Leandro Atilio Romagnoli (born 17 March 1981) is an Argentine former professional football coach and former player who played mainly as an attacking midfielder. He is the current manager of San Lorenzo.

Leandro Romagnoli
Romagnoli with San Lorenzo in 2013
Personal information
Full name Leandro Atilio Romagnoli[1]
Date of birth (1981-03-17) 17 March 1981 (age 43)[1]
Place of birth Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
San Lorenzo (manager)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2004 San Lorenzo 152 (22)
2005–2006 Veracruz 29 (1)
2006Sporting CP (loan) 6 (1)
2006–2009 Sporting CP 65 (7)
2009–2018 San Lorenzo 166 (9)
Total 418 (40)
International career
2001 Argentina U20 6 (2)
2003 Argentina 1 (0)
Managerial career
2020 San Lorenzo (assistant)
2021–2024 San Lorenzo (reserves)
2021 San Lorenzo (caretaker)
2024 San Lorenzo (caretaker)
2024– San Lorenzo
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

His thin build, short stature and playing style were reminiscent of compatriot Osvaldo Ardiles. What the player – nicknamed Pipi – lacked in physical strength, he made up for with dribbling ability.[2][3]

Romagnoli started and finished his career with San Lorenzo, but also spent four seasons in Portugal with Sporting CP.[4]

Club career edit

Born in Buenos Aires, Romagnoli made his professional debut on 13 December 1998 at the age of only 17, appearing for San Lorenzo de Almagro against Racing Club de Avellaneda. He went on to become an essential attacking player for the side, appearing in roughly 200 official games and winning three major titles;[5] amid the club's financial troubles, he was linked with a move to SV Werder Bremen of the German Bundesliga in summer 2002.[6][7]

Romagnoli signed with Mexico's C.D. Veracruz in January 2005 but, in the same month the following year, he was on the move again, now to Sporting CP, first on loan.[8] He initially found it difficult to adjust to his new side, but eventually came into his own in the 2006–07 campaign in a superb end-of-season run for both team and player, winning the Taça de Portugal;[9][10] the move was subsequently made permanent.

After having appeared in only 16 matches in 2008–09, being out of favour with manager Paulo Bento,[11][10] Romagnoli left the Estádio José Alvalade in early August 2009 to rejoin San Lorenzo. He contributed ten appearances as they won their first Copa Libertadores in 2014.[2]

On 24 June 2017, the 36-year-old Romagnoli renewed his contract at the Estadio Pedro Bidegain for one more season.[12] He announced his retirement one year later, remaining tied to the club as director of football.[13]

International career edit

Romagnoli was part of the Argentina under-20 team that won the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship.[14] He made his debut with the full side against the United States on 8 February 2003, playing 12 minutes in a 1–0 friendly win.[15]

Managerial career edit

Romagnoli later worked as manager of San Lorenzo's reserves.[16] On two occasions, he was in charge of the first team on an interim basis.[17][18]

On 12 April 2024, Romagnoli was again named interim manager, replacing Rubén Darío Insúa.[19] Six days later, he was confirmed as manager of San Lorenzo for the year.[20]

Managerial statistics edit

As of match played 15 April 2024
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
San Lorenzo (interim)   10 May 2021 31 May 2021 3 2 0 1 6 2 +4 066.67
San Lorenzo 12 April 2024 present 1 0 1 0 0 0 +0 000.00
Total 4 2 1 1 6 2 +4 050.00

