Eduardo Coudet · Biography

Eduardo Germán Coudet, nicknamed “Chacho”, was born in Buenos Aires on 12 September 1974. He made his top-flight debut on 23 October 1993 for Platense in a 0-0 draw with Boca Juniors. A right-sided midfielder for almost two decades, he retired in the United States in 2011 and went on to a coaching career that took him through Argentina, Mexico, Brazil and Spain.

Early years at Platense and Rosario Central

Coudet came through the ranks at Platense, where he broke into the first team in 1993 and played until 1995. That year he joined Rosario Central, and with them he won his first trophy: the 1995 Copa Conmebol. He stayed in Rosario until 1998, then moved to San Lorenzo for one season before stepping up to River Plate.

River Plate and the title years

He arrived at River in 1999 and became part of a midfield that won the 1999 Apertura, the 2000 Clausura and the 2002 Clausura. In 2002 he went on loan to Celta de Vigo, his only spell as a player in Europe, and in 2003 he returned to Buenos Aires to add the 2003 and 2004 Clausura titles. In all he collected five league titles with River. He then went back to Rosario Central in 2004, had a second stint at San Lorenzo in 2005 and finished a third spell at Central in 2006.

Mexico, Colón and a final stop in the United States

In 2007 he moved to Mexico to play for San Luis, with a brief stop at Necaxa in 2009 before returning to San Luis. In 2010 he had a short spell back in Argentina with Colón and, that same year, moved to MLS with the Philadelphia Union. His last club was the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in 2011, the year he hung up his boots.

First coaching jobs: Rosario Central, Tijuana and Racing

Rosario Central named him head coach on 15 December 2014. Under him the club reached two Copa Argentina finals at the Kempes stadium in Córdoba, losing 2-0 to Boca Juniors in 2015 after a heavily disputed refereeing display and 4-3 to River Plate in 2016. He stepped down after the second final. In 2017 he spent a little over four months in charge of Club Tijuana. On 17 December 2017 he took over at Racing Club, where he won his first trophy as a coach: the 2018-19 Argentine Superliga, sealed on 31 March 2019. He was named coach of the tournament and on 14 December 2019 added the Superliga Trofeo de Campeones.

Internacional, Celta and Atlético Mineiro

Internacional of Porto Alegre appointed him on 16 December 2019. He left at his own request on 9 November 2020, and three days later, on 12 November, Celta de Vigo announced him as Óscar García’s replacement. He inherited a side in nineteenth place and led it to eighth in the 2020-21 LaLiga season, close to the European places. Celta dismissed him on 2 November 2022. Two weeks later he signed with Atlético Mineiro, won the 2023 Campeonato Mineiro and left the post on 11 June that year.

On 18 July 2023 he returned to Internacional. In that second spell he took the club to the semi-finals of the 2023 Copa Libertadores, its first since 2015: after a 2-2 draw at the Maracanã, Inter lost 2-1 to Fluminense at the Beira-Rio on 4 October. He left in July 2024 following a Copa do Brasil exit against Juventude.

Alavés and River Plate

On 2 December 2024 he went back to Spain to coach Deportivo Alavés, replacing Luis García Plaza. He secured survival with a round to spare in the 2024-25 LaLiga season, finishing fifteenth on 42 points. In March 2026 the club and the coach agreed to part ways.

On 4 March 2026 he took charge of River Plate, the club where he had won five league titles as a player. He led the team to the final of the 2026 Torneo Apertura, played on 24 May at the Kempes, and lost 3-2 to Belgrano, who came from behind in the closing minutes to win their first league title; Coudet was sent off in stoppage time. On 26 August 2026, after a round-of-16 exit from the Copa Sudamericana against Independiente Santa Fe (1-1 on aggregate, 8-7 on penalties), he resigned. He managed River in 27 matches, with 14 wins, 4 draws and 9 defeats.