Sebastián Abreu

Washington Sebastián Abreu Gallo (Spanish pronunciation: [seβasˈtjan aˈβɾeu]; born 17 October 1976 in Minas, Lavalleja Department) is an Uruguayan footballer who plays with Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas in Brazil as a striker.

Best known by his nickname El Loco (Madman in Spanish), the prolific goalscorer – for club and country – played for more than 20 teams during his professional career, in six different countries.^[1]

An Uruguayan international during 15 years, Abreu gained nearly 70 caps for his country, representing it in two World Cups and three Copa América tournaments.

Club career

Early career

Abreu played in numerous clubs throughout the Americas (Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico and Brazil), also having an unsuccessful stint with Spain's Deportivo de La Coruña, which loaned him several times for the duration of his contract.^[2]

In his sole season, which started in January 1998, having been signed from Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro, Abreu managed to score for the Galicians in a 3–1 home win against FC Barcelona on 25 January.^[3]

River Plate

After having joined Mexico's UANL Tigres in 2007, he was able to rescind his contract with them in order to join Club Atlético River Plate. The Mexican Football Federation stalled on recognizing the transfer because of an imposed moratorium between the sides. With Tigres, Abreu became the only foreigner to score in the Clasico Regio (Tigres vs. Club de Fútbol Monterrey, which he represented the previous year) against each team.

In the summer of 2008, after a long and exhausting negotiations, Abreu signed a contract with Israeli League champions Beitar Jerusalem FC.^[4] He played in the qualifying round for the UEFA Champions League, but his team was quickly eliminated. Also, Abreu could not play in the domestic front, due to lack of payment by the club.

After rescinding his contract with Beitar, Abreu re-signed with River Plate in September 2008, with a contract lasting until June 2009. Due to a late signing, he was not able to play for River in the local championship, only in the Southamerican Cup. The next year, he was eligible for both the domestic and Libertadores Cup fronts.

Real Sociedad

In early January 2009, Abreu returned to Spain after a ten-year absence, joining second level side Real Sociedad (on loan from River), which had lost habitual first-choice Iñigo Díaz de Cerio for the season, due to a serious leg injury.^[5] On 14 March, he netted a hat-trick in a 3–1 away win against Xerez CD,^[6] the league's then leaders; his club, however, ultimately failed in returning to La Liga.

Botafogo

On 13 June 2009, Greek club Aris Thessaloniki F.C. signed Abreu from River Plate.^[7] However, in January of the following year, the 33-year old changed teams – and countries – again, agreeing on a two-year contract with Brazil's Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas.

On 18 April 2010, Abreu scored the second goal in Botafogo's victory against Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (2–1), which gave the team the Carioca Championship title. In July, the 33-year old had his contract extended until December 31 of the following year, with a release clause of $11.3 million, with the player declaring he had previously held talks with Universidad de Chile and Trabzonspor of Turkey.

On 6 February 2011, Abreu was involved in a dramatic match against Fluminense Football Club: as Botafogo was losing 2–1, his team was awarded a penalty kick, and he shot it in Panenka-style, with goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri saving the shot by simply standing still. Just five minutes later, Botafogo won another penalty, and Abreu shot it in the same fashion, this time into the right-hand corner of the goal, as Cavalieri dived the other way; a few minutes later, Botafogo scored again and won the game.^[8]

International career

An Uruguayan international since July 17, 1996 (China 1 – Uruguay 1), Abreu played for the national side at the 2002 FIFA World Cup (two matches) and the 1997 and 2007 Copa América tournaments, netting twice in the latter.^[9]

On 27 May 2010, he stood only five goals short of Uruguayan all-time goalscoring record, held by Héctor Scarone for 79 years. He was selected for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, where he appeared three times as a substitute: in the quarterfinals against Ghana, Abreu was charged with taking the decisive penalty shootout attempt (1–1 after 120 minutes), and scored it in Panenka-style, sending Uruguay to the semifinals for the first time in 40 years.

Honours

Club

San Lorenzo

• Argentine Primera División: 2001 Clausura

Nacional

• Uruguayan Primera División: 2001 Clausura/Uruguayo, 2003 Apertura, 2004 Apertura, 2005 Uruguayo

River Plate

• Argentine Primera División: 2008 Clausura

Botafogo

• Campeonato Carioca: 2010

International

• Copa América: 2011

References

External links

• Argentine League statistics (Spanish)
• Stats at Liga de Fútbol Profesional (Spanish)
• BDFutbol profile
• Stats at Football.org (Hebrew)
• National team data (Spanish)
• Sebastián Abreu at National-Football-Teams.com
• Washington Sebastian Abreu – Goals in International Matches; at RSSSF
• Official site (Spanish)