Santiago Solari is a famous Argentine footballer in the past, and now a coach. He entered the field as a midfielder, demonstrating a high level of play and versatility. In 2002, Solari was voted sexiest footballer.
Biography: childhood and adolescence
Santiago Hernn Solari Poggio was born on October 7, 1976 in the Argentine city of Rosario, in the province of Santa Fe. His family can be safely called football. Father, Eduardo Solari, was a legend of the local club "Rosario Central". Uncle, Jorge Solari, also a football player, played for the Argentine national team.
After the end of his playing career, his father became a coach. He worked not only in Argentina, but also in Mexico, Colombia, Spain and the States. The family changed their registration with him. Santiago and his younger brothers went with their father to all training sessions. Even then, they dreamed of a football career. In one of his interviews, Santiago recalled how he and his brothers were looking forward to the end of the match at some large stadium in order to run out onto the field and kick the ball. In his words, then it was for them boundless happiness.
After leaving school, his parents decided to send him to the States to study English. So Solari ended up in New Jersey, where he began playing for Richard Stockton College. In 1994 he returned to Argentina and was admitted to the Newells Old Boys academy. Then he was one of the strongest clubs in the country. However, he was formally his player. All season Santiago played for the double. A year later, Santiago began playing in his hometown, defending the colors of Renato Cesarini.
In 1995 Solari decided to pursue higher education. He became a student at the National Institute for Physical Education.
Playing career
In 1996, Solari grew out of the youth team and moved to the famous River Plate, a club from Buenos Aires. At that time, the legendary Enzo Francescoli, known for his graceful ball possession, was still playing there. For Solari, in his words, he was "an idol and a god." Santiago made his debut with Deportivo. Then his club won 2-0.
Solari spent three years at River Plate. During this time, he managed to win several trophies, including:
- Kubor Libertadores;
- "Gold" Apertures;
- Clausura's "gold".
Aperture and Clausura - this is how the first and second stages of the football championship are called in the countries of South America, respectively. In fact, the team that wins the gold medals becomes the champion.
In the Libertadores Cup, Santiago scored 13 goals in 67 games, which is an excellent result for the left midfielder. After that, other clubs became interested in the player. Among them was Altetico Madrid. In 1999 Solari moved from South America to Europe. The transfer amount was 5 million euros.
Santiago spent two seasons at Atlético Madrid. For this club, he scored 7 goals in 61 matches. In his debut season, Solari looked the most vigorous in the team, which over the past nine months has changed three mentors and slipped into the second league. He immediately became a base player. In the first season, he scored only one goal. And in the next - he already had six goals on his account. However, Atletico Madrid still left the Spanish Premier League.
In 2000, Solari moved to Real Madrid, which paid 3.5 million euros for him. He spent five seasons with this Spanish club, appearing in 208 appearances and scoring 22 goals. At the same time, he was mainly a substitute player. There was fierce competition in the club then. Ronaldo, Figo, Raul, Zidane, Beckham and Roberto Carlos shone on the field. Despite this, at Real, Solari fully revealed himself. His excellent interaction with Roberto Carlos on the left flank has brought balls into the opponents' goal more than once. His team-mates noted that he sees the field well and always understands when to connect other players to the attack, and when it is better to hold the ball.
With Real Madrid he won the Champions League in 2001/2002. At the same time, Santiago became an assistant to one of the spectacular goals in the history of the club: he started an attack, threw the ball to Robert Carlos, who threw it to Zidane, and he sent him into the opponent's goal since the summer. Playing for Real Madrid, Solari also became the champion of Spain twice in a row.
In 2005, Santiago moved to Italy, where he started playing for the local club Inter. In its composition, he became the champion of the country three times. Also on account of his victory in the Italian Cup.
In 2008 Solari returned to South America. Over the next four seasons, he defended the colors of several clubs, including:
- Argentinean "San Lorenzo";
- Mexican "Atlanta";
- Uruguayan "Peñarol".
In 2011, Santiago retired from his football career.
Coaching career
After the end of his playing career, Solari took a time out that lasted two years. During this time, he received the necessary licenses to work as a coach. In 2013, Santiago took over at the helm of the Real Madrid kids team. Three years later he was transferred to Castilla. This is the reserve team of Real Madrid, like the second squad or the youth team. In it, he worked for two seasons.
In the fall of 2018, Solari became the acting head coach of Real Madrid's first team. He replaced Julen Lopetegui, who was removed from office for poor performance. In the first four games under Solari, the club won four wins. After such a bright debut, the club's management signed a contract with the Argentine until 2021.
In January 2019, Real Madrid, under the leadership of Solari, took the third place in the standings. In the Champions League, the "creamy" took the first place in group G. The team scored 12 points, beating Czech "Victoria" and Italian "Roma" twice. At the same time, the team suffered two defeats from the Moscow CSKA.
Personal life
Santiago Solari is married. He has three children in marriage.
