Diego Lugano says Uruguay need to reconnect with their footballing roots under new manager Diego Forlan, while insisting Luis Suarez still has an important role to play for the national team.
Lugano, Uruguay’s former captain, believes human relationships and dressing-room unity must take priority after what he described as a failed period under Marcelo Bielsa.
“After 15 years with Oscar Tabarez, there was enormous respect for the idiosyncrasy and history of Uruguayan football,” Lugano said. “With Marcelo Bielsa, the focus shifted entirely towards tactics, analysis and statistics. Unfortunately, the history, the players and the human being were forgotten.
“As long as football is played by human beings and not artificial intelligence, human relationships will remain more important than tactical knowledge.”
Forlan, who previously played alongside a number of the players he will now manage, has taken charge after the World Cup. Lugano accepts the appointment carries significant risks for an idol of Forlan’s stature.
“In football, unless you are Pele, Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, you usually lose more than you win and the criticism eventually comes,” he said. “But Uruguay desperately needed someone to unite the environment and bring back our footballing roots after Bielsa.”
Lugano was not surprised Suarez was omitted from Forlan’s first squad, saying the striker’s relationship with Bielsa had been poor. However, he believes Suarez remains capable of making a decisive contribution on the pitch.
“With his talent and endless competitiveness, he absolutely has a place in the national team,” said Lugano. “At the World Cup, against teams such as Cape Verde or Saudi Arabia, Uruguay created 17 to 20 chances in certain periods but did not have a player who could put the ball in the net. His absence was very clear.”
He also warned against placing too much responsibility on Federico Valverde, who he regards as a technical leader but believes has not reproduced his Real Madrid form for Uruguay.
“Being captain of Uruguay is different. It is another history and another culture,” Lugano said. “The captain has to be aware 24 hours a day of what is happening on the pitch, in the dressing room, with the families and with the federation.
“That responsibility has penalised Valverde. We should demand that he leads on the pitch, but not force him to carry every historical burden of a Uruguayan captain.”
From Sao Paulo to Paris
Lugano joined Paris Saint-Germain in 2011, turning down Valencia and Juventus during the first phase of Qatar Sports Investments’ ownership. He had already become an idol at Sao Paulo and a leading figure at Fenerbahce, but chose to begin again at the age of almost 32.
“I have always believed that when you are comfortable somewhere, you need a change and a new challenge,” he said. “The Paris Saint-Germain project was just beginning and I was the first foreign player to arrive under QSI and Leonardo. I wanted to start from zero and make history.”
He left after one and a half years, but has no regrets. Lugano said the club was still closer to a neighbourhood side than a European power when he arrived, with facilities and organisation well below the standards of Sao Paulo or Fenerbahce.
Leonardo asked him to help manage the transition between the existing Parisian squad and the “Galactico” dressing room that was being assembled. Lugano recalled arguing that Paris Saint-Germain needed a proper dressing room and gym before it could attract elite players.
“There was not even a club official to help a player find a house or a school for their children,” he said. “When Maxwell, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Thiago Silva arrived, I showed them which schools and neighbourhoods to choose.”
Lugano believes club leaders still value his role in that period.
“If you ask the leaders of the project today, they still thank me for my leadership during that crucial transition,” he said.
Premier League experience
Lugano chose West Bromwich Albion over longer contracts in Italy with Chievo Verona and Cagliari, as well as lucrative offers from Gremio, Cruzeiro, Corinthians and Flamengo. He had consulted Suarez and Gus Poyet before moving to England.
“I could not finish my career without experiencing the best league in the world,” he said. “I have absolutely no regrets.”
A knee injury suffered at the 2014 World Cup ended his time at West Bromwich Albion, but he said his season in England taught him about the structure, mentality and administration of the Premier League. As president of the Uruguayan players’ union, he now uses that experience as a benchmark for improving football in Uruguay.
Lugano scored his only Premier League goal against Everton in Pepe Mel’s first home game in charge of West Bromwich Albion. He also remembered marking a young Romelu Lukaku.
“He had a lot of strength, almost as much as me,” Lugano said. “Almost, because he was young and I could still control him. I do not think I could do that today.”
Messi, South America and leadership
Lugano stood by his earlier claim that Argentina benefited from refereeing decisions at the 2022 World Cup, and that Lionel Messi received different treatment.
He referred to Uruguay’s defeat by the Netherlands in the 2010 World Cup semi-final and said Uruguay had also been disadvantaged in Qatar.
“When a decision depends on the referee’s perspective or interpretation, the status of the player or national team makes a difference,” he said. “Great players earn that status on their own merit. I do not think it is wrong; it is a privilege all football legends have had.”
Lugano believes Brazil currently offers the most competitive club football in South America. He lives there and says the country is a major economic and footballing power.
“If a talented young Uruguayan asks me for advice, unless they are going to a top European club, I tell them it is better to play in Brazil,” he said. “It is highly competitive, exciting and full of the pressure and adrenaline players love.”
He added that 30% of Uruguay’s national team now plays in Brazil, where they earn better salaries and enjoy a more satisfying social and family life than they might at mid-ranking European clubs.
Lugano, who captained Suarez, Edinson Cavani, Forlan, Diego Godin, Martin Caceres and Fernando Muslera, believes social media has changed dressing-room relationships.
“I was captain of the last generation not influenced by social media,” he said. “We knew everything about one another: our families, how we thought, what we felt and what we wanted. Today, because of technology, that is impossible. The world has changed, and it affects everything from a dressing room to communication between a father and son.”
Away from football, Lugano said his involvement in “The Wine of the Champions” with Fabio Cordella reflects his family background. He grew up in Canelones, a region with strong Italian influence, and worked in grape harvesting and wine-making as a teenager.
Uruguay’s Tannat is shaped by the country’s climate, seasons and temperature, he said, but Italy remains the home of wine culture because of its decades and centuries of experience.
“Nothing in the world can replace experience, especially in something as complex as wine, which requires centuries of learning and knowledge,” Lugano said.