After a career that has taken him to no fewer than 31 clubs, Sebastián Abreu has put an end to his career. The 44-year-old attacker, with the famous nickname el loco, thinks it has been nice. “The day has come that I will put an end to it,” declares the attacker 26 years and 6 days after his first game as a professional football player.
Abreu holds a Guinness World Record. The Uruguayan, good for 70 A-international matches and 26 goals, can call himself the footballer with the most number of clubs. In 2017, he improved the record of German goalkeeper Lutz Pfannenstiel, who played for 25 clubs. In total, Abreu played 857 official matches for club and country, in which he scored 468 goals.
Abreu played his last game on Friday for Sud América, a second division club in Uruguay. He did that against Liverpool, which was also the opponent on 5 June 1995 when he took his first steps as a professional football player on behalf of Defensor Sporting. The striker often played in South America, where he played for many clubs. He also played football for a while in Europe, for Deportivo la Coruña and Real Sociedad from Spain, the Greek club Aris Saloniki and in Israel with Beitar Jerusalem.
Compatriot Luis Suárez showed on social media how much he benefited from Abreu in his first years as a professional football player. “Daddy! I am short of words to express my gratitude for what you did in my early years. You were one of those people who made me believe in myself more and I will always be grateful to you for that. I want to congratulate you not only for your career, but also for the fact that you have achieved everything based on hard work. Thank you for being a part of Uruguayan football. Papi, thank you for all the joy you have brought me as a fan. I wish you all the best in this new phase of your life, I love you very much.”
Abreu participated with Uruguay in the 2002 and 2010 World Cups. He shot his country to the semi-finals in 2010 by using the decisive penalty with a Panenka in the penalty shootout against Ghana. Uruguay lost 3-2 to the Dutch in the semi-finals.