Enzo Francescoli

Enzo Francescoli Uriarte (Montevideo, November 12, 1961) is a former Uruguayan soccer player. He is known by the nickname prince, for his classic and elegant style. He is the only Uruguayan included by Pelé in FIFA 100, and was chosen by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics as the sixth largest player from his country and 24th from South America in the XX century.

He played as a striker. He played in two editions of the World Cup (1986 and 1990) in which the Uruguayan team reached the round of 16 and lost, against Argentina and against Italy, respectively.

His greatest triumphs with La Celeste were in the Copa América. He played five editions, reaching the final four times and winning three of them. It was in that tournament where he scored his first goal as an international. In Argentina, River Plate quickly stood out, being one of the greatest idols and the top foreign scorer of this club, which he led to its second conquest of the Copa Libertadores de América and the Supercopa Sudamericana, and helping River win five more Argentine titles in the six years he played for the team. Since 2013 he has served as the institution's sports director, winning 15 titles. He also played for French (Racing de Paris and Olympique de Marseille) and Italian (Cagliari and Torino) teams.

Club career

Francescoli in a photo of his card as a youth player of Montevideo Wanderers.

Montevideo Wanderers

Francescoli initially tests there alongside ND NIEVA, a Buenos Aires-born striker known as "El Simple Embalador" In fact, in an interview with ESPN he said "Enzo could have been a great striker but never a simple packer", but over time he became disenchanted and left the club. Enzo enlists in the soccer team of the Colegio Salesiano, for which he was champion for five consecutive years in collegiate competitions.

The last year of high school he received an offer from Montevideo Wanderers. He enlisted there and soon earned the respect of the team. In 1980 he made his debut in the main team, leaving the runner-up team behind Nacional. champion of the Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup that year. Due to his elegant style of play, he was nicknamed the Prince, a nickname inherited from Aníbal Ciocca, a former star of Wanderers in the 1930s and 1940s.

Due to his performance, he was compared to Juan Alberto Schiaffino. In the 1981 Uruguayan Primera División, his team had a good campaign, finishing third. In February 1982, Enzo made his debut for the Uruguayan National Team. The club qualified for the Copa Libertadores that year.

Diputing in the 1983 edition of the Libertadores, Enzo and his team that included figures such as Jorge Barrios, Luis Alberto Acosta, Raúl Esnal and Ariel Krasouski, finished in first position, tied with Nacional de Montevideo.

First stage in River Plate

Enzo Francescoli at its first stage in River.

Historic goal of Chilena (Football) in front of the selection of Poland in a friendly 1986.

In 1983, River Plate signed him for $310,000. His start there was irregular, and the team finished the Metropolitan Championship in the penultimate position, two positions above relegation.

The following year, Francescoli demonstrated his potential, albeit alternating with periods of apathy. In the first semester, in the National Championship, the team reached the final, but was defeated by Ferro Carril Oeste. In the Metropolitan championship, Enzo was the top scorer with 24 goals, but River finished fourth. Even so, Francescoli was voted South American Footballer of the Year in 1984. He received an offer from América de Cali but Francescoli decided to stay at River.

Despite the fact that his team did not excel in the 1985 National Championship, he was named Argentine Soccer Player of the Year, being the first foreigner to receive such an award. In the championship (1985-1986) River was champion and Enzo was top scorer with 25 goals. On February 8, 1986, Enzo scored his most popular and well-known goal (from Chile), one of the three consecutive goals in the last seven minutes in a 5-4 victory against the then respected selection of Poland, who participated in the friendly tournament that the five big Argentine clubs organize in summer. Francescoli declared that he appreciated the famous goal because it was a team goal, we got tired of making a draw. To this day, every time a player scores a goal with an average kick, it is compared to Enzo's kick, considered by many to be the best of all time.

Then came the 1986 World Cup. and then Enzo was hired by Racing de Paris, recently promoted from Ligue 2.

In France

In 1986, Racing, Francescoli's new team, although it was the most traditional club in Paris, was in decline and competed with Paris Saint-Germain, then booming, founded in 1970. Matra sponsored Racing, which was renamed "Matra Racing" in 1987. To form a competitive cast for Ligue 1 and the UEFA Champions Cup, Matra provided a financial injection that allowed them to sign Luis Fernández (PSG's own idol), Maxime Bossis, Thierry Tusseau, Pierre Littbarski, David Ginola, Sonny Silooy, Eugène Ekéké and Uruguayan Rubén Paz. However, in the first season, the club battled against relegation, barely managing to finish 13th largely thanks to 14 goals from Francescoli.

