Roberto Néstor Sensini (born 12 October 1966) is an Argentine

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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 ...

and former player, who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

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. ...

. As a player with the Argentina national team, he finished third place in the

1989 Copa América The 1989 Copa América football tournament was hosted by Brazil, from 1 to 16 July. All ten CONMEBOL member nations participated. Brazil won their fourth Copa América, and first since 1949, by beating Uruguay 1–0 in the final match at the Est ...

edition of the tournament. He also represented his nation in the

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

and

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

finals, finishing in runner-up at the

1990 World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

. Furthermore, he won an Olympic silver medal with Argentina at the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Club career

His professional playing career started in 1986 for

Newell's Old Boys Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football. A ...

; where he won his first title before relocating to Italy in 1989, joining

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

alongside compatriot Abel Balbo. Sensini played four seasons for the ''bianconeri'', before moving to

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

in 1993, where he remained for a further six seasons. During this period Sensini sometimes played in midfield and won two

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

s, two

Italian Cup Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

s, and the

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

with the ''gialloblu'', also reaching the final of the

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

. He had a brief stint with

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

, from the 1999–2000 season, winning the ''

scudetto The ''scudetto'' (; Italian for 'little shield') is a decoration having the colors of the flag of Italy which is sewn onto the jersey of the Italian sports clubs that won the highest level championship of their respective sport in the previous ...

'', the

, the

and the

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

in his first season. After two years with the club, he moved back to

for a further year, winning another

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

in 2002, before returning to his first Italian club, Udinese, in 2002. In 2005, he was one of the most consistent performers in Udinese's surprise qualification for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

. Sensini was one of the oldest players of the

2005–06 Serie A The 2005–06 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 104th season of top-tier Italian football, the 74th in a round-robin tournament. The league commenced on 28 August 2005 and finished on 14 May 2006. While Juventus w ...

, holding even the record as the oldest foreign player to score a goal in first division, at the age of 39 years, two months and 26 days. With over 380 matches at the top level, he was considered one of the most experienced defenders of the Italian league, and often nicknamed ''nonno'' (grandfather) by Italian sports journalists. He retired at the end of the season.

International career

''"Boquita"'' Sensini debuted for his

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

in 1987, and played his last match in 2000. He played in the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. In the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final Sensini conceded the disputed penalty kick from which

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

scored their winning goal. He helped his country to finish third-place at

. He was part of the Argentina under-23 squad that won the silver medal at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, as one of the three overage players allowed per squad.

Style of play

Sensini was a consistent, decisive, and intelligent player. He was also extremely tactically versatile, and was capable of playing in any

defensive Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

or midfield position. Throughout his career, he was deployed as a full-back, an attacking wing-back, a

, or even as a central or

. Although he primarily excelled defensively as a ball winner, due to his marking and tackling ability, as well as his tough, aggressive, and physical playing style, he was also a player with good technique, who was capable of making attacking runs and contributing offensively for his team with occasional goals. Considered one of the best players of the 1990s and 2000s.

Managerial career

On 10 February 2006, after the dismissal of

Serse Cosmi Serse Cosmi (born 5 May 1958) is an Italian football coach, most recently in charge of Rijeka. Career Early career Cosmi was born in 1958 in Ponte San Giovanni, a Perugia ''frazione''. His father, a cycling fan, called him Serse after Fausto ...

, Sensini ended his playing career and was appointed Udinese's new manager. He was supported in his new position by Loris Dominissini, who was named co-coach. The following month when Dominissini was sacked, Sensini resigned and left the club. Results had not improved with the team in danger of

relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

, while they were defeated in the

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n team

Levski Sofia PFC Levski Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 by a group of high sc ...

. For the Argentine Torneo Clausura 2008, Sensini coached Estudiantes de La Plata, having replaced Diego Simeone. Sensini then went on to manage

for the Clausura 2009 tournament. In April 2011, he resigned after two years as head coach of Newell's Old Boys after Lepra's sixth loss in nine games, leaving them 19th in the Clausura table. On 21 February 2012, Sensini was appointed as the new head coach of Argentine first division club Colón. He resigned on 16 March 2013 after a 1–0 loss against rivals San Lorenzo, following a row of eight matches without winning.

Personal life

In 1996, Sensini took

Italian citizenship The primary law governing nationality of Italy is Law 91/1992, which came into force on 16 August 1992. Italy is a member state of the European Union (EU), and all Italian nationals are EU citizens. They are entitled to free movement rights ...

. He is an

Italian Argentine Italian Argentines (; , or ''tanos'' in Rioplatense Spanish) are Argentine-born citizens who are fully or partially of Italian descent, whose ancestors were Italians who emigrated to Argentina during the Italian diaspora, or Italian-born people ...

, whose grandfather Pacifico Sensini emigrated from

Macerata Macerata () is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy, the county seat of the province of Macerata in the Marche region. It has a population of about 41,564. History The historical city centre is on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza (ri ...

Rosario, Santa Fe Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city, located northwest of Buenos Aires on the west bank of the Paraná River, is the third-most populous city in the ...

in 1911.

Career statistics

Club

:Source:

Managerial statistics

Honours

Newell's Old Boys *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

: 1987–88 *

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

runner-up: 1988 Parma *

: 1998–99, 2001–02 *

: 1994–95, 1998–99 *

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

runner-up: 1996-97 *

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

runner-up: 1993-94 Lazio *

: 1999–2000 *Coppa Italia: 1999–2000 *

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

*UEFA Super Cup:

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 ...

Argentina *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

runner-up:

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

Silver Medal:

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

References

External links

Serie A Profile

* * *
It is finally official
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sensini, Roberto Nestor 1966 births Living people People from Rosario Department Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent Argentine men's footballers Argentine football managers Argentine emigrants to Italy Newell's Old Boys footballers Parma Calcio 1913 players SS Lazio players Udinese Calcio players Serie A players Serie B players Udinese Calcio managers Serie A managers Olympic footballers for Argentina Olympic silver medalists for Argentina Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics 1990 FIFA World Cup players 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1989 Copa América players Men's association football central defenders Argentina men's international footballers Estudiantes de La Plata managers Atlético de Rafaela managers Expatriate football managers in Chile Chilean Primera División managers Everton de Viña del Mar managers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Chile Argentine Primera División players Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics UEFA Europa League–winning players Footballers from Santa Fe Province 20th-century Argentine sportsmen