Álex Dario Aguinaga Garzón (born July 9, 1968 in Ibarra) is a Ecuadorian retired footballer midfielder and former mananger. As a player, he is one of the all-time cap leaders for Ecuador with 109 matches, scoring 23 goals.^[1] Aguinaga is known as one of the best Ecuadorian footballers of all time. On the club level, Aguinaga has played for Deportivo Quito, Necaxa, Cruz Azul and LDU Quito.

Club career[link]

Alex spent the majority of his club career at Necaxa, whom he joined in 1989, winning 3 championships with the club. During his career, Alex was approached by many major European clubs, including Inter Milan and Real Madrid. However, Alex gave Necaxa his last word. He stated that all he needed to hear was the club did not want him and that would incite him to sign with another club, but the owners were wise enough to keep him and for over 13 years, Aguinaga defended the red and white jersey. He played for his country in the 2002 FIFA World Cup at the age of 34. Aguinaga transferred over to Cruz Azul in 2003 after Necaxa moved to Aguascalientes. He retired with LDU Quito in 2005 and is currently working with Necaxa as a sub-director of management. He also holds a Mexican passport because he spent most of his football career in Mexico playing for Necaxa mostly and Cruz Azul. His grandfather is of Spanish descent. He is the only player who has participated in 7 Copa Americas.

International career[link]

Álex Aguinaga earned his first cap for Ecuador on March 5, 1987. In the same match, he scored his first goal for the team. Over the year, he would form an integral part of the national team. He would captain the team for a number of years and assisted in the goal by Iván Kaviedes that assured Ecuador's first qualification to the FIFA World Cup in 2002. By his retirement in 2003, he had 109 caps, scored 23 goals, played in 7 Copa Américas, and one FIFA World Cup.

International goals[link]

List of Álex Aguinaga's international goals^[2]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	March 5, 1987	Estadio Pedro Marrero, Havana	Cuba	1–2	1–2	Friendly
2	June 7, 1988	Albuquerque Sports Stadium, Albuquerque, New Mexico	United States	0–1	0–1	Friendly
3	June 10, 1988	Unknown, Houston, Texas	United States	0–1	0–2	Friendly
4	June 15, 1988	Unknown, San Pedro Sula	Honduras	1–1	1–1	Friendly
5	September 24, 1989	Estadio Monumental de Barcelona, Guayaquil	Paraguay	1–1	3–1	1990 FIFA World Cup qualifier
6	June 30, 1991	Estadio Nacional, Santiago	Chile	3–1	3–1	Friendly
7	July 9, 1991	Estadio Sausalito, Viña del Mar	Uruguay	0–1	1–1	1991 Copa América
8	July 13, 1991	Estadio Sausalito, Viña del Mar	Bolivia	1–0	4–0	1991 Copa América
9	June 15, 1993	Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito	Venezuela	6–1	6–1	1993 Copa América
10	June 22, 1993	Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito	Uruguay	2–1	2–1	1993 Copa América
11	July 6, 1996	Estadio Nacional, Santiago	Chile	1–1	4–1	1998 FIFA World Cup qualifier
12	September 1, 1996	Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito	Venezuela	1–0	1–0	1998 FIFA World Cup qualifier
13	February 12, 1997	Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito	Uruguay	1–0	4–0	1998 FIFA World Cup qualifier
14	April 2, 1997	Estadio Nacional, Lima	Peru	1–1	1–1	1998 FIFA World Cup qualifier
15	April 30, 1997	Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti, Buenos Aires	Argentina	2–1	2–1	1998 FIFA World Cup qualifier
16	August 20, 1997	Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito	Paraguay	1–1	2–1	1998 FIFA World Cup qualifier
17	September 10, 1997	Estádio Fonte Nova, Salvador	Brazil	3–1	4–2	Friendly
18	March 29, 2000	Estadio Casa Blanca, Quito	Venezuela	2–0	2–0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier
19	April 26, 2000	Estádio Cícero Pompeu de Toledo (Morumbi), São Paulo	Brazil	0–1	3–2	2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier
20	January 22, 2002	Miami Orange Bowl, Miami	Canada	1–0	2–0	2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup
21	January 22, 2002	Miami Orange Bowl, Miami	Canada	2–0	2–0	2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup
22	November 20, 2002	Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa, Quito	Costa Rica	1–2	2–2	Friendly
23	June 2, 2003	Estadio Bellavista, Ambato	Guatemala	2–0	2–0	Friendly

Managerial career[link]

Aguinaga's managerial career began in late 2010 as an assistant to Manuel Lapuente at Mexican club América. He left the club in early 2011 when Lapuente was sacked. In March of the same year, he was named to his first full-time managerial post as the new manager of Guayaquil-based club Barcelona following the sacking of Rubén Darío Insúa.^[3] In late May of the same year, he resigned from his position to not interfere and influence the club's presidential elections the following month. He has not ruled out a return after the election.^[4]

Honors[link]

Club[link]

