Santiago Hernán Solari Poggio (born 7 October 1976) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a left midfielder. A product of River Plate's extensive youth academy names, where he made his professional debut in 1996, Solari then went to play for two LaLiga clubs, Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid, and for Serie A club Inter Milan.

Solari began working as a coach in 2013, going on to spend several years associated with Real Madrid in different capacities.

Playing career Club Early career and River Born in Rosario, Santa Fe, Solari played youth football for Newell's Old Boys and Renato Cesarini, after returning from the United States where he attended Richard Stockton College in New Jersey. He joined River Plate midway through the 1995–96 season, making his Primera División debut on 12 May.

Solari appeared in 24 league games in his first full campaign, helping River to both the Apertura and Clausura tournaments.

Atlético Madrid Solari moved to Spain late in the 1999 January transfer window, signing with Atlético Madrid. He played his first La Liga game on 7 February, in a 2–1 away loss against Salamanca.

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.

Real Madrid Subsequently, Solari moved across the city to join Real Madrid, who paid Atlético his buyout clause of 600 million pesetas. After a poor first season he became a regular, albeit as a substitute; in the final of the 2001–02 UEFA Champions League, in which he played the full 90 minutes, he was involved in the play that led to Zinedine Zidane's wonder strike against Bayer Leverkusen, in an eventual 2–1 win.

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.

Inter and later years Solari signed a three-year contract with Inter Milan in the summer of 2005 for €6 million,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 CCIAAPage 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 being sparingly used during his three-year stint (maximum 21 games in his second season) but winning three consecutive Serie A titles to add to his trophy cabinet, the 2006 edition due to the Calciopoli scandal.

On 30 June 2008, Solari's contract with the Nerazzurri expired and he joined San Lorenzo shortly after. On 9 July of the following year, he moved teams and countries again and signed with Atlante from Mexico, again on a free transfer.

In early September 2010, the 34-year-old Solari signed with Uruguayan club Peñarol for one year, yet again as a free agent. He retired after only a couple of months.

International Solari made eleven appearances for the Argentina national team in five years, but was not selected for any major international tournaments.

Coaching career Real Madrid Solari started working as a manager in 2013, first being in charge of Real Madrid's youths. Ahead of the 2016–17 season, he was appointed at the reserves who competed in Segunda División B.

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, and became the official coach 14 days later because in Spain no club was allowed to have a caretaker for more than two weeks. He won the FIFA Club World Cup during his tenure, extending Real's reign in the competition to three consecutive titles.

Solari was sacked on 11 March 2019, following a humiliating elimination from the UEFA Champions League by Ajax and replaced by his former teammate Zinedine Zidane.

Club América 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. 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. He made his Liga MX debut the following week in a 1–0 away defeat to Monterrey, and earned his first win against Juárez on 26 January. He led the side to a second-place finish in the general table, but was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Pachuca.

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. He guided them to the final of the CONCACAF Champions League in late October, losing 1–0 to Monterrey. 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).

Solari was dismissed on 2 March 2022, after a poor run of results, departing after eight games in the Grita México Clausura 2022.

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.

Broadcasting Since 2010, Solari worked as pundit for ESPN.

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. His younger sister, Liz, worked as an actress. He is of Spanish and Italian descent.

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.

Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsRiver Plate1996–97Primera División242—10—2521997–98276—91—3671998–99165———165Total6713—101—7714Atlético Madrid1998–99La Liga1213010—1611999–20003464070—456Total467708000617Real Madrid2000–01La Liga14110101002522001–0228190144205352002–0328031110204412003–043459292105392004–052732250—345Total131102455775021722Inter Milan2005–06Serie A1337260002652006–072115040003012007–0850515000151Total39417315000717San Lorenzo2008–09Primera División264—30—294Atlante2009–10Liga MX294——503442010–1141———41Total335——50385Peñarol2010–11Primera División90—20—110Career total3514348887810049659

International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsArgentina199910200011200100200230200340200420Total111

Score and result list Argentina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after Solari goal.

+ International goal scored by Santiago SolariNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 20 December 2000 Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States 1–0 2–0 Friendly

Managerial statistics

+ Managerial record by team and tenureTeamNatFromToRecordReal Madrid B19 July 201629 October 2018Real Madrid30 October 201811 March 2019América29 December 20202 March 2022Total—

Honours Player River Plate Argentine Primera División: Apertura 1996, Clausura 1997, Apertura 1997 Supercopa Libertadores: 1997

Real Madrid La Liga: 2000–01, 2002–03 Supercopa de España: 2001, 2003 UEFA Champions League: 2001–02 UEFA Super Cup: 2002 Intercontinental Cup: 2002

Inter Milan Serie A: 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08 Coppa Italia: 2005–06 Supercoppa Italiana: 2005, 2006

Manager Real Madrid FIFA Club World Cup: 2018

América CONCACAF Champions League runner-up: 2021

References

External links

Inter Milan profile