Diego Alfredo Lugano Moreno (born November 2, 1981 in Canelones) is a Uruguayan international football central defender. He currently plays for Fenerbahçe in the Turkish Super League. Lugano has previously played for Plaza Colonia, Nacional and São Paulo. He is also captain of the Uruguayan national football team, and was selected the best captain in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Carrer
Lugano started playing for São Paulo on May 11, 2003, in a 1–1 draw against Atlético Mineiro. The beginning of his first season at that club was soaked in politics and gossiping, due to his contract being signed directly by the then São Paulo's president, Marcelo Portugal Gouvêa, without a previous consent from the team manager Oswaldo de Oliveira. In the first few months, Oliveira would not line Lugano up in the main team – and sometimes he would not even make it to the bench. He also began in Uruguay national football team with Iran match on February 4, 2003.
After Oswaldo de Oliveira left the team in late 2003, Lugano has started playing matches more frequently. In 2005, while playing for São Paulo as a centre-back, he led his team to titles in the Campeonato Paulista, the Libertadores Cup, and the FIFA Club World Championship in Tokyo. That same year, Lugano was awarded a prize as South America's best defender. His leadership skills and his willingness to fight for ball possession have raised his profile highly amongst São Paulo's supporters, where he is still regarded as an idol. Lugano has also mentioned that he still maintains a good relationship with that club.
In 2006, he carried his squad to the runner-up stage in the Libertadores Cup, but did not win the title just that year.
He joined Fenerbahçe on 21 August 2006 for 7,5 M € and signed 4 years contract. He and former teammate Edu Dracena's powerful defensive abilities helped Fenerbahçe's 100th anniversary year championship. He is notorious for his presence in the attack, as shown in many games with his current club Fenerbahçe, having scored goals with headers from dead ball situations and even supported the forward line unexpectedly. He became a fan favorite with his brave and warrior soul in defence and spectacular dead ball goals for Fenerbahçe fans. Fans calls him TOTA with the words as Talento, Orgullo, Tecnico, Ambicion (Talent, Pride, Skillfulness, Ambition in Spanish). Following a red card, he was suspended for 5 weeks after the Galatasaray derby during the 2008–09 season when he beat Emre Aşık on 12 April 2009 in Ali Sami Yen Stadium. Since then he started a strong connection with supporters, especially the Genç Fenerbahçeliler.
On July 27, 2010 he was reserved to play a friendly match with Uruguay against Angola in Lisboa .
Personal life
Lugano is married to Karina Roncio and has three children: Nicolás, Thiago and Bianca. Nicolás, the oldest child, plays for Fenerbahçe youth teams.Thiago and Bianca were born in Istanbul. He has cited the defenders Hugo de León and Paolo Montero as his personal football heroes.