Necaxa

• Primera División: 1994-95, 1995–96, 1998 Invierno
• CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup: 1994
• Mexican Cup: 1995
• Campeón de Campeones: 1995
• CONCACAF Champions' Cup: 1999

LDU Quito

• Serie A: 2005 Apertura

Nation[link]

 Ecuador

• Canada Cup: 1999

Individual[link]

• Ideal team of South America: 1989
• Number 7 retired by Necaxa as a recognition to his contribution to the club.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Álex Aguinaga statistics and biography at FootballDatabase.com
• International statistics at rsssf
• Career details at National Football Teams
• Video de YouTube

Ecuador squads v t e Ecuador squad – 1989 Copa América 1 Morales 2 Izquierdo 3 Quiñónez 4 Macías 5 Fajardo 6 Capurro 7 Marsetti 8 Aguinaga 9 Tenorio 10 Cuvi 11 Guerrero 12 Mendoza 13 Alcívar 14 Avilés 15 Verduga 16 Rosero 17 Muñoz 18 Quinteros 19 Benítez 20 Montanero Coach: Drašković v t e Ecuador squad – 1991 Copa América 1 Ramírez 2 Bravo 3 Capurro 4 Macías 5 Montanero 6 Quiñónez 7 Muñoz 8 Garay 9 Tenorio 10 Burbano 11 Bateoja 12 Enríquez 13 Guerrero 14 Avilés 15 Carcelén 16 Aguinaga 17 Ron 18 Guamán 19 Uquillas 20 Fernández 21 Hurtado 22 Rivera Coach: Drašković v t e Ecuador squad – 1993 Copa América 1 Espinoza 2 Montanero 3 Quiñónez 4 B. Tenorio 5 Carabalí 6 Capurro 7 Muñoz 8 Carcelén 9 E. Hurtado 10 Aguinaga 11 Fernández 12 Mendoza 13 M. Tenório 14 Avilés 15 Gavica 16 Chalá 17 Zambrano 18 Coronel 19 Cherrez 20 I. Hurtado 21 Guerrero Coach: Drašković v t e Ecuador squad – 1995 Copa América 1 Cevallos 2 Guamán 3 Tenorio 4 Capurro 5 I. Hurtado 6 Carcelén 7 Aguinaga 8 Garay 9 E. Hurtado 10 Ron 11 P. Hurtado 12 Morales 13 Asencio 14 Noriega 15 Coronel 16 Quiñónez 17 Díaz 18 Herrera 19 León 20 Mora 21 Carabalí 22 Espinoza Coach: Maturana v t e Ecuador squad – 1999 Copa América 1 Cevallos 2 Coronel 3 Hurtado 4 Anangonó 5 Montaño 6 de la Cruz 7 Moreira 8 Blandón 9 Graziani 10 Aguinaga 11 Asencio 12 Ibarra 13 Delgado 14 Ayoví 15 Candelario 16 Carabalí 17 George 18 Gómez 19 Zamora 20 Sánchez 21 Quiñónez 22 Kaviedes Coach: Sevilla v t e Ecuador squad – 2001 Copa América 1 J. Cevallos 2 Porozo 3 Hurtado 4 de la Cruz 5 Burbano 6 Guerrón 7 J. Aguinaga 8 Ordóñez 9 Borja 10 A. Aguinaga 11 Delgado 12 Ibarra 13 Fernández 14 W. Ayoví 15 M. Ayoví 16 Chalá 17 Espinoza 18 Obregón 19 Méndez 20 Tenorio 21 Sánchez 22 Guagua Coach: Gómez v t e Ecuador squad – 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup 1 Cevallos 2 Porozo 3 Hurtado 4 5 Obregón 6 Guerrón 7 Lara 8 Gómez 9 C. Tenorio 10 Aguinaga 11 Asencio 13 Fernández 15 Ayoví 16 Chalá 17 Espinoza 18 Hidalgo 19 Méndez 20 E. Tenorio 21 Sánchez Coach: Gómez v t e Ecuador squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Cevallos 2 Porozo 3 Hurtado 4 De la Cruz 5 Obregón 6 Guerrón 7 Asencio 8 L. Gómez 9 Kaviedes 10 Aguinaga (c) 11 Delgado 12 Ibarra 13 Fernández 14 Burbano 15 M. Ayoví 16 Chalá 17 Espinoza 18 C. Tenorio 19 Méndez 20 E. Tenorio 21 Sánchez 22 Viteri 23 W. Ayoví Coach: H. Gómez v t e Ecuador squad – 2004 Copa América 1 J. Espinoza 2 Guagua 3 Hurtado 4 de la Cruz 5 Obregón 6 Ambrosi 7 Salas 8 Ordóñez 9 Figueroa 10 Aguinaga 11 Delgado 12 Ibarra 13 Saritama 14 Baldeón 15 Ayoví 16 Chalá 17 G. Espinoza 18 Reasco 19 Méndez 20 E. Tenorio 21 Soledispa 22 Lanza Coach: Gómez