However, Francescoli gained recognition, being chosen in 1987 as the best foreign player in France. For the 1987/88 season, the Portuguese coach Artur Jorge was brought to Racing. Jorge would be Francescoli's best coach, according to his own opinion. The Matra had battled for the top positions, alternating between third and second place starting in the second half of the event. However, ultimately the team finished in seventh place. Francescoli scored eight times, once again being Racing's top scorer in the league. The Uruguayan received proposals from Juventus in Turin, who declined. After the 1988-1989 championship, where he was again the team's top scorer, He was hired by Olympique de Marseille, who had won the championship and the French Cup.

Enzo joined the rest of the world team that played against the Brazilian team in a friendly farewell match for Zico from Brazil, in March 1989. But at Racing Francescoli he did not even reach the round of 16 of the tournament.

At Olympique de Marseille, Enzo stayed for just one season (1989/90), where he earned recognition from Zinedine Zidane. In the 1989/90 edition of Ligue 1, Francescoli was one of the main names that brought the sixth French title (and second in a row) to les Olympiens.

In Italy

After the 1990 World Cup, Francescoli went to play in Italy. Along with José Oscar Herrera and Daniel Fonseca, he transferred to the island soccer club Cagliari, where his team fought relegation in its first two seasons in the Italian championship.

After two seasons without shining, Enzo played a remarkable third season, being considered one of the best players in the Cup. UEFA Cup—, with Enzo scoring seven goals, his best numbers in a season for calcio.

Francescoli then accepted an offer from Torino, recent Italian Cup winners. With Francescoli, the club came close to repeating the title, which went to Ancona. His performance in Serie A , was doubtful. In the European Cup Winners' Cup, where the I Granata were classified as the 1993 Italian Cup champions, the team lost in the quarterfinals against the champions, Arsenal. In the Italian Super Cup (between the winners of the Serie A league and the Italian Cup) in 1993, Milan was also victorious. In Turin he did not perform well in terms of goals either, scoring only 3, his lowest number in the four editions of the Italian league he played in.

Return to River Plate

Francescoli is the champion of the Copa Libertadores 1996.

After spending time at Torino, he returned to Argentina's River Plate in 1994. Despite being 33 years old, he once again became their top scorer in the Apertura championship that year. The team was also undefeated national champion for the first time.

River's campaign in 1995 was mediocre, finishing tenth in the Clausura tournament and seventh in the Apertura, and they lost in the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores de América against Colombian team Atlético Nacional. penalties from the semifinals of the Supercopa Libertadores, by the future champion, Independiente; in this Francescoli was also the top scorer. The lack of soccer achievements that year did not prevent him from being named the best Argentine soccer player for the second time, and also South American soccer player of the year.

The following year, he retired from the Uruguay team to dedicate himself completely to River; the cups would return to Núñez. The first of them was the most important: Francescoli led a young team to its second victory in the Copa Libertadores de América in 1996 —equaling the archrival Boca Juniors. With this Francescoli settled the frustration that left him not being there when River won for the first time the Cup in 1986, due to his transfer to France —I settled a debt with myself— he declared. This, and the conquest of Uruguay in the 1995 Copa América is considered by him as best moment of his career.

In 1996 River finished in 14th place in the Clausura tournament, however they were crowned champions in the Apertura tournament. At the end of the year, when he was asked to defend Uruguay again, River lost the Intercontinental Cup against Juventus in Turin, where Zinédine Zidane played, a determined fan of Enzo: —When I saw Francescoli play, he was the player I wanted to be, he was the player I saw and admired at Olympique de Marseille; my idol... Enzo is like a god, declared the Frenchman.

In the following tournaments, River improved its performance, winning the Clausura and Apertura tournaments in 1997, being three consecutive champions; and won the Supercopa Libertadores for the first time. The historic conquests of the Super Cup and Apertura titles were fought in Francescoli's last two games as a River Plate player. The first of them, on December 17, 1997, was a decisive second leg match, in which River defeated São Paulo. In the next one, 4 days later, River tied Argentinos Juniors, becoming Apertura champion,. These two games are well remembered by River Plate fans, after which Francescoli announced the end of his career at the beginning of 1998.

On August 1, 1999, he returned to the Monumental for a friendly farewell match. The presidents of Argentina, Carlos Menem, and of Uruguay, Julio María Sanguinetti together with 80,000 spectators, went to watch the game. The game brought together Enzo's friends at River against Peñarol, beaten 0-4 with two goals from him.

Another River Plate idol who had come from Uruguay, Walter Gómez, kicked off. The Argentine composer Ignacio Copani dedicated the song "Inmenzo" (a pun on Francescoli's name), considered one of the most emotional tribute songs to a player, ending with the request "I want to see you one more time, dear Inmenzo, I want to see you one more time, I I beg you". Copani also sang the music at the farewell friendly.

By November 2010 Francescoli was the team's seventh highest scorer, with 115 goals in 198 games, and was third among foreign scorers in Argentina, behind only Paraguayans Arsenio Erico and Delfín Benítez Cáceres.

Uruguay National Team

Enzo Francescoli lifting the Copa América 1995.

In 1981, a year after his professional debut, Enzo joined the Uruguayan team that won the South American U-20 Soccer Championship, being chosen as the best in the competition.

He also participated in the World Cup that year, where Uruguay lost in the quarterfinals. He debuted with the main team in 1982, accompanying them in their victory in a tournament played in India. The following year he played with them in the 1983 Copa América. After six games played abroad, he scored his first goal for the senior team, against goalkeeper Leão, in the 2-0 victory in the first leg against Brazil played in Montevideo, one of his most beautiful goals in his opinion.

Uruguay qualified for the 1986 World Cup after a strong dispute against Chile in the group also formed with Ecuador. Critics considered that Francescoli had the potential to be the star of the competition, in addition to the opinion of the Uruguayan coach himself, Omar Borrás: Everyone talks about Platini, Maradona, Elkjær... but our Francescoli has everything it takes to be the great standout of the World Cup. However, Uruguayan participation in the World Cup was not outstanding, losing 1-6 in favor of Denmark, where Francescoli scored his only goal in World Cups. Enzo considers this episode the most shameful of his career: We never realized that we were making a fool of ourselves... They gave us a dance and we didn't realize it... It's the only thing for which I would apologize to all Uruguayans, he commented. as one of the best third placed, since it fell in the round of 16 against the rival and future champion, Maradona's Argentina.

The following year, Uruguay won the Copa América, after the victory against Chile, a conquest that positioned Uruguay as the biggest winner of the tournament up to then, with 13 victories. Two years later, the Uruguayans were again in the scenery. The tournament was decided between them and the host Brazil, in circumstances similar to those of the 1950 World Cup: in the same Maracana on July 16, with the Brazilians again having the advantage of the draw in a direct confrontation for the cup. in the last round of a home run final. This time, however, the hosts emerged victorious.

In the 1990 World Cup qualifiers, once again the Uruguayans had to outdo each other. Bolivia proved to be the biggest adversary of the group. The Uruguayan team played the last two games with the obligation to beat Bolivia, and they succeeded, and Uruguay secured a place in the World Cup. Enzo's second World Championship was no better than the first; because they only beat South Korea (1-0) and again advanced to the second phase as one of the best third placed, falling in the round of 16, against Italy.

After the World Cup, coach Óscar Tabárez was replaced by Luis Cubilla. Cubilla endorsed the resentment among fans at the time against Uruguayan athletes performing in Europe, and even hinted that Francescoli, Rubén Sosa, Carlos Alberto Aguilera and José Óscar Herrera were "moneys". In revolt, these players refused to play if Cubilla did not retract; with which they were left out of the 1991 Copa América. Without the European stars, Uruguay fell in the first phase.

Still in dispute, Enzo was used in the qualifiers for the 1994 World Cup. Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela reached the last round disputing 2 places; with the first three having ten points. The brasileiros won 2-0 in a match against the Uruguayans in the Maracana, and as Bolivia scored a point by drawing in that round, Uruguay finished third and out of the Cup. Francescoli considers this elimination as the saddest episode of his career: He had been suffering two years of struggle with Cubilla and a half Uruguay. 'Throw away the passport of that traitor to the homeland,' they told me. That's why I collapsed in a corner of the Maracana to cry.

