Santiago Hernán Solari Poggio (born 7 October 1976) is an Argentine professional footballmanager and former player who played as a left midfielder.
He spent the better part of his 16-year professional career in Spain, amassing La Liga totals of 177 matches and 17 goals mainly with Real Madrid, but also played in Italy for Inter Milan, winning 13 major titles between both teams.
Solari began working as a coach in 2013, going on to spend several years associated with Real Madrid in different capacities.
Solari had his best individual season in 1999–2000 when he scored six goals in 34 matches, but the Colchoneros were relegated from the top division.[6]
Solari's best season with Real was 2003–04, but his five goals from 34 appearances – 15 starts, 1,539 minutes of action – could only help the side to the fourth position in the league. During his five-year spell he also played 49 matches in the Champions League, netting seven times.[8]
On 30 June 2008, Solari's contract with the Nerazzurri expired and he joined San Lorenzo shortly after.[13] On 9 July of the following year, he moved teams and countries again and signed with Atlante from Mexico, again on a free transfer.[14]
In early September 2010, the 34-year-old Solari signed with Uruguayan club Peñarol for one year, yet again as a free agent.[15] He retired after only a couple of months.
On 29 October 2018, Solari was named caretaker manager of the first team after the dismissal of Julen Lopetegui. He assumed the role the next day,[20] and became the official coach 14 days later because in Spain no club was allowed to have a caretaker for more than two weeks.[21][22] He won the FIFA Club World Cup during his tenure, extending Real's reign in the competition to three consecutive titles.[23]
On 29 December 2020, Solari was unveiled as the new manager of Club América from Mexico after signing a two-year contract, replacing the fired Miguel Herrera.[25] He did not obtain his work permit in time, and as a result could not be on the sideline for the team's opening match of the season against Atlético San Luis.[26] He made his Liga MX debut the following week in a 1–0 away defeat to Monterrey,[27] and earned his first win against Juárez on 26 January.[28] He led the side to a second-place finish in the general table, but was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Pachuca.[29]
América began the Apertura 2021 tournament with four victories and one draw from five matches, taking Solari's total tally with the club to 18 wins from his first 27 games, tying the mark set by Leo Beenhakker during the 1994–95 campaign.[30] He guided them to the final of the CONCACAF Champions League in late October, losing 1–0 to Monterrey.[31] The team finished the Apertura regular phase first in the table with 37 points, though once again falling at the quarter-final stage, being ousted by Club Universidad Nacional 3–1 on aggregate; they had managed to remain unbeaten at home throughout the 2021 calendar year (winning 13 and drawing three).[32]
Solari was dismissed on 2 March 2022, after a poor run of results, departing after eight games in the Grita México Clausura 2022.[33]
Style of play
A dynamic and versatile left-footed winger, with excellent technical ability, Solari was mainly known for his dribbling skills, although he was also an accurate passer and was capable of striking the ball from distance with both feet.[34]
Broadcasting
Since 2010, Solari worked as pundit for ESPN.[35][36]
Personal life
Nicknamed Indiecito (Little Indian in Spanish), Solari came from a sporting family: his uncle Jorge, his father Eduardo and two of his four siblings, younger Esteban and David, were also footballers.[37][38][39] His younger sister, Liz, worked as an actress.[40] He is of Spanish and Italian descent.[41]
His uncle Jorge played for several clubs during his career, mostly River Plate, whilst his cousin Natalia married Fernando Redondo who also represented Real Madrid. All but David played for Argentina.[42][43]
^Page 18–19: Attivo: immobilizzazioni immateriali: Acquisti: FC Internazionale Milano SpA bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2006 (in Italian), PDF purchased from Italian CCIAA
^Page 7: Movimentazione diritti pluriennali alle prestazioni calciatori, FC Internazionale Milano SpA bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2007 (in Italian), PDF purchased from Italian CCIAA
^Gómez Bermejo, Carlos V. (19 July 2016). "Solari ya es nuevo entrenador del Castilla" [Solari is already the new manager of Castilla] (in Spanish). Capital Deporte. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
^ abRodríguez, José María (22 December 2018). "El Madrid agranda su leyenda" [Madrid largen their legend]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 December 2018.
^Romero, Enrique (30 October 1999). "Que hoy nos dejen muy bien parados" [May our name be held very high today]. Olé (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 November 2016.