Pablo Contreras

Pablo Andrés Contreras Fica (; born 11 September 1978) is a Chilean retired footballer who last played for Melbourne Victory and the Chile national football team as a centre back or even as a right back.

Contreras began his career at Colo-Colo. He earned his first senior honours in 1997, winning the Chilean Primera División title. He also won an Olympic bronze medal with Chile in the Sydney Games. Contreras moved to Europe in 1999, signing with French side Monaco, where he won the Ligue 1 in his first season.

After his spell in France, he was loaned to Argentine Primera División club Racing Club in 2001, and the next season Contreras joined Spain's La Liga side Celta de Vigo in a €4.2 million transfer deal. He was immediately loaned to Osasuna and then to Sporting CP, playing in the UEFA Champions League, before returning after to Celta. He played over 100 matches with the Galician club until the 2006–07 season, after Celta's relegation to the Segunda División, after which he decided to leave the club. He signed a six-month contract with Braga in January 2008 before moving in June of that year to Superleague Greece side PAOK. In the middle of the 2011–12 season, Conteras left the club due to the Greek government debt-crisis and opted to return to Colo-Colo, coached by Ivo Basay at the time.

A Chilean international on 66 occasions, Contreras was part of squad that earned the bronze medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics at Sydney. In his country, Pablo is nicknamed Espartaco by Chilevisión relator Paulo Flores specifically, referred him as the Spartan hero of his national team during the matches, when Contreras was under the orders of Claudio Borghi in Chile.

Club career

Colo-Colo

Born in Santiago, Contreras made his way through Colo-Colo's youth ranks, alongside fellow stopper David Henríquez, as the club was then managed by former international – also a defender – Pedro Reyes. He made his professional debuts in 1997, helping the club to two first division titles and appearing in 37 first-team matches in the next two seasons.

Monaco

Afterwards, Contreras made a move to Monaco of France. At the young age of 21, he was an important element in Monaco's league and Supercup victories of 2000. He also appeared for the club in both the UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League.

In January 2001, however, it was discovered that Contreras was using a fake Italian passport in order to gain European Union status. A Paris court fined the player €30,000, and he received a two-year ban.

Monaco was then forced to loan Contreras out to another team, and he moved to Argentina with Racing Club. Shortly after, in July 2001, he was sold to Celta de Vigo for €4.2 million.

Osasuna

Contreras did not join Celta immediately, being loaned to fellow La Liga side Osasuna. Immediately cast into the Navarrese's starting XI, he made 31 league appearances, but the club could only finish 17th, narrowly avoiding relegation.

Sporting CP

For the following season, another loan ensued, now to Portugal with giants Sporting CP, where he once again started throughout the season, with the ''Lions'' winning no silverware at all; they were also eliminated in the Champions League qualifying rounds by Internazionale.

Celta

In the summer of 2003, 25-year old Contreras finally moved to Celta. He appeared rarely in his debut season, as the Galicians were participating for the first time ever in the Champions League. He appeared in seven games as Celta eventually lost in the round of 16 to Arsenal, but also saw his team relegate to Segunda División, after a 19th-place finish in the league. Contreras became first-choice for Celta in the following seasons but, after another relegation, in 2006–07, was deemed surplus to requirements by the coaching staff ( Bulgarian Hristo Stoichkov was one of four during the unsuccessful campaign in division two), and left the club in January 2008, after being released from his contract.

Braga

Contreras returned to Portugal after four years, joining Braga on a six-month contract, and was regularly used during his spell, helping his team finish seventh.

PAOK

In June 2008, Contreras agreed to a two-year link with Greek club PAOK, citing his trust in former Celta teammate Zisis Vryzas – and the club's chairman Theodoros Zagorakis – as the main factors for his move, refusing also the opportunity of return to Colo-Colo, because the club offered him a very high salary. He made his official debut for the team on 30 August in a 2–0 away win over OFI Crete and his first goal came in an important 1–0 home victory in the derby against Aris. On 24 December, was reported that Contreras would join Italian Serie A club Reggina during New Year's Eve, though the move never materialized. On 21 February, he scored his second official goal for PAOK against another traditional derby of the club, Iraklis, that PAOK won thanks to him. He was promoted to team captain in his second season, alongside Sérgio Conceição, who retired shortly after.

In late January 2011, shortly before a match against Aris, he was informed of the loss of his father, but opted to leave for his country only after the game. On 2 January 2012, Contreras mutually terminated his contract with PAOK.

Return to Colo-Colo

On 7 January 2012, it was confirmed that Contreras was returning to