Washington Sebastián Abreu Gallo (; born 17 October 1976), nicknamed ''El Loco'' (The Madman), is a Uruguayan

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former footballer who played as a striker. He is the head coach of Mexican club

Tijuana Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...

. Abreu is best known for holding the record of playing for 32 different clubs in 11 different countries during a career that spanned 26 years. On the international stage, Abreu made 70 appearances for the national team. He represented

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 ...

at the

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 ...

in 2002 and 2010, and at the Copa América in 1997, 2007 and 2011, becoming a champion in the latter.

Playing career

Club

Early career

Born in Minas, Lavalleja Department, Abreu played in numerous clubs throughout the

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(Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico and Brazil). He also had an unsuccessful stint with Spain's

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

, which loaned him several times for the duration of his contract. In his sole season in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

, which started in January 1998, having been signed from San Lorenzo, Abreu scored for the

Galicians Galicians ( or ''pobo galego''; ) are an ethnic group primarily residing in Galicia, northwest Iberian Peninsula. Historical emigration resulted in populations in other parts of Spain, Europe, and the Americas. Galicians possess distinct cu ...

in a 3–1 home defeat of

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on 25 January.

River Plate and Beitar

After having joined Mexico's UANL in 2007, Abreu was able to rescind his contract with them in order to join River Plate – the

Mexican Football Federation The Mexican Football Federation (), abbreviated as FMF is the official governing body of football in Mexico. It administers the men's and women's national teams with all its youth teams, the national teams of futsal and beach soccer, Liga MX wit ...

stalled on recognising the transfer because of an imposed moratorium between the clubs. He became the only foreigner to score in the '' Clásico Regiomontano'' (Tigres vs.

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

, which he represented the previous year) against each team. In the middle of 2008, after exhausting negotiations, Abreu signed a deal with Israeli League champions Beitar Jerusalem. He appeared in the qualifying rounds of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

, but his team was quickly eliminated. Additionally, he could not play in the domestic front due to lack of payment. Abreu re-signed with River Plate in September 2008 after terminating his link with Beitar, with a deal lasting until June 2009. Due to being a late addition, he was not able to play for the side in the Primera División, only featuring in the Copa Sudamericana. The next year, he was eligible for both the domestic and

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

fronts.

Real Sociedad

In early January 2009, Abreu returned to Spain after a ten-year absence, being loaned by River to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

side Real Sociedad, which had lost habitual first choice

Iñigo Díaz de Cerio Iñigo Díaz de Cerio Conejero (born 15 May 1984) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a striker. Club career De Cerio was born in San Sebastián, Basque Country. Having finished his football grooming with Real Sociedad, he was the ...

for the season due to a serious leg injury. On 14 March 2009, he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in a 3–1 away win against league leaders Xerez. His team, however, ultimately failed in returning to the top flight.

Botafogo

On 13 June 2009,

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Konstantinidis, Greek architect * ...

in Greece signed Abreu from River Plate. However, in January of the following year, the 33-year-old changed club and country again, agreeing on a two-year contract with Brazil's

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...

. Abreu scored the second goal in the 2–1 victory over

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

on 18 April 2010, which gave the team the

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro State Championship), also commonly known as the Cariocão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Br ...

title. In July, he had his link extended until 31 December 2012 with a release clause of

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11.3 million, with the player declaring he had previously held talks with

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile () is a public research university in Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the co ...

and

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...

of Turkey. On 6 February 2011, Abreu was involved in a dramatic match against Fluminense: his team won a penalty kick as they were losing 2–1, and he shot it in Panenka-style, with Diego Cavalieri saving the shot by simply standing still. Another penalty was awarded just five minutes later, and he shot it in the same fashion, this time into the right-hand corner of the goal, as the goalkeeper dived the other way; a few minutes later, Botafogo scored again and won the game. Abreu was loaned to fellow Série A side Figueirense on 5 July 2012. However, as the season went on to end in relegation, his contract was ended via

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on 24 November, one day before the last game against Grêmio.

Sol de América

From January 2013 to December 2015, Abreu was under contract to Nacional, also being loaned to

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central (), more commonly referred to as Rosario Central, or simply Central, is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on 24 December 1889, ...

and Aucas during this timeframe. On 28 December 2015, Paraguayan newspaper D10 reported that he had met in Uruguay with Sol de América chairman Miguel Figueredo. He had already received a more lucrative offer from Mexico, but declined in order to be closer to his country, and was officially confirmed on 6 January 2016.

Bangu

On 12 November 2016, 40-year-old Abreu joined Brazil's Bangu from Santa Tecla, with the deal being made effective the following January. After ten appearances in the Rio de Janeiro State League, he left.