A breather would come in the 1995 Copa América based in Uruguay, now with coach Héctor Núñez. Francescoli lifted the trophy for the last time at the Centenario Stadium, after a final against the recent four-time world champion, Brazil, whom they beat on penalties where he hit the first celestial charge. This title equaled Uruguay and Argentina as the biggest winners of the competition and made Enzo, at the age of 34 and a year without trophies with River Plate, once again voted the best player in South America, eleven years after receiving the same recognition. During this competition, Enzo scored his last goal as a player of the charrúa squad.

Francescoli had chosen to leave the national team after the conquest. However, in the qualifiers for the 1998 World Cup, his colleagues accumulated failures and Enzo was convinced to return by the Uruguayan president himself, Julio María Sanguinetti. He returned in October 1996 to be absent from the 1997 Copa América, held in June, and play their last two games for La Celeste, in July and August of that year. The Uruguayans still had three commitments before the closing of the South American qualifiers, but they reached the last round without any mathematical chances of qualifying, finishing seventh in CONMEBOL.

Uruguayan National Team

Competition	Headquarters	Outcome	Parties	Goles
South American Sub-20 1981	EcuadorEcuador	Champion	7	5
1981 Youth Football World Cup	Australia	Final rooms	3	0
Copa America 1983	No fixed headquarters	Champion	4	1
1986 World Cup Soccer	Mexico Mexico	Final Octavos	4	1
Copa America 1987	Argentina	Champion	2	0
Copa America 1989	BrazilBrazil	Subfield	5	2
1990 World Cup Soccer/Football	ItalyItaly	Final Octavos	4	0
Copa America 1995	Uruguay Uruguay	Champion	5	2
Total			34	11

Games

In total, Francescoli played 73 official matches and scored 17 goals for his country, with 37 wins, 18 draws and 18 losses. He finished as the player with the second most caps for Uruguay, despite the three years he spent renegade and the one who refused to continue; remaining four games behind the record holder, goalkeeper Rodolfo Rodríguez. The following table details his games played in the Uruguayan team:

