Having made his official debut on May 31, 1979, against Brazil (1-5), Saralegui obtained a total number of 24 international caps for the
Uruguay national football team. He represented his native country at the
1986 FIFA World Cup, wearing the number sixteen jersey. Saralegui played most of his career for
Peñarol in Uruguay, the only Uruguayan team he ever played for. He won 6
Uruguayan Primera championships a
Copa Libertadores and a
Copa Intercontinental during his four spells with the club. Saralegui played for a number of non-Uruguayan teams including
Elche of
Spain,
River Plate and
Estudiantes de La Plata of
Argentina and
Barcelona SC of
Ecuador. After retiring as a player, he had a spell as manager of Peñarol, where he led them to the Clausura 2008 championship with a 5–3 victory over
River Plate de Montevideo in the championship playoff. In September 2020, he became the manager of Peñarol for the third time. ==In politics==