Later years

On 4 April 2017, Abreu signed with Montevideo-based team

Central Español Central Español Fútbol Club, usually known simply as Central Español is a Uruguayan football club based in Montevideo. History The F.U.F era Together with Peñarol, Central founded FUF (Uruguayan football federation) in 1923 after being expel ...

of the

Uruguayan Segunda División The Segunda División Profesional is the second division of professional football in Uruguay, established in 1942. The league is sometimes referred to as ''Primera B''. In 1942, the Segunda División was established to replace the amateur Uruguaya ...

. In late December of the same year, he joined

Chilean Primera División The Chilean Primera División () is a professional association football league in Chile and the highest level of the Chilean football league system. Founded in 1933, it is organized by the Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (ANFP). The l ...

's Audax Italiano from

Puerto Montt Puerto Montt (Mapuche: Meli Pulli) is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region, 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago. The commune ...

, in the same country but one level below; this transfer broke a world record, as it marked him as the first player to have played for 26 professional clubs. Abreu returned to Brazil in December 2018 at age 42, agreeing to a contract at Série D's Rio Branco. He returned to his homeland the following July, signing with Boston River and making his Primera División debut in a 0–0 draw against River Plate where he donned jersey number 113. On 8 February 2021, Abreu signed for Athletic Club in Brazil. After four matches in the

Campeonato Mineiro The Campeonato Mineiro is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. It is run by the Minas Gerais Football Federation (FMF). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: bef ...

, he terminated his contract on 21 March due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On 30 March 2021, Abreu joined newly promoted Uruguayan top-tier club Sud América. On 10 June, he announced his decision to retire from professional football, and it was reported on news the game against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

the following day would be his last. Abreu's hometown side Olimpia de Minas announced on 29 August 2021 that he would briefly come out of retirement to play for them in the local ''Campeonato Minuano''. He finished as champion of the ''+40 category tournament of ADIC'' (Asociación Deportiva de Integración Colegial), and also top scorer with 17 goals in 11 matches for the amateur (college) team ''Colegio Jesús María 2019'', being the second championship won in the year after the ''Apertura'', where he also ranked first in the scoring charts.

International

Abreu played for

at the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

– three matches – and the

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Copa América editions, netting twice in the latter. He made his debut for the national side on 17 July 1996 in a friendly with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, going on to earn 70

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. On 27 May 2010, Abreu 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 quarter-finals against

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

he scored the decisive penalty shootout attempt (1–1 after 120 minutes), a Panenka to send his team to the semi-finals for the first time in 40 years.

Coaching career

On 26 April 2019, Abreu was announced as the interim manager of Santa Tecla on an initial one-and-a-half month spell, with the parties holding the option open of keeping him as a

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

or just as a player afterwards. He won the Copa El Salvador four days later, defeating Audaz 1–0 in the final. In December 2019, Abreu was appointed

at Boston River ahead of the upcoming campaign in the

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 ...

. He resigned from the last-placed club the following 9 November. Abreu was named manager of Bolivian Primera División side Always Ready on 30 January 2022. On 1 March, he left by mutual consent. On 25 May 2022, Abreu was appointed at

Paysandú Paysandú () is the capital and most populous city of the Paysandú Department in western Uruguay. Located on the banks of the Uruguay River, it is the country's List of cities in Uruguay, fourth-largest city and a vital cultural and economic hu ...

in the Uruguayan Primera División Amateur. On 30 May 2024, Abreu became the head coach of Dorados. On 30 April 2025, Liga MX club

announced Abreu as their new head coach.

Personal life

Abreu's son, Diego, played for

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

at under-16 level. From October 2019 to August 2020 he hosted ''Trato Hecho'', the Uruguayan version of '' Deal or No Deal'', being replaced by Maximiliano de la Cruz.

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Guatemala's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ruiz goal.''

Honours

Player

San Lorenzo *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

: 2001 Clausura Nacional *

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, 2003 Apertura, 2004 Apertura,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

River Plate *Argentine Primera División: 2008 Clausura Botafogo *

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

* Taça Guanabara: 2010 *

Taça Rio Taça Rio ( English: Rio Cup) is an annual football tournament attached to Campeonato Carioca, the state football league in the Rio de Janeiro state. It has been organized since 1982 by the Rio de Janeiro State Football Federation. It has had ...

: 2010,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Santa Tecla *

Salvadoran Primera División Salvadorans (), also known as Salvadorians, are citizens of El Salvador, a country in Central America. Most Salvadorans live in El Salvador, although there is also a significant Salvadoran diaspora, particularly Salvadoran Americans, in the Unite ...

: 2016 Apertura Uruguay * Copa América:

Individual *

Mexican Primera División Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divi ...

Golden Boot: Verano 2000, Verano 2002, Apertura 2005, Clausura 2006

Manager

Santa Tecla * Copa El Salvador: 2018–19

References

External links