertadores final, which they lost to Neymar's Santos. In September 2011 he moved to Qatar to coach Al-Rayyan, winning the Crown Prince Cup in 2012, the Sheikh Jassem Cup in 2012 and 2013, and the Emir of Qatar Cup in 2013. He coached Al-Gharafa in the first half of 2014.

Brazil, Argentina and Mexico

Internacional hired him in December 2014. In 2015 he won the Campeonato Gaúcho and reached the Libertadores semi-finals, where Mexico's Tigres knocked his side out 4-3 on aggregate. He left Porto Alegre in August that year. He coached Atlético Mineiro from December 2015 to May 2016 and San Lorenzo from June 2016 to September 2017. He was in charge of São Paulo from March to November 2018. He returned to Al-Rayyan from 2019 to October 2020 and to Internacional from June to December 2021. In 2022 he won the Liga MX Supercopa with Cruz Azul. In 2023 he coached Olimpia in Paraguay and then Santos, where he lasted five matches between August and September.

Third spell at Peñarol

On 21 November 2023 he returned to Peñarol for a third time. In 2024 his side won the Torneo Apertura without losing a game, a first for the club, took the 2024 Uruguayan championship and reached the Copa Libertadores semi-finals, where they lost to Botafogo. In 2025 he won the Copa AUF Uruguay. On 1 February 2026 he won the Supercopa Uruguaya against Nacional at the Estadio Centenario, 4-2 on penalties after a 0-0 draw. In August 2026 Peñarol beat Montevideo Wanderers 5-1 in the Torneo Intermedio final.