Álvaro Daniel Pereira Barragán (; born 28 November 1985) is a Uruguayan former

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 le ