Milton Viera Rivero (born May 11, 1946) is a former

Uruguayan Uruguayans () are people identified with the country of Uruguay, through citizenship or descent. Uruguay is home to people of different ethnic origins. As a result, many Uruguayans do not equate their nationality with ethnicity, but with citizen ...

professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. In 1975 he was called to the

World XI The World XI, also known as the FIFA World Stars, is an association football scratch team consisting of players from various countries. The World XI play one-off games against clubs, national teams, collectives of continental teams. The official ...

Club career

Latin America

Viera took his first football steps at

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

. He signed his first professional contract with the Uruguayan team in 1962, aged just 17. It was the year he was promoted from the youth ranks to the first team of Nacional. He remained in the team until 1968, even reaching the conquest of two Uruguayan Championships. During his time at Nacional, Viera was called up to the national team at the age of just 20. In 1968, Vieira left

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

and traveled to neighboring

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

on behalf of

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

. In the club of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

he played for just one year making a total of three appearances, failing to win a title. In 1969 he returned to Uruguay, this time on behalf of

Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (), more commonly referred to as Peñarol, is a Uruguayan professional football club based in Montevideo. The club currently competes in the Uruguayan Primera División, the highest tier in Uruguayan football. The nam ...

. He played there for three years, without however managing to win a title. During his time at theclub, Vieira made intermittent very good performances, which caused the interest of several teams in both Latin America and Europe.

Olympiacos

In 1972, he left Latin America for the first time in his career and traveled to Europe, specifically

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

with destination

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

. In fact, in the summer that he transferred to club of

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

Julio Losada Julio Daniel Losada (born 16 June 1950 in Uruguay) is a former Uruguayan footballer most notable for his time spent at Greek club Olympiacos. He also played for C.A. Peñarol. At the age of 22, he made the trip to Piraeus and joined Olympiak ...

was also acquired, which made it easier for Viera to adapt to his new team. Both of them were playing as Greek. Characteristic of the fame of Viera at that time, was the fact that he was the second footballer to compete in Greece having previously participated in a

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

. With the red and whites, he won 3 consecutive Greek championships and 2 Greek Cups including 2 domestic doubles. During the presence of Viera in Olympiacos and specifically on 26 March 1975, he alongside his teammate, Giorgos Delikaris competed in with

match together with

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...

and

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016), internationally known as Johan Cruyff (), was a Dutch professional Association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. Regarded as one of the greatest ...

. In his last season at Olympiacos, he suffered from a health problem and incorrect diagnoses by doctors at the Romanian clinic where the Piraeus management had sent him. With the intervention of his journalist friend Nikitas Gavalas, he visited a specialist doctor in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

where he underwent a hernia operation to overcome the problem that was bothering him. Returning fully recovered to Greece, he faced the indifference of the people of the team who, taking into account his advanced footballing age of 31 years and the burden of his health adventure, released him.

AEK Athens

Upon hearing of his release from Olympiacos, the manager of

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

František Fadrhonc František Fadrhonc (18 December 1914 – 9 October 1981) was a Czech football manager, who was born in Nymburk, Austria-Hungary, present day Czech Republic. He coached many teams in Europe, mostly in the Netherlands. After winning the Dutch cham ...

saw in his face the ideal solution to complete the "yellow-black" midfield, he suggested to

Loukas Barlos Loukas Barlos (; 1920 – 20 October 1999) was a Greek businessman who served as the twenty third president of AEK Athens F.C. from 1974 until 1981. Early life Barlos was born and raised in Thessaloniki, but his place of origin was Distomo in B ...

the acquisition of Viera. Barlos, after getting the consent of the club's doctor and former president of the then HFF, Vasilis Chatzigiannis regarding the player's health, responded immediately and in the summer of 1977 Viera came to AEK. Alongside players such as

Mimis Papaioannou Dimitrios "Mimis" Papaioannou (; 23 August 1942 – 15 March 2023) was a Greek professional footballer, who played as a forward, mostly for AEK Athens and a manager. Widely regarded as the greatest Greek footballer of his generation and one ...

Thomas Mavros Thomas Mavros (, born 31 May 1954) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a striker. Initially, a legend for Panionios, he was a relevation of the Greek championship at the age of 16. He became one of the leaders of AEK Ath ...

Takis Nikoloudis Dimitris "Takis" Nikoloudis (; born 26 August 1951) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and a former manager. Club career Iraklis From a young age Nikoloudis was involved in sports, joining Iraklis. According ...

Christos Ardizoglou Christos Ardizoglou (; born 25 March 1953) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a wide midfielder. Early life Ardizoglou was born in Jerusalem, where his family had found refuge after the Asia Minor disaster, from a Greek fa ...

and

Tasos Konstantinou Tasos Konstantinou (; 11 March 1951 – 27 October 2019), simply known as "Tasos", was a Cypriot professional footballer who played as a forward. Early life Born in Paliometocho, 20 kilometers southwest of Nicosia, Konstantinou was a member o ...

, they created a spectacular team. Viera became the irreplaceable "link" that connected the defensive with the attacking function of the team sometimes enlisting the required toughness of the defender and sometimes displaying technical training of a rare virtuoso. In the two seasons he played in the "double-headed eagle", he celebrated the 2 consecutive Championships and a Greek Cup including a domestic double in 1978. A new injury in 1979 season forced him to terminate his contract with AEK and retire as a footballer. A last-ditch effort by the sports writer Giorgos Venetoulias to play one more season in the

Ethnikos Piraeus Ethnikos Piraeus (Greek: Εθνικός Πειραιώς) is a Greek multisport club based in Piraeus. It was founded in 1923. The full name of the club is Ethnikos Omilos Filathlon Pireos/Phalirou or Ethnikos OFPF (Greek: Εθνικός Όμι� ...

was eventually fruitless.

International career

Vieira made 5 appearances, scoring once with

. He was called up for the first time in 1966 the age of just 20. It was in the

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the 1966 FI ...

tie against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, in a match where he played as a starter.

After football

Viera returned in 1979 to Uruguay, gradually developing an activity as a football manager based in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, where he lives until today having three sons. The last one which was born during his time at the AEK, was named by him the name, "Loukas" as a sing of respect and tribute to the then President of AEK, Loukas Barlos, whom he valued unimaginably and loved as his second father.

Honours

Nacional *

Uruguayan Primera División The Liga Profesional de Primera División (American Spanish , , local: , ''First Division''), named "Torneo Uruguayo Copa Coca-Cola" for sponsorship reasons, is the highest professional Association football, football league in Uruguay organized b ...

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

Olympiacos *

Alpha Ethniki The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

1972–73 Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 197 for this y ...

, 1973–74, 1974–75 *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

, 1974–75 AEK Athens *Alpha Ethniki: 1977–78, 1978–79 *Greek Cup: 1977–78

References

External links

*
Milton Viera at phantis.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Viera, Milton 1946 births Uruguayan men's footballers Uruguay men's international footballers Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Uruguayan Primera División players Argentine Primera División players AEK Athens F.C. players Olympiacos F.C. players Club Nacional de Football players Peñarol players Boca Juniors footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina 1966 FIFA World Cup players Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Living people Men's association football midfielders 20th-century Uruguayan sportsmen Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Argentina