Diego Simeone

When Simeone was 14, his youth coach Victorio Spinetto nicknamed him "Cholo", as his energetic play reminded him of former Boca Juniors player and Argentine international Carmelo Simeone (no relation) who possessed the nickname. After starting his career with Vélez Sarsfield, Simeone moved to Pisa in 1990. The club was relegated from Serie A in his first season and, after it failed to gain promotion the following year, Simeone was sold to La Liga club Sevilla. Simeone played two seasons in Seville, after which he was signed by Atlético Madrid. At Atlético, he was part of the team which won the double of the Liga title and Copa del Rey during the 1995–96 season, serving as the club's captain. In 1997, Simeone returned to Serie A with Inter Milan, and played two full seasons, winning the 1997–98 UEFA Cup in a side spearheaded by Ronaldo up front. In 1999, Simeone joined fellow Argentines Néstor Sensini, Matías Almeyda and Juan Sebastián Verón at Sven-Göran Eriksson's Lazio. The side had gone close to the Scudetto in the season before Simeone's arrival and he helped deliver the championship after a season, where Juventus led the standings by two points going into the last day. A Juve loss at rainy Perugia coupled with Lazio's comfortable 3–0 home win over Reggina at the Stadio Olimpico ensured Simeone's first Serie A title. After winning the double in Spain, he would then add the Italian double as Lazio edged out Inter to claim the 1999–2000 Coppa Italia. He went on to play…

In 1992, Simeone represented the Argentina under-23 team at the 1992 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament in Paraguay, which saw Argentina fail to qualify for the 1992 Summer Olympics. For the Argentina senior team, Simeone amassed 106 caps, the first coming in 1988 in a 4–1 defeat to Australia. He is the first footballer to earn 100 international caps for Argentina, with his century of appearances coming in a match against Venezuela in March 2002. Although he was left out of the Argentina squad that finished in second place at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, Simeone later won the 1991 and 1993 editions of the Copa América with Argentina. He played in the 1994, 1998, and 2002 FIFA World Cups, captaining the team at the 1998 World Cup. He was also part of the 1995 and 1999 Copa América Argentina squads, as well as the Argentina under-23 squad that won the silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, as one of the three overage players allowed per squad. As a midfielder, Simeone scored 11 goals for his country, including one in the 3–1 final victory over Saudi Arabia in the 1992 FIFA Confederations Cup. He also won the 1993 Artemio Franchi Cup over Denmark 5–4 on penalties following a 1–1 draw, netting Argentina's third spot kick. He featured in midfield in Argentina's second round tie against Romania at the 1994 World Cup, contributing to Abel Balbo's goal, who scored from the rebound after Simeone's shot had been saved, although he could not prevent Argentina from being…

Simeone was regarded as a tenacious, versatile, hard-working and complete two-way midfielder who was mobile, good in the air, and capable both of winning balls and starting attacking plays, while also having a penchant for scoring several goals himself. This enabled him to play anywhere in midfield throughout his career, although he was usually deployed in the centre in a box-to-box or defensive midfield role. He was also used in an offensive midfield role on occasion, even if it was not his optimal playing position, due to his ability to get forward, in addition to assisting his team defensively. During the 1998 World Cup, he was also deployed as a left-sided wing-back in the round-of-16 match against England. A talented yet combative player, he was primarily known for his leadership, tactical versatility, intelligence, strength and stamina, although he was also praised by pundits for his technique, vision and passing range. Simeone once described his hard-tackling playing style as "holding a knife between his teeth", and likening himself to a "warrior, a fighter who aims to give everything". His main inspirations as a player were Brazilian midfielder Falcão and German midfielder Lothar Matthäus.

Early years

Simeone ended his playing career for Racing Club, playing his last match on 17 February 2006, and then became manager for the same team. After a rough start, the team made an impressive finish in the 2006 Clausura. When a new club president was elected, Simeone left Racing in May 2006 and was replaced by Reinaldo Merlo. On 18 May, Simeone became head coach of Estudiantes and soon led them to their first league title in 23 years after defeating Boca Juniors 2–1 in a final match played on 13 December 2006. In an October 2006 poll in the sports daily Olé, Simeone was voted as the best manager in the Argentine league. He was also praised as a "born manager" by former Argentine international Roberto Perfumo. Simeone left Estudiantes after the end of the 2007 Apertura, where Estudiantes was not a contender after a poor start, but had a strong finish of nine games without defeat. On 15 December 2007, Simeone was unveiled as the new River Plate coach, succeeding Daniel Passarella. The contract was reported to be for one year, starting on 3 January 2008. After an early elimination in the Copa Libertadores, losing to San Lorenzo in the second round, Simeone and River Plate went on to win the 2008 Clausura championship after beating Olimpo 2–1 in the Monumental. On 7 November 2008, Simeone announced his resignation as coach of River Plate after their elimination in the quarter-finals of the 2008 Copa Sudamericana by Mexican side Chivas and a poor run of form of 11…