Leonel Eduardo Pilipauskas Rodríguez (born 18 May 1975) is a

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

an retired professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, and is the

assistant manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

of Bella Vista.

Club career

Pilipauskas was born in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

. In his country, he played for

C.A. Bella Vista Club Atlético Bella Vista, usually known simply as Bella Vista is a Uruguayan professional football club based in Montevideo. The club plays its home games at Estadio José Nasazzi, which can hold 10,000 spectators. History Club Atlético Bell ...

Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (), more commonly referred to as Peñarol, is a Uruguayan professional football club based in Montevideo. The club currently competes in the Uruguayan Primera División, the highest tier in Uruguayan football. The nam ...

and

Centro Atlético Fénix Centro Atlético Fénix is a Uruguayan sports club from Montevideo. The football team currently plays in Uruguayan Segunda División. Fénix is one of the most popular and traditional teams of Uruguay's 2nd Division, along with Racing Club de Mo ...

. This was punctuated by a spell with

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

club

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

in the 1999–2000 season, which was anything but successful (only four

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

matches, relegation to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

). In 2005, Pilipauskas moved to neighbouring

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, going on to represent

Instituto Atlético Central Córdoba Instituto Atlético Central Córdoba (commonly referred to as Instituto) is an Argentine sports club from the city of Córdoba, whose professional football team currently plays in the Primera División, the first division of the Argentine footba ...

and

Club Atlético Platense Club Atlético Platense is an Argentine sports club based in Florida, Buenos Aires. The club nickname is (Squid) after the journalist Palacio Zino said that the team moved "like a squid in its ink". Although the club hosts many activities, Pla ...

, the former in the Primera División. He briefly returned to Fénix in between.

International career

Pilipauskas made four appearances for

during 1999, including two matches at that year's

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

. His debut came on 17 June in a friendly with

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

, in

Ciudad del Este Ciudad del Este (, Spanish for Eastern City; often shortened as CDE) is the second-largest city in Paraguay and capital of the Alto Paraná Department, situated on the Paraná River. It is located 327 km east of Asunción, the capital, and i ...

Coaching career

In January 2020, Pilipauskas returned to Bella Vista as an assistant manager under Jorge Casanova.Nuevo Cuerpo Técnico 2020, bienvenido Jorge Casanova y Leonel Pilipauskas
cabellavista.com.uy, 18 January 2020

Honours

Club

Peñarol *

Uruguayan Primera División The Liga Profesional de Primera División (American Spanish , , local: , ''First Division''), named "Torneo Uruguayo Copa Coca-Cola" for sponsorship reasons, is the highest professional Association football, football league in Uruguay organized b ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Country

Uruguay *

: Runner-up

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

References

External links

* *
National team data
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pilipauskas, Leonel 1975 births Living people Uruguayan people of Lithuanian descent Footballers from Montevideo Uruguayan men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Uruguayan Primera División players Uruguayan Segunda División players C.A. Bella Vista players Peñarol players Centro Atlético Fénix players Deportivo Maldonado players Boston River players La Liga players Atlético Madrid footballers Argentine Primera División players Primera Nacional players Instituto Atlético Central Córdoba footballers Club Atlético Platense footballers Uruguay men's international footballers 1999 Copa América players Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Argentina