#	Date	Competition	City	Rival	Outcome	Goles
1	20 February 1982	Nehru Cup	Calcutta	South KoreaSouth Korea	2-2	0
2	22 February 1982	Nehru Cup	Calcutta	ChinaChina	0-0	0
3	25 February 1982	Nehru Cup	Calcutta	IndiaIndia	3-1	0
4	4 March 1982	Nehru Cup	Calcutta	ChinaChina	2- 0	0
5	13 October 1983	Copa America 1983	Lima	PeruPeru	1- 0	0
6	20 October 1983	Copa America 1983	Lima	PeruPeru	1-1	0
7	27 October 1983	Copa America 1983	Montevideo	BrazilBrazil	2- 0	1
8	4 November 1983	Copa America 1983	Salvador	BrazilBrazil	1-1	0
9	31 October 1984	Friendly	Montevideo	MexicoMexico	1-1	0
10	29 January 1985	Friendly	Montevideo	Eastern GermanyEastern Germany	3- 0	1
11	3 February 1985	Artigas Cup	Montevideo	ParaguayParaguay	1- 0	1
12	6 February 1985	Friendly	Cochabamba	BoliviaBolivia	1- 0	1
13	10 February 1985	Artigas Cup	Assumption	ParaguayParaguay	3-1	0
14	24 February 1985	Friendly	Montevideo	ColombiaColombia	3- 0	1
15	27 February 1985	Friendly	Montevideo	PeruPeru	2-2	0
16	10 March 1985	Eliminators for the 1986 World Cup	Montevideo	EcuadorEcuador	2-1	0
17	10 March 1985	Eliminators for the 1986 World Cup	Santiago	ChileChile	0-2	0
18	31 March 1985	Eliminators for the 1986 World Cup	Quito	EcuadorEcuador	2- 0	1
19	7 April 1985	Eliminators for the 1986 World Cup	Montevideo	ChileChile	2-1	0
20	21 August 1985	Troféu Artemio Franchi	Paris	FranceFrance	0-2	0
21	13 April 1986	Friendly	Los Angeles	MexicoMexico	3- 0	0
22	21 April 1986	Friendly	Wrexham	WalesWales	0-0	0
23	4 June 1986	World Cup 1986	Querétaro	Western GermanyWestern Germany	1-1	0
24	8 June 1986	World Cup 1986	Nezahualcóyotl	DenmarkDenmark	1-6	1
25	13 June 1986	World Cup 1986	Nezahualcóyotl	ScotlandScotland	0- 0	0
26	16 June 1986	World Cup 1986	Puebla	ArgentinaArgentina	0-1	0
27	19 June 1987	Friendly	Montevideo	EcuadorEcuador	2-1	0
28	23 June 1987	Friendly	Montevideo	BoliviaBolivia	2-1	0
29	9 July 1987	Copa America 1987	Buenos Aires	ArgentinaArgentina	1- 0	0
30	12 July 1987	Copa America 1987	Buenos Aires	ChileChile	1- 0	0
31	14 December 1988	MFUP Cup	Montevideo	PeruPeru	3-1	2
32	22 April 1989	Friendly	Verona	ItalyItaly	1-1	0
33	6 July 1989	Copa America 1989	Goiânia	ChileChile	3- 0	1
34	8 July 1989	Copa America 1989	Goiânia	ArgentinaArgentina	0-1	0
35	12 July 1989	Copa America 1989	Rio de Janeiro	ParaguayParaguay	3- 0	1
36	14 July 1989	Copa America 1989	Rio de Janeiro	ArgentinaArgentina	2- 0	0
37	16 July 1989	Copa America 1989	Rio de Janeiro	BrazilBrazil	0-1	0
38	27 August 1989	Eliminators for the 1990 World Cup	Lima	PeruPeru	2- 0	0
39	3 September 1989	Eliminators for the 1990 World Cup	La Paz	BoliviaBolivia	1-2	0
40	17 September 1989	Eliminators for the 1990 World Cup	Montevideo	BoliviaBolivia	2- 0	1
41	18 May 1990	Friendly	Belfast	Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland	0-1	0
42	22 May 1990	Friendly	London	EnglandEngland	2-1	0
43	13 June 1990	World Cup 1990	ONE	SpainSpain	0-0	0
44	17 June 1990	World Cup 1990	Verona	BelgiumBelgium	1-3	0
45	21 June 1990	World Cup 1990	ONE	South KoreaSouth Korea	1- 0	0
46	25 June 1990	World Cup 1990	Rome	ItalyItaly	0-2	0
47	17 July 1993	Friendly	Montevideo	PeruPeru	3- 0	0
48	25 July 1993	1994 World Cup Awards	San Cristobal	VenezuelaVenezuela	1- 0	0
49	1 August 1993	1994 World Cup Awards	Montevideo	EcuadorEcuador	0-0	0
50	8 August 1993	1994 World Cup Awards	La Paz	BoliviaBolivia	1-3	1
51	15 August 1993	1994 World Cup Awards	Montevideo	BrazilBrazil	1-1	0
52	29 August 1993	1994 World Cup Awards	Montevideo	VenezuelaVenezuela	4- 0	0
53	5 September 1993	1994 World Cup Awards	Guayaquil	EcuadorEcuador	1- 0	0
54	12 September 1993	1994 World Cup Awards	Montevideo	BoliviaBolivia	2-1	1
55	19 September 1993	1994 World Cup Awards	Rio de Janeiro	BrazilBrazil	0-2	0
56	18 January 1995	Friendly	The Coruña	SpainSpain	2-2	0
57	29 March 1995	Friendly	London	EnglandEngland	0-0	0
58	31 March 1995	Friendly	Belgrade	YugoslaviaYugoslavia	0-1	0
59	28 June 1995	Friendly	Rivera	New ZealandNew Zealand	2-2	1
60	5 July 1995	Copa America 1995	Montevideo	VenezuelaVenezuela	4-1	1
61	9 July 1995	Copa America 1995	Montevideo	ParaguayParaguay	1- 0	1
62	16 July 1995	Copa America 1995	Montevideo	BoliviaBolivia	2-1	0
63	19 July 1995	Copa America 1995	Montevideo	ColombiaColombia	2- 0	0
64	23 July 1995	Copa America 1995	Montevideo	BrazilBrazil	1-1	0
65	8 October 1996	1998 World Cup Awards	Montevideo	BoliviaBolivia	1- 0	0
66	12 November 1996	1998 World Cup Awards	Santiago	ChileChile	0-1	0
67	15 December 1996	1998 World Cup Awards	Montevideo	PeruPeru	2- 0	0
68	12 January 1997	1998 World Cup Awards	Montevideo	ArgentinaArgentina	0-0	0
69	12 February 1997	1998 World Cup Awards	Quito	EcuadorEcuador	0-4	0
70	2 April 1997	1998 World Cup Awards	Montevideo	VenezuelaVenezuela	3-1	0
71	30 April 1997	1998 World Cup Awards	Assumption	ParaguayParaguay	1-3	0
72	20 July 1997	1998 World Cup Awards	La Paz	BoliviaBolivia	0-1	0
73	20 August 1997	1998 World Cup Awards	Montevideo	ChileChile	1- 0	0
Total						17

Personal and extra-sporting life

Enzo is the son of Ernesto Francescoli and Olga Uriarte; his name should have been Vincenzo, but his parents chose to baptize him with a shortened version due to the long last name. He has two brothers, Luis Ernesto, two years older, and Pablo, thirteen years younger. He has been married to Mariela Yern since 1984, with whom he had two children, Bruno and Marco.

He is shy, speaks little and is very observant, something he considers a virtue, and is considered by those who know him to be a phenomenon on and off the field. He has enjoyed smoking and playing golf since he was 16 years old He was the Uruguayan ambassador for Unicef before being succeeded by Diego Forlán. In 2002 he went to live with his family in Miami, where in 2003 he started with the businessman Paco Casal, with whom he has a great friendship, and Nelson Gutiérrez the Gol TV station. The Francescolis returned to Buenos Aires five years later, although Enzo used to travel monthly to the United States because of his activities on the channel.In 2010, he led the Channel 7 team, in the World Cup broadcast.

Since his career ended, he has played in festive games, such as those celebrating the retirements of Juan Pablo Sorín, Víctor Aristizábal and Diego Maradona, whom he considers his friend and the greatest player he has ever seen.

Enzo considers Zinedine Zidane to be the second best player he has ever seen, an opinion he admits to being quite influenced by emotional reasons. In turn, the French star is a big fan of Francescoli. Zidane's great admiration extended to the other Frenchmen: Francescoli says that, due to this relationship, he currently feels more respected in France than when he played in the country.

Francescoli expressed that the title that Uruguay won in the 1950 World Cup put pressure on the following generations of Uruguayan players, in addition to excessively mystifying the Uruguayan grit: Uruguay did not win in the Maracana by grit, they won because he played very well (...) but the fantasy lasted over time.

In Uruguay there are numerous critics of Enzo's business relationship with Paco Casal, owner of the company that broadcasts the games, Tenfield; of which Enzo and his former partner Nelson Gutiérrez are part. According to old rumors; Enzo and other important Uruguayan players who played in Europe claimed that Casal ordered them not to play for La Celeste, in response to their infighting with the Uruguayan Football Association. Which he began to improve after breaking relations with the businessman.
Francescoli defends him: he is the most important businessman in my country, (...) he got involved in things that generate passion, such as football and carnival, and that generates divisions (of opinions). (...) he is a good person, a man who helps more than they think (...) ; he claimed he. Francesoli was vice president of the Tenfield and Gol TV companies, owned by Francisco Casal.

River Plate representative

Since he stopped playing, Francescoli was consulted several times to coach River; He always declined offers, but stated that if he was invited to be a representative of the club, he could accept and use his experience as a businessman. Once a representative, he hired Marcelo Gallardo as technical director, which began the most successful technical management in the entire history of the club. From 2014 to the present, River Plate won 7 international titles recognized by CONMEBOL: Copa Sudamericana 2014, Recopa Sudamericana 2015, Copa Libertadores 2015, Copa Suruga Bank 2015, Recopa Sudamericana 2016, Copa Libertadores 2018 (where they managed to beat their arch-rival Boca Juniors in the final, at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium) and the 2019 South American Cup Winners Cup. In addition, they also won the 2014 Final Tournament, the 2013/14 First Division Championship Cup, the 2016 Argentine Cup, the 2017 and 2019 Argentine Cup, Argentine Super Cup 2017 and 2019, the 2021 Professional League Championship and the 2021 Champions Trophy; played in the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup, 2018 FIFA Club World Cup and was runner-up in the 2019 Copa Libertadores (eliminating arch-rivals Boca Juniors again, this time in the semifinals).

Statistics

In clubs

Club	Div.	Season	League(1)		National Cups(2)		International Tournaments(3)		Total		Average score(4)
			Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles
Montevideo Wanderers Uruguay Uruguay
	1. a
		1980	26	3	-		-		26	3	0.11
		1981	22	7	-		-		22	7	0.31
		1982	26	10	-		-		26	10	0.38
		1983	-		-		2	1	2	1	0.50
	Total club		74	20	0	0	0	0	76	21	0.27
River Plate Argentina
	1. a
		1983	27	11	-		-		27	11	0.40
		1984	49	29	-		-		49	29	0.59
		1985	5	3	-		-		5	3	0.60
		1985-86	32	25	-		-		32	25	0.78
		1994-95	27	17	-		11	5	38	22	0.60
		1995-96	20	10	-		18	12	38	22	0,58
		1996-97	31	19	-		5	3	36	22	0.60
		1997	6	1	-		5	1	11	2	0.18
	Total club		197	115	0	0	39	22	236	137	0,58
Racing Club de Paris France
	1. a
		1986-87	35	14	1	0	-		36	14	0.38
		1987-88	28	8	1	0	-		29	8	0.27
		1988-89	26	10	2	0	-		28	10	0.35
	Total club		89	32	4	0	0	0	93	32	0.34
Olympique de Marseille France	1. a
		1989-90	28	11	4	0	8	0	40	11	0.27
	Total club		28	11	4	0	8	0	40	11	0.27
Cagliari Calcio ItalyItaly
	1. a
		1990-91	33	4	1	0	-		34	4	0.17
		1991-92	33	6	1	0	-		34	6	0.17
		1992-93	32	7	4	2	-		36	9	0.31
	Total club		98	17	6	2	0	0	104	19	0.22
Torino FC ItalyItaly	1. a
		1993-94	24	3	7	2	3	0	34	5	0.15
	Total club		24	3	7	2	3	0	34	5	0.15
Total in your career			510	198	17	7	50	22	577	227	0.39
(1) The national cups refer to the Italian Cup and the French Cup. (2) Half of goals per encounter. It does not include goals in friendly matches. (3) Details in international tournaments:

Selections

Selection	Year	Friendly		South America(1)		World(2)		Total		Average score
		Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles	Part.	Goles
Sub-20 Uruguay Uruguay	1981	-		7	5	3	0	10	5	0.50
	Total	0	0	7	5	3	0	10	5	0.50
Absolute Uruguay Uruguay	1982	4	0	-		-		4	0	0.00
	1983	-		4	1	-		4	1	0.25
	1984	1	0	-		-		1	0	0.00
	1985	6	4	4	1	1	0	11	5	0.45
	1986	2	0	-		4	1	6	1	0.17
	1987	2	0	2	0	-		4	0	0.00
	1988	1	2	-		-		1	2	2.00
	1989	1	0	8	3	-		9	3	0.33
	1990	2	0	-		4	0	6	0	0.00
	1991	-		-		-		0	0	0.00
	1992	-		-		-		0	0	0.00
	1993	1	0	8	2	-		9	2	0.22
	1994	-		-		-		0	0	0.00
	1995	4	1	5	2	-		9	3	0.33
	1996	-		3	0	-		3	0	0.00
	1997	-		6	0	-		6	0	0.00
	Total	24	7	40	9	9	1	73	17	0.25
Total career		24	7	47	14	12	1	83	22	0.27
(1) Includes Eurocopa Sub-16 (1992-93); Eurocopa Sub-18 (1996-97); Eurocopa Sub-21 (1998-99); Eurocopa / European Classifications (1998-09). (2) Includes FIFA Confederations Cup matches (2003).

Statistical summary

Honours of Prizes

National Championships

Title	Club	Headquarters	Year
First Division Championship	River Plate	Buenos Aires	1985/86
Division 1	Olympique de Marseille	Marseille	1989/90
Opening Tour	River Plate	Buenos Aires	1994
Opening Tour		Buenos Aires	1996
Closing Tour		Buenos Aires	1997
Opening Tour		Buenos Aires	1997

International Championships

Title	Equipment	Headquarters	Year
South American Championship Sub-20	Uruguay sub-20	Quito	1981
Copa America	Uruguay	Salvador	1983
Copa America		Buenos Aires	1987
Copa America		Montevideo	1995
Copa Libertadores de América	River Plate	Buenos Aires	1996
South American Super Cup		Buenos Aires	1997

Friendly Championships

Title	Equipment	Headquarters	Year
Nehru Cup	Uruguay	Calcutta	1982

Individual awards

Filmography

He was interviewed for the documentary film released in 2019 River, the greatest ever that tells the history of the club.