Vicente Martín Sánchez Bragunde (; born 7 December 1979) is a Uruguayan former 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 last played as a

right winger 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 boundarie ...

for

Rio Grande Valley FC Toros Rio Grande Valley FC, also known as RGVFC or Rio Grande Valley FC Toros, is an American semi-professional soccer team based in Edinburg, Texas operated by Lone Star, LLC. They joined the USL Championship in the 2016 season. The team served as a ...

in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

. He has the second most goals all time for

Deportivo Toluca Deportivo Toluca Fútbol Club S.A. de C.V. (), commonly known as Club Deportivo Toluca, is a Mexican football club, playing in the Primera División de México, the top-flight of Mexican football. Toluca's stadium, Estadio Nemesio Díez Riega ...

and the eighth most appearances for Toluca.

Club career

Sánchez was born in Montevideo. He played for Sud América,

Tacuarembó Tacuarembó ( Guarani: ''Takuarembo'', literally: "Bamboo shoot") is the capital city of the Tacuarembó Department in north-central Uruguay. Location and geography The city is located on Km. 390 of Route 5, south-southwest of Rivera, the c ...

, FC Schalke 04, América and Nacional. On 18 January 2008, he joined German club Schalke, where he remained for two seasons. He played in Mexico again for Club América. On 1 August 2010, he scored his first goal for Club América in a match versus Chiapas. Sánchez made the move to Major League Soccer on 6 August 2013 when he signed for

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, lat ...

. On 14 September 2013, he scored his first goal for Colorado and forced an own goal in a 2–1 win over

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the le ...

. He quickly became an integral part of the team and became the designated penalty taker. To start the 2014 season Sanchez scored 4 pk goals in the first 3 games for Colorado. Even with his play time being carefully managed and his appearances limited to substitutions in the last half of most games, Sánchez was a bright spot in an otherwise lackluster

2015 Major League Soccer season. Despite being a crowd favorite with the

fans and the #2 scorer for the team, Sánchez's 2016 contract option was declined as the

front office set out to acquire new talent in the form of players such as

Marco Pappa Marco Pablo Pappa Ponce (born 15 November 1987) is a Guatemalan professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga Nacional club Achuapa. Club career Born in Guatemala City, Pappa, who plays as a winger, joined his local side, Munic ...

Shkëlzen Gashi Shkëlzen Taib Gashi (born 15 July 1988) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder and forward for Swiss club Aarau. Born in Switzerland, he has represented the Albania national team. Club career Early career and Zürich Gashi wa ...

Jermaine Jones Jermaine Junior Jones (born November 3, 1981) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a defensive midfielder. Born in Germany to an American father and German mother, he came up through the German club system and represe ...

and Tim Howard. Sánchez went through the MLS Re-Entry Draft but was not selected by any other team. He joined his hometown club

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 ...

for the 2016 Primera Division Clausura season and helped his team finish fourth, qualifying for the

2017 Copa Sudamericana The 2017 Copa CONMEBOL Sudamericana was the 16th edition of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana (also referred to as the ''Copa Sudamericana'', or pt, Copa Sul-Americana), South America's secondary club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. Argent ...

. Sánchez returned to MLS and joined the Houston Dynamo for the 2017 season. He helped the Dynamo reach the playoff and got the game winning assist in their opening game versus Sporting Kansas City. On 2 April 2021, it was announced that Sánchez would come out of retirement to play and coach for

side Rio Grande Valley FC.

International career

He played for

Uruguay national football team The Uruguay national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de Uruguay) represents Uruguay in international football, and is controlled by the Uruguayan Football Association, the governing body for football in Uruguay. The Uruguayan team i ...

in the 2007 Copa América and has won 31 caps for the national side, scoring five goals.

International goals

, - , 1, , 13 July 2004, , Estadio Miguel Grau, Piura, , , , 2–2, , 2–4 (L), ,

2004 Copa América The 2004 Copa América was the 41st edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body, and was held i ...

, - , 2, , 24 July 2004, , Estadio Garcilaso de la Vega,

Cuzco Cusco, often spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu ()), is a city in Southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the seventh most populous in Peru; ...

, , , , 1–2, , 1–2 (W), ,

, - , 3, , 18 October 2006, ,

Estadio Centenario Estadio Centenario is a stadium in the Parque Batlle of Montevideo, Uruguay, used primarily for football. The stadium was built between 1929 and 1930 to host the inaugural 1930 FIFA World Cup, as well as to commemorate the centenary of Ur ...

, Montevideo, , , , 1–0, , 4–0 (W), , Friendly , - , 4, , 30 June 2007, , Estadio Polideportivo, San Cristóbal, , , , 0–1, , 0–1 (W), , 2007 Copa América , - , 5, , 13 October 2007, ,

, Montevideo, , , , 4–0, , 5–0 (W), , 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Personal life

Sánchez holds a U.S. green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Honours

Toluca * Primera División de México: Apertura 2002, Apertura 2005 * CONCACAF Champion's Cup: 2003 Schalke 04 *

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

: Runner-up 2009–10 Uruguay * Copa América Third Place: 2004; Fourth Place: 2007 Individual * Mexican Primera División Golden Ball: Apertura 2006

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Vicente 1979 births Living people Men's association football forwards Colorado Rapids players Club Nacional de Football players Houston Dynamo FC players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Uruguayan Primera División players Bundesliga players Liga MX players Major League Soccer players Sud América players Footballers from Montevideo FC Schalke 04 players Tacuarembó F.C. players Deportivo Toluca F.C. players Club América footballers 2004 Copa América players 2007 Copa América players Uruguay men's international footballers Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Uruguayan men's footballers Rio Grande Valley FC Toros players