Darío Silva

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Personal information
Darió Silva

Full name	Dario Debray Silva Pereira
Date of birth	November 2, 1972 (age 34)
Place of birth	Treinta y Tres, Uruguay
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Position	Forward
National team**
	Uruguay	46 (14)
** National team caps and goals correct as of 2006-11-07.

Dario Debray Silva Pereira (born November 2, 1972 in Treinta y Tres, Uruguay), commonly known as Darío Silva, is a former footballer who played as a striker. He represented Uruguay 46 times at the international level, scoring 14 goals, and retired from international football after Uruguay failed to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Silva began his career in 1991 when he joined Defensor Sporting Club. From there he moved on to play for Peñarol and Cagliari Calcio, where he was nicknamed "sa pibinca", the Sardinian word for nuisance, due to his frenzied but ineffective attempts to get through the opponent defending line. He then played for RCD Espanyol, Málaga CF and Sevilla FC. After spending two years in the Primera Liga with Sevilla FC, Silva decided to cancel the last year of his contract after discovering he was not in manager Joaquin Caparros's plans for their new campaign. He joined Portsmouth F.C. on a free transfer from Sevilla in 2005, signing a two-year deal. However, the former international failed to make an impact after suffering an ankle injury, and after scoring just three goals in 15 appearances he was released from his contract on 14th February 2006.^[1]

[edit] Car accident

On September 24, 2006, Silva was seriously injured in a car accident in Montevideo. The accident occurred as Silva lost control of his pick up truck and was thrown from the vehicle, colliding with a street light post. In the impact Silva fractured his skull, knocking him unconscious and suffering a compound fracture on his right leg. At the time of the accident Silva was travelling with two other ex-footballers, Elbio Papa and Dardo Pereira who were not so seriously injured.^[2]

On the day of the accident, a team of 5 made the decision to amputate his leg, and Silva underwent an operation which lasted for 3 and a half hours. He was put into a medically induced coma for the amputation.^[3] After the operation, there were fears that the amputation would become infected,^[4] however, his condition was declared stable a few days later as he recovered at Montevideo`s La Española hospital. Staff at the hospital expected Silva to make a full recovery.^[5] After difficulty with coming to terms with the accident,^[6] Silva left the hospital on October 5 and returned to his home in Montevideo. He plans to receive a prosthetic leg in Italy to help him walk without the aid of crutches.^[7]^[8]

[edit] Post accident

On October 6, 2006, news reports suggested that Silva was offered a job as a football pundit in his native Uruguay. However, pending the success of his prosthesis, he has expressed a desire to return to the game as a football coach.^[9]

In November 2006, British newspaper, the Daily Mail reported that Silva aimed to make the 2012 Olympics as a rower.^[10]

[edit] References

	Uruguay squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup
1 Carini \| 2 Méndez \| 3 Lembo \| 4 Montero \| 5 García \| 6 Rodríguez \| 7 Guigou \| 8 Varela \| 9 Darío Silva \| 10 O'Neill \| 11 Magallanes \| 12 Munúa \| 13 Abreu \| 14 Sorondo \| 15 Olivera \| 16 Romero \| 17 Regueiro \| 18 Morales \| 19 Bizera \| 20 Recoba \| 21 Forlán \| 22 De los Santos \| 23 Elduayen \| Coach: Púa