Sebastian Abreu

Washington Sebastian Abreu Gallo is a professional Uruguayan football player who plays as a striker. Known all over the world as El Loco, or “Mad Man”, Abreu is one of the best strikers to come out of Uruguay. Abreu represented his country at two World Cups as well as at three Copa America tournaments.

Abreu began his playing career in 1994, at the youth team of Defensor Sporting. After two seasons, he moved into the first team and in his debut season, scored a massive 29 league goals in just 38 games. He moved to Argentina, and signed up with San Lorenzo de Almagro, and over 1996-97, showed the same lethal touch in front of goal with 26 goals in 43 games. He was also picked for the Uruguayan national team at this time, making his debut against China.

His prolific scoring record caught the eye of Spanish giants Deportivo La Coruna, who brought him in 1998. His Spanish journey wouldn’t start well and Abreu was sent on loan, almost immediately, to Gremio. He played just seven games for Gremio before returning to Spain with a goal under his belt. In 1999-2000, Abreu was sent on his second loan spell, this time to Estudiantes Tecos, in Mexico.

Abreu reproduced his form of old, scoring 29 times in 35 league games but all this good work would come undone in the more strenuous Spanish league. In 2000, Abreu had his third loan spell in three seasons, moving back to San Lorenzo in Argentina. This time though, he only managed to score 10 league goals in 25 appearances, on the way to the 2001 Clausura title, before returning to Spain. However, he would help San Lorenzo win the 2001 Argentine Primera Division Clausura title.

For the second half of 2001, he moved to Club Nacional de Football, in Uruguay. In the 18 games he played, Abreu had 16 goals to his name, but he was still struggling to get into the first team at Deportivo La Coruna. For 2002-03, he was sent to Cruz Azul, in Mexico, for another loan spell, where Abreu would score 46 goals in 52 appearances for the team.

This was immediately followed by a short loan spell, towards the end of 2003, to Club America, where he would just play 16 league games with three goals to his name. In 2004, Abreu would go on his final loan spell, while under contract with Deportivo La Coruna, and this would be back to Estudiantes Tecos. His 17 games would produce five goals, once again not enough for Deportivo La Coruna to renew his contract. In his seven contractual years with Deportivo La Coruna, Abreu would play only 15 games for the Spanish team, scoring three goals. He would, however, have seven loan spells, at least once each year, before returning to Uruguay on a permanent contract.

In 2004-05, Abreu would again score prolifically over 38 games. His 24-goal tally would help Nacional win the 2004 Apertura title as well as the 2005 Uruguayan league title. In 2005-06, Abreu would join Dorados de Sinaloa, in the Mexican Primera Division. His 34 appearances would result in 22 goals, another successful season that would catch the eye of Monterrey, in his home country.

After just 7 goals and 16 league games for Monterrey, Abreu moved to San Luis FC, in Mexico, for the remainder of 2007. He would play 14 games for 6 goals before shifting to UNAL Tigres at the end of the season. In 2007-08, Abreu struggled to get games for Tigres, and managed to play just 15 games with 7 goals. However, he was sent on a loan spell to River Plate, where he helped the team win the 2008 Clausura title with 9 goals in 24 games.

In 2008, Abreu moved to Israel and signed up with Beitar Jerusalem, but didn’t play any games for the team. Instead, he was sent back to River Plate, for the remainder of the 2008-09. However, Abreu would get just 8 games, mostly as a substitute, with 4 goals coming of it in the end. In 2009, River would send Abreu on loan to Real Sociedad, in Spain, where he played 18 times in the second division, and scored 11 goals.

In 2009, he moved to Greece and signed up with Aris Thessaloniki but didn’t get regular playing time.

Finally, in 2010, Abreu moved to Brazil and signed up with Botafogo. He regained his past form and scored 51 times in 84 league games, helping Botafogo to the 2010 Carioca title.

At the international level, Abreu has been a part of the team since 1996. He has been a part of two world cup squads but his biggest achievement came in 2011, when he helped Uruguay win the Copa America title. He has 27 international goals from 66 caps, at the international level.