Luis Diego López Breijo is a Uruguayan retired footballer who played as a defender, and the manager of Italian club Brescia Calcio. His career was intimately connected with Cagliari in Italy, for which he appeared in over 300 competitive games in 12 years. Internationally, he represented Uruguay in two Copa América tournaments. López served as Cagliari's manager in two spells, as well as three other Serie A clubs. In 2018, he won the Uruguayan Primera División for Peñarol.
Playing career
Club
Born in Montevideo, López started playing professionally with local Club Atlético River Plate. Two years later he signed with Racing de Santander in Spain, playing in 39 La Liga games in his debut season but receiving nine yellow cards and three red in the process; in Cantabria, he shared teams with compatriots Fernando Correa and José Zalazar. In 1998, López moved to Italy and joined Cagliari Calcio, recently promoted to Serie A. During his first seven seasons in Sardinia, with the exception of his first year – only one match – he never appeared in less than 26 league contests and spent four years in the second division, also being eventually awarded team captaincy. On 14 April 2009, following a tunnel brawl with ACF Fiorentina's Felipe Melo in a 1–2 away loss, both López and the Brazilian received a five-match ban. In July, one month shy of his 35th birthday, he signed a one-year contract with Cagliari. In the 2009–10 campaign the veteran contributed with 18 games as his team again managed to avoid relegation, after finishing in 16th position. On 9 September 2010, after not being called up to Cagliari's 2010–11 pre-season camp, López announced his retirement from professional football, having appeared in 344 official matches for his main club.
International
López made his debut for Uruguay on 19 October 1994, in a friendly match with Peru in the Estadio Nacional José Díaz in Lima. The following year he represented the nation at the Copa América, with the tournament being held on home soil and won by the hosts, who conceded just four goals in six matches. López was overlooked, however, for the squads which appeared at the 2002 and 2010 FIFAWorld Cups, and earned a total of 32 caps.
Coaching career
In July 2012, López was named at the helm of the Primavera under-19 side of Cagliari and, on 2 October, was unveiled as new assistant coach for the main squad after the Ivo Pulga-led club parted ways with Massimo Ficcadenti. López and Pulga swapped roles in July 2013 after the former was admitted to the yearly UEFA Pro Licence course, thus being allowed to serve as head coach in the Italian top flight; he was sacked from his position on 6 April 2014 by owner Massimo Cellino, this being the 36th manager change he went through in 22 years of tenure. On 1 July 2014, López was appointed at Bologna F.C. 1909 in the Italian second tier. After a good start to the season, he was removed from his duties on 4 May 2015 following a negative streak. López was named U.S. Città di Palermo's fourth manager of the campaign, on 26 January 2017. He was sacked on 11 April, after a run of bad results. On 18 October 2017, López returned to Cagliari as head coach after the dismissal of Massimo Rastelli. At the end of the season, having avoided the drop, he left by mutual consent. López returned to his homeland in early June 2018, joining Peñarol. Starting from five points behind arch-rivals Club Nacional de Football, he led the club to a league title by beating that adversary 1–0 in the final; after losing by the same margin to Nacional in the next edition, he announced his exit in December 2019. On 5 February 2020, López returned to the Italian top division, signing with second-from-bottom Brescia Calcio following Eugenio Corini's sacking.