Honours edit

San Lorenzo

Sporting CP

Argentina U20

Individual

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "FIFA Club World Cup Morocco 2014: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 15 December 2014. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 July 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Montero, Raul (16 December 2014). "Romagnoli: "La Libertadores es para toda la vida, quedará en la eternidad"" [Romagnoli: "The Libertadores is to last forever, etched in eternity"] (in Spanish). Vavel. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  3. ^ "Viral: el tatuaje con errores del "Pipi" Romagnoli" [Viral: the botched tattoo of "Pipi" Romagnoli]. El Litoral (in Spanish). 18 April 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  4. ^ "Leandro Romagnoli, un regreso emocionante" [Leandro Romagnoli, an exciting return]. La Nación (in Spanish). 11 December 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  5. ^ Espejo, Maximiliano (18 November 2009). "Leandro Romagnoli, un talentoso que ha retornado al barrio de Boedo" [Leandro Romagnoli, talented player returns to Boedo neighbourhood] (in Spanish). 5 de Primera. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
  6. ^ "Romagnoli steht auf dem Wunschzettel" [Romagnoli on the wishlist] (in German). Kicker. 14 August 2002. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  7. ^ Heike, Frank (12 September 2003). "Bundesliga: Der kluge Einkäufer von der Weser" [Bundesliga: The Weser's clever buyer]. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  8. ^ Escobar de Lima, Filipe (29 December 2005). "Romagnoli em Lisboa para assinar com o Sporting por época e meia" [Romagnoli in Lisbon to sign with Sporting for one and a half seasons]. Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  9. ^ "Taça Portugal: Golo de Liedson "dá" taça ao Sporting" [Portuguese Cup: Liedson goal "gives" cup to Sporting] (in Portuguese). Futebol 365. 27 May 2007. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  10. ^ a b Alvarenga, Vítor Hugo (30 June 2009). "Paulo Bento: «Romagnoli teve dificuldades em ser regular»" [Paulo Bento: "Romagnoli had trouble being consistent"] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  11. ^ "San Lorenzo: Se abren nuevas espectativas para el retorno de Romagnoli" [San Lorenzo: New expectations on return of Romagnoli] (in Spanish). Goal. 26 June 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  12. ^ "Romagnoli (ex-Sporting) renova com o San Lorenzo aos 36 anos" [Romagnoli (ex-Sporting) renews with San Lorenzo at age 36]. A Bola (in Portuguese). 24 June 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  13. ^ "Argentina: Ex-leão Romagnoli anuncia adeus aos relvados" [Argentina: Former lion Romagnoli announces farewell to pitches]. Record (in Portuguese). 7 June 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  14. ^ a b "D'Alessandro, Romagnoli, Saviola, y Maxi Rodríguez, juntos a 15 años del título sub 20" [D'Alessandro, Romagnoli, Saviola, and Maxi Rodríguez, 15-year reunion of under 20 title] (in Spanish). Infobae. 17 June 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  15. ^ "Argentina National Team – Bielsa II". Argentine Soccer. Retrieved 7 August 2009.
  16. ^ "Romagnoli: "A la gente no le interesa si el club debe plata, quiere que sea competitivo"" [Romagnoli: "People do not care if the club owes cash, they want it to be competitive"] (in Spanish). TyC Sports. 6 August 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  17. ^ Lanzillotta, Nahuel (4 March 2020). "San Lorenzo elige DT: los tres candidatos con los que se reunirá la secretaría técnica" [San Lorenzo choose HC: the three candidates with whom the technical secretariat will meet]. Clarín (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  18. ^ Arena, Matías (12 May 2022). "¿Romagnoli vuelve a ser el DT de San Lorenzo?" [Is Romagnoli San Lorenzo's HC again?]. Olé (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  19. ^ "Quiénes serán los dos DT interinos que pondrán la cara por Central Córdoba y San Lorenzo" [Who will be the two interim managers who will put their faces for Central Córdoba and San Lorenzo] (in Spanish). Olé. 12 April 2024. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  20. ^ "Confirmado: la dirigencia de San Lorenzo ya eligió al nuevo DT" [Confirmed: San Lorenzo's board already chose their new manager] (in Spanish). TNT Sports. 18 April 2024. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  21. ^ a b "Abel reencontra Romagnoli na Argentina" [Abel meets Romagnoli again in Argentina] (in Portuguese). CNN Portugal. 28 September 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2023.

External links edit