Matías Vecino Falero (born 24 August 1991) is a Uruguayan professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a central or

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an 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 central midfielders often go across boundari ...

for

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

club

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and the Uruguay national team.

Club career

Early career

Vecino started his professional career with Central Español in 2010, and switched to Nacional for the 2011–12 season.

Fiorentina

In January 2013, Vecino joined

side

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

by penning a four-year contract for a reported transfer fee of €2.5 million. However, the transfer was delayed and became official in the next transfer window in August 2013. On 3 September 2013, he was not included by manager Vincenzo Montella in UEFA Europa League squad. Vecino made his competitive debut as well as his first Serie A one on 26 September 2013 in a 2–1 away defeat against

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

. He was used very scarcely during the first part of 2013–14 season, collecting only six appearances, only one as starter, leading the club to send him on loan at fellow Serie A side Cagliari until the end of the season, with an option to buy. Vecino spent the 2014–15 season on loan at

Empoli F.C. Empoli Football Club, commonly referred to as Empoli, is an Italian football club based in Empoli, Metropolitan City of Florence. Founded in 1920, the side is part of a select group of Italian football clubs that do not belong to a provincial ...

In mid-2015, Vecino returned to Florence and became a member of the first team. He signed a new 5-year contract in 2016.

Inter Milan

On 31 July 2017, Fiorentina authorized Vecino to have a medical with

, in order to complete a reported €24 million transfer. The transfer was made official on 2 August, with Vecino signing a contract until June 2021. He was given squad number 11, and made his competitive debut on 20 August in the opening

matchday against his former side Fiorentina, featuring full-90 minutes as Inter won 3–0. Vecino scored his maiden Inter goal six days later in the next match against Roma, netting the third goal in an eventual 1–3 away win, the first win at Stadio Olimpico over Roma after nine years. On 20 May 2018, Vecino scored the winning goal vs

, in Inter's 2–3 win, a victory which allowed the club to return to the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

after a six year absence. On 18 September 2018, he scored an injury-time winning goal vs

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

, in Inter's 2–1 win in the UEFA Champions League.

Lazio

On 1 August 2022, Vecino joined Lazio on a free transfer, signing a three-year contract.

International career

Vecino was born in Canelones, Uruguay, to a family of Italian ancestry, with roots in the city of

Campobasso Campobasso (, ; nap, label= Campobassan, Cambuàsce ) is a city and ''comune'' in southern Italy, the capital of the region of Molise and of the province of Campobasso. It is located in the high basin of the Biferno river, surrounded by Sa ...

, and was eligible for both national teams. He has been capped by the

Uruguay national under-20 football team Uruguay national under-20 football team represents Uruguay in international football competitions such as FIFA U-20 World Cup and the South American Youth Football Championship. Results and fixtures 2022 Competiti ...

for the

2011 South American Youth Championship The 2011 South American Youth Championship ( es, Campeonato Sudamericano Sub-20 “Juventud de America” Perú 2011, pt, Campeonato Sul-Americano Sub-20 “Juventude da America” Peru 2011) was a football competition for U-20 national teams in ...

and for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He scored the goal to qualify Uruguay for the 2012 Olympic Games in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Vecino's debut for the Uruguay senior team came on 25 March 2016 against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. In May 2018, he was named in Uruguay's provisional 26 man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals :''As of match played 28 March 2023. Uruguay score listed first, score column indicates score after each Vecino goal.''

Honours

Nacional *

Uruguayan Primera División The Liga Profesional de Primera División (American Spanish , en, First Division Professional League, local: , ''First Division''), named "Torneo Uruguayo Copa Coca-Cola" for sponsorship reasons, is the highest professional football league in Uru ...

: 2011–12 Inter Milan *

: 2020–21 *

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

: 2021–22 * Supercoppa Italiana:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

References

External links

Lazio official profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vecino, Matias 1991 births Living people Footballers from Canelones Department Uruguayan men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Central Español players Club Nacional de Football players Cagliari Calcio players Empoli FC players ACF Fiorentina players Inter Milan players SS Lazio players Uruguayan Primera División players Serie A players Uruguay men's under-20 international footballers Uruguay men's international footballers Copa América Centenario players 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 Copa América players 2021 Copa América players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy