Nestor Sensini

Nestor Sensini

His professional playing career started in 1986 for Newell's Old Boys; he then relocated in Italy in 1990, starting his adventure in the European country which lasted for 15 years, for Udinese. He played 5 seasons in his first adventure for the bianconeri of Friuli, before moving to Parma in 1993; he stayed in Parma continuously till 2002, except one season (1999/2000) for S.S. Lazio, where he won his one and only scudetto. During his gialloblu period, Sensini won two UEFA Cups and two Italian Cups with the team. After his long stay in Emilia, Sensini then went back to Udinese in 2002, his first and last Italian team. In 2005, he was one of the main protagonists of the surprising qualification of Udinese in the UEFA Champions League.

Sensini was one of the oldest players of the 2005/2006 Serie A, 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 in the top level, he was considered as one of the most experienced defenders of the Italian league, and often nicknamed nonno (grandfather) by Italian sports journalists.

"Boquita" Sensini debuted for his national team in 1987, and until his last match in 2000 gained more than 60 caps, including the 1990, 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cup. During the final match of the 1990 World Cup, referee Codesal called a foul by Sensini against Völler, awarding a controversial penalty later converted by Brehme in the last minutes of the match.

On February 10, 2006, after the dismissal of Serse Cosmi, Sensini was appointed as new manager of Udinese, supported by Loris Dominissini, who was legally the coach, in his new position. However, on 20 March he resigned, and left the club, after a long crisis of results which brought the team in danger of relegation, and to be defeated in UEFA Cup by Bulgarian team Levski Sofia.

For the Argentine Torneo Clausura 2008, Sensini coached Estudiantes de La Plata, having replaced Diego Simeone. Sensini then went to manage Newell's Old Boys for the Clausura 2009 tournament.[1] In April 2011, he resigned after 2 years as head coach of Newell's Old Boys after Lepra's sixth loss in nine games, leaving them 19th in the Clausura table