Leandro Damián Cufré (born 9 May 1978) is an Argentine football coach and former player who played as a defender. As of 2021, he has been the assistant coach of the Venezuela national football team.

Leandro Cufré
Cufré (right) with Dinamo Zagreb
Personal information
Full name Leandro Damián Cufré
Date of birth (1978-05-09) 9 May 1978 (age 46)
Place of birth La Plata, Argentina
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Left back / Centre back
Team information
Current team
Venezuela (assistant)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–2002 Gimnasia La Plata 133 (4)
2002–2006 Roma 68 (1)
2003–2004Siena (loan) 31 (0)
2006–2009 Monaco 60 (4)
2009Hertha BSC (loan) 5 (0)
2009–2011 Dinamo Zagreb 53 (0)
2012–2015 Atlas 72 (1)
2014–2015UdeG (loan) 20 (0)
Total 442 (10)
International career
1997 Argentina U20 5 (0)
2000–2006 Argentina 4 (0)
Managerial career
2016 Cruz Azul (assistant)
2018 Santos Laguna (assistant)
2019–2020 Atlas
2021– Venezuela (assistant)
Medal record
Competitor for  Argentina
Gold medal – first place FIFA U-20 World Cup 1997
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 8 April 2015

Cufré started his professional playing career with hometown side Gimnasia La Plata before transferring to Europe where he played with a number of European clubs, most notably Roma, Monaco and Dinamo Zagreb. In the latter part of his career, he moved to Mexico where he played with primarily Atlas.

Cufre has been capped 4 times for the Argentina national football team and was part of the country's squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

edit

Early career

edit

Born in La Plata, Argentina, Cufré began his professional career at Gimnasia La Plata U-19 before being promoted to the first-team squad in January 1996. He went on to play 129 games, scoring four goals in the process.

Roma

edit

Cufré moved to AS Roma in January 2002. During his time at the Italia Serie A side, he played 80 games, scored two goals and received the award for Best Defender in Italy. He was also loaned out to fellow Italian side Siena, where he played 35 times.

Monaco

edit

Cufré moved to France in Summer 2006, joining Ligue 1 side AS Monaco[1] During his time at the club, he made 61 appearances and managed to score three goals. Cufré was a regular starter and, eventually, vice-captain of the team.

Hertha BSC

edit

On 29 January 2009, Bundesliga side Hertha BSC announced that they had loaned Cufré from Monaco until the end of the 2008–09 season.[2] He returned to Monaco in June 2009.

Gimnasia La Plata

edit

On 18 July 2009, Cufré returned to Gimnasia La Plata after eight years in Europe. On 16 August 2009, after a mini "soap opera," the Argentine wingback asked for – and was granted – his release due to a conflictive relation with Leonardo Madelón, the head coach at the time (though, personal reasons were officially cited).[3]

Dinamo Zagreb

edit

On 19 August 2009, he officially signed a contract with Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb who had reportedly been persuading him to join the club since the summer transfer window opened. Cufré became a favourite with the Dinamo fans because of his commitment on the pitch. He played in many important matches for Dinamo. In 2011, he was linked with a transfer to Crvena Zvezda (Red Star Belgrade) but the deal fell through. Cufre played in 53 matches for Dinamo. On 5 December Cufré and Dinamo agreed mutual termination of contract. Argentinian stated that he would be continuing his career in Mexico.[4]

Club Atlas

edit

On 7 December 2011, same day he officially terminated his contract with Dinamo Zagreb, it was revealed that Cufré would be joining Mexican Club Atlas from Guadalajara.[5]

International career

edit

Leandro Cufré has earned 4 caps for Argentina, his first appearance coming in 2000. He was part of the Argentina Under-20 team that won the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship in Malaysia.

Cufré was also a member of the Argentina squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. On 30 June 2006, Cufré was red carded for violent conduct in an altercation following Argentina's loss on penalties to Germany in a quarter-final match. Germany's Per Mertesacker said Cufré, an unused substitute in the match, "attacked me even though I did not do anything. I have three or four red marks on my thigh and then he kicked me again in the groin." FIFA president Sepp Blatter said "I am furious about that and our disciplinary committee will monitor this incident. We will take some steps towards those who are identified as being the 'provocateurs' of this incident."[6] FIFA fined Cufré CHF 10,000 and suspended him for four matches.[7]

Honours

edit

Dinamo Zagreb

References

edit
  1. ^ "Cufré completes Monaco move". UEFA.com. 30 August 2006. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  2. ^ "Offizielle Homepage". www.hertha.de. Archived from the original on 8 March 2007.
  3. ^ "Leandro Cufré regresó al Gimnasia y Esgrima un día después de haberse marchado" (in Spanish). futbolred.com. 11 August 2009. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  4. ^ "Cufré replaces Dinamo with Mexico" (in Croatian). hrsport.net. 7 December 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  5. ^ "Cufré is new Atlas player" (in Spanish). goal.com. 7 December 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  6. ^ "Fifa fury at Berlin match fracas". BBC. 1 July 2006. Retrieved 1 July 2006.
  7. ^ "Rooney, Cufré and Rodriguez handed bans by FIFA". Reuters. 8 July 2006. Retrieved 16 July 2006. [dead link]
edit