Rubén Darío Insúa

Rubén Darío Insúa
	Insúa in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Rubén Darío Insúa Carballo
Date of birth	17 April 1961 (age 63)
Place of birth	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team
1978–1985	San Lorenzo
1985–1986	Las Palmas
1986–1988	Estudiantes LP
1988–1991	Independiente
1990–1994	Barcelona SC
1994–1995	Deportivo Cali
1995–1996	Quilmes
International career
1983–1984	Argentina
Managerial career
1997–1999	Barcelona SC
1999	Ferro Carril Oeste
2000	Barcelona SC
2002–2003	San Lorenzo
2004	Barcelona SC
2005	Alianza Lima
2007	Wilstermann
2007–2008	Talleres
2009–2010	Deportivo Quito
2010–2011	Barcelona SC
2011–2012	Deportivo Cali
2012–2013	Deportivo Quito
2015	El Nacional
2016	Bolívar
2019–2020	LDU Portoviejo
2021	Binacional
2022–2024	San Lorenzo
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Rubén Darío Insúa Carballo (born 17 April 1961) is an Argentine football manager and former player who played mainly as an attacking midfielder.

Insúa represented the Argentina national team several times. During his playing career, he earned the nickname "el Poeta del Futbol" (the Poet of Football).

Playing career edit

Insúa was born in Buenos Aires. He played most of his career in the Argentine top league. He was part of the Independiente team that won the 1988–89 Primera title. He also played for Barcelona in Ecuador and Deportivo Cali in Colombia, and had a spell with Spanish side UD Las Palmas.

Style of play edit

As a player, Insúa was regarded as a swift midfielder with an excellent touch and a penchant for scoring from free kicks. These qualities earned him his nicknames "el Poeta del Gol" (the Goal Poet) and "el Poeta del Futbol" (the Football Poet). Although he was primarily an attacking midfielder, he was also capable of playing as a striker.

Managerial career edit

Insúa coached for Ecuador's Barcelona to a national title in 1997, and the Copa Libertadores finals in 1998. He coached San Lorenzo de Almagro to the Copa Sudamericana 2002 title.

Insúa coached Ecuador's Deportivo Quito to the 2009 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol Serie A title.

On 1 October 2010, Insúa reached a verbal agreement with Barcelona's president Eduardo Maruri to return and coach the club that won his last national title achievement in 1997.^[1] On 25 March 2011, he was fired from Barcelona and replaced with Alex Aguinaga.

Insúa was Deportivo Cali's manager since approximately October 2011^[2] until 4 March 2012.^[3]

He was the head coach of Argentine football club San Lorenzo de Almagro from end of 2023 to April 2024, when he was fired for poor results.^[4]

Managerial statistics edit

As of match played 10 April 2024

Managerial record by team and tenure
Team	Nat	From	To	Record
Team	Nat	From	To	G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Barcelona SC		1 January 1997	31 December 1998	72	32	23	17	127	81	+46	044.44
Ferro Carril Oeste		1 January 1999	31 December 1999	5	0	1	4	3	13	−10	000.00
Barcelona SC		1 January 2000	31 December 2000	44	15	15	14	60	55	+5	034.09
San Lorenzo		1 July 2002	16 July 2003	47	20	12	15	75	62	+13	042.55
Barcelona SC		1 January 2004	31 December 2004	26	14	6	6	44	21	+23	053.85
Alianza Lima		1 January 2005	12 May 2005	17	4	8	5	27	23	+4	023.53
Jorge Wilstermann		1 January 2007	30 June 2007	22	10	5	7	29	23	+6	045.45
Talleres		1 July 2007	1 March 2008	12	4	2	6	19	25	−6	033.33
Deportivo Quito		18 December 2008	12 August 2010	83	37	18	28	91	83	+8	044.58
Barcelona SC		2 October 2010	25 March 2011	21	5	9	7	19	24	−5	023.81
Deportivo Cali		1 October 2011	5 March 2012	18	5	5	8	14	21	−7	027.78
Deportivo Quito		1 August 2012	31 December 2013	67	29	20	18	85	79	+6	043.28
El Nacional		29 May 2015	26 October 2015	19	7	3	9	18	25	−7	036.84
Bolívar		1 January 2016	25 April 2016	20	5	8	7	29	29	+0	025.00
LDU Portoviejo		4 February 2019	6 November 2020	61	19	23	19	79	74	+5	031.15
Binacional		7 April 2021	9 May 2021	3	0	1	2	2	5	−3	000.00
San Lorenzo		18 May 2022	11 April 2024	99	37	42	20	95	73	+22	037.37
Total				636	243	201	192	816	716	+100	038.21