Martín Ricardo Ligüera López (born 9 November 1980) is a Uruguayan

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

and former player who played as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

Club career

Born in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, Ligüera made his first division debut in 1997 for Uruguayan power

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 ...

. However it was his play with Fénix in which he scored 33 goals in 53 first division matches, which started to draw him interest from European clubs. While at Fénix his play helped convert the small Montevideo side into the revelation of the Uruguayan First division. They qualified for the 2003

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

, in which they had a famous 6-1 victory over Mexican side Cruz Azul with Ligüera tallying 3 goals. Ligüera's contract was purchased by

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

side

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

. His stay at the club was short-lived due to foreign player restrictions. Ligüera played one game in

for

, against

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA Euro ...

, on 21 September 2003. He also scored in the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

, and appeared in three

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

matches for Mallorca, starting in two of those matches. In January 2004, due to the arrival of Andrija Delibasic, he was loaned out to

Grasshopper Club Zürich Grasshopper Club Zürich, commonly referred to as simply GC, GCZ, or Grasshoppers, is a multisports club based in Zürich, Switzerland. The oldest and best known department of the club is its football team. With 27 titles, Grasshopper holds the ...

in order to free the non-EU seat. After the 2004 campaign, Ligüera returned to Uruguay and

to help lead the club to a league title. His play once began to draw the interest of other South American clubs, resulting in stints with San Luis in Mexico and Peruvian powerhouse

Alianza Lima Club Alianza Lima, popularly known as Alianza Lima or simply Alianza, is a Peruvian professional sports club based in La Victoria District of Lima, Peru. It is widely known for having one of the most historical and successful football teams i ...

. While at Alianza, Martin helped the club win a Peruvian League title and participated in the

. In 2009, he signed for

Club Olimpia Club Olimpia is a Paraguayan sports club based in the city of Asunción. The club promotes the practice of various sports with most importance given to the football, rugby and basketball sides, the former being the highest priority and most s ...

of Paraguay.

International career

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del 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 ...

full international, he also played at the

1999 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Nigeria between 3 and 24 April 1999. This was the 12th edition of the tournament. Qualification The following 24 teams qualified for the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship. :1.Teams that ...

. He has represented his country 15 times and scored seven goals including a hat-trick on 15 August 2003 in a 5–2 victory over

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Career statistics

International

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Liguera, Martin 1980 births Living people Uruguayan men's footballers Uruguay men's under-20 international footballers Uruguay men's international footballers Club Alianza Lima footballers San Luis F.C. players Club Nacional de Football players C.A. Cerro players Defensor Sporting players Centro Atlético Fénix players Club Olimpia footballers RCD Mallorca players Chilean Primera División players Unión Española footballers Club Athletico Paranaense players Joinville Esporte Clube players Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in Chile Expatriate men's footballers in Paraguay Expatriate men's footballers in Peru Uruguayan Primera División players La Liga players Peruvian Primera División players Paraguayan Primera División players Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Montevideo Uruguayan football managers Club Nacional de Football managers