Santiago Martín Silva Olivera (born 9 December 1980) is a

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 ...

an 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Aldosivi. His nickname is ''El Tanque (The Tank)''.

Career

Silva started his career in Uruguay playing for

Central Español Central Español Fútbol Club, usually known simply as Central Español is a Uruguayan football club based in Montevideo. History The F.U.F era Together with Peñarol, Central founded FUF (Uruguayan football federation) in 1923 after being expel ...

River Plate Montevideo A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wa ...

and

Defensor Sporting Defensor Sporting Club is a sports club based in Montevideo, Uruguay. Founded in 1913, Defensor has several sports sections, with football and basketball being the most important and the ones in which the club has achieved significant achievem ...

. He then had his first spell outside the country playing with Brazilian side

SC Corinthians Sport Club Corinthians Paulista () is a Brazilian sports club based in the Tatuapé district of São Paulo. Although competing in a number of different sports, Corinthians is mostly known for its professional association football team that plays ...

. However, after half a year he returned to Uruguay to play for

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 ...

(where he won the 2002 Uruguayan Primera División), and a second period with River Plate. Subsequently, Silva had two

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an spells with German

Energie Cottbus FC Energie Cottbus ( Lower Sorbian: ''Energija Chóśebuz'') is a German football club based in Cottbus, Brandenburg. It was founded in 1963 as SC Cottbus in what was East Germany. After the reunification of Germany, Energie played six seasons i ...

and Portuguese

S.C. Beira-Mar Sport Clube Beira-Mar () is a Portuguese sports club based in Aveiro, Portugal. Its football team currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth national level, having gained promotion by winning the Aveiro FA First Division 2018/19 ...

. In 2005, he had his first spell in Argentina playing half a season for

Newell's Old Boys Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football. A ...

. After half a year back in Uruguay with his first team, Central Español, Silva returned to Argentina to play for

Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata (; ''La Plata Gymnastics and Fencing Club''), also known simply as Gimnasia, is an Argentine professional sports club based in the city of La Plata, Buenos Aires Province. Founded in 1887 as "Club de Gimnasia ...

in 2006. Three years after his period at Gimnasia, the Uruguayan forward admitted to the press that the team lost on purpose a match against

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

, who were challenging the 2006 Apertura with Gimnasia's rivals

Estudiantes de La Plata Club Estudiantes de La Plata ( lit. "Students from La Plata"), simply referred to as Estudiantes de La Plata , is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Plata. The club's football team currently competes in the Primera División, wh ...

, after pressure from their own team's

hooligans Hooliganism is disruptive or unlawful behavior such as rioting, bullying and vandalism, usually in connection with crowds at sporting events. Etymology There are several theories regarding the origin of the word ''hooliganism,'' which is a ...

. Silva joined Vélez Sarsfield in 2007, and was loaned to Banfield in 2009. He played 2 Short tournaments with Banfield scoring 22 goals in 35 games with the team. During the 2009 Apertura he scored 14 goals in 18 games, including two in the victory on the derby against

Lanús Lanús () is the capital of Lanús Partido, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It lies just south of the capital city Buenos Aires, in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area. The city has a population of 212,152 (), and the Partido de Lan� ...

. Silva helped Banfield obtain their first

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

title of their history and finished as the tournament's top scorer in the process. During his time in Banfield, he played along fellow Uruguayan player

Sebastián Fernández Sebastián Bruno Fernández Miglierina (born 23 May 1985) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Danubio. Club career upFernández with Málaga in 2012 Born in Montevideo, Fernández started his professional pla ...

as his striking partner. In January 2010, he returned from his loan to Vélez Sársfield. He made a strong striking partnership with

Juan Manuel Martínez Juan Manuel Martínez (born October 25, 1985), nicknamed ''Burrito'' (in English, "Little Donkey"), is an Argentine football forward who plays for Almirante Brown. He also holds a Portuguese passport. Martínez is best known for his agility, ...

during the 2010 Apertura (in which Vélez was runner-up). Silva started the 19 games and scored 11 goals, while Martínez scored a further 10 in 19. The Uruguayan forward also finished the tournament as league top scorer, along Tigre's

Denis Stracqualursi Denis Andrés Stracqualursi (born 20 October 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Unión de Sunchales. Career Stracqualursi started his playing career in 2007 with Unión de Sunchales in the 3rd division ...

. The following semester, Silva won his second Argentine league title (first with Vélez) playing 13 games and scoring 7 goals during the 2011 Clausura. However, he was not the team's top goalscorer, due to David Ramírez finishing the tournament one goal ahead. He also helped his team reach the semi-finals of the

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 ...

, playing 9 games and scoring 4 times. Silva started the 2011–12 season with Vélez, playing two games and scoring once. However, on August 23,

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 ...

paid his contract's buyout clause of €1.73 million. Silva decided to join the Italian club citing personal reasons (he wanted a second chance in European football), despite there not being an economical difference between the contract offered by Fiorentina and the renewal offered by Vélez. Later on in 2012, he played for the Argentine team

. He made his first goal against Estudiantes (LP) and in the Copa Libertadores 2012 he scored a goal against

Unión Española Club Unión Española S.A.D.P. is a professional association football, football club based in the Independencia, Chile, Independencia neighborhood, commune of Santiago, Chile. They currently participate in the Chilean Primera Division, Primera D ...

scoring his first goal in the tournament with Boca Juniors. After Boca qualified to the Quarter Finals they played against Brazilian team

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club (), known as Fluminense, is a Brazilian sports club best known for its professional football team that competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first tier of Brazilian football and the Campeonato Carioca, th ...

were Silva in the second game leading by the 90 minute, scored the 1-1 which made Boca Juniors qualify to the Semi Finals. He later scored against

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

which qualified Boca Juniors to the Finals, where they lost 2-0 against Corinthians which became champions in Copa Libertadores 2012. In 2015, Silva signed for

Arsenal de Sarandí An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

after a spell at

, in which he played a key part in winning the

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...

. On 1 January 2016, Silva returned to Banfield.

Honours

Club

;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 Association football, ...

(1): 2002 ;Banfield *

(1): 2009 Apertura ;Vélez Sársfield *

(1): 2011 Clausura ;Boca Juniors *

Copa Argentina The Copa Argentina (English: ''Argentine Cup''), officially known as the "Copa Argentina AXION energy" due to sponsorship reasons, is an official football cup competition organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA), with the aim of qual ...

(1):

2011–12 Copa Argentina The 2011–12 Copa Argentina was the third edition of the Copa Argentina, and the first since 1970. The competition began on August 31, 2011 and ended on August 8, 2012. The tournament featured 186 clubs from the top five levels of the Argentine f ...

;Lanús *

(1):

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Individual

* Argentine Primera División top scorer (2): 2009 Apertura (with Banfield), 2010 Apertura (with Vélez Sársfield)

References

External links

Profile
at Vélez Sársfield official website
Argentine Primera statistics
at Fútbol XXI
Statistics
at BDFA * {{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Santiago 1980 births Living people Footballers from Montevideo Uruguayan footballers Uruguayan expatriate footballers Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Association football forwards Central Español players Club Atlético River Plate (Montevideo) players S.C. Beira-Mar players Defensor Sporting players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players FC Energie Cottbus players Newell's Old Boys footballers Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata footballers Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers Club Atlético Banfield footballers Club Deportivo Universidad Católica footballers Talleres de Córdoba footballers ACF Fiorentina players Argentinos Juniors footballers Aldosivi footballers 2. Bundesliga players Uruguayan Primera División players Argentine Primera División players Chilean Primera División players Serie A players Expatriate footballers in Argentina Expatriate footballers in Brazil Expatriate footballers in Chile Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Portugal Footballers at the 2011 Pan American Games Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Chile Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Italy Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Germany Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Pan American Games competitors for Uruguay Pan American Games bronze medalists for Uruguay Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Pan American Games medalists in football