Uruguayan club Penarol contacts Inter Miami’s Diego Alonso about coaching job
Inter Miami coach Diego Alonso, whose future with the team is “still being determined” per a club spokesperson, was contacted Monday night by the president of Uruguayan club Penarol about taking over as coach there.
According to Uruguayan journalist Martin Charquero, new Penarol president Ignacio Ruglio said in an interview: “I spoke [Monday night] with Diego Alonso, and he told me he is still under contract with his club. I expressed our interest in him, for years I have said that the day I get the chance, I want him here. He knows I will do the impossible for that to happen.”
Alonso, who is from Uruguay, played at Penarol from 2009-11 and coached there in 2013. If he lands there, he would be their fourth coach in the past year.
The current coach, Mario Saralegui is under contract until Dec. 31, and is on the hot seat. He was hired in September to replace former Uruguayan national team star Diego Forlan, who was hired in February, but fired in early September after poor results.
There was confusion Monday about Alonso’s status with Inter Miami. According to a team spokesperson, Alonso left a tense post-season review meeting with team ownership believing he had been fired, shared that with some staff and players, and word leaked out that he had been let go. In fact, he had not been fired as of Monday afternoon.
Alonso was hired by Inter Miami Dec. 30, 2019, a few weeks before the start of training camp. The well-funded and highly publicized team fell short of expectations, finishing in 10th place in the Eastern Conference and losing its opening playoff game 3-0 to expansion sibling Nashville SC.
Sporting director and COO Paul McDonough, who hired Alonso, stepped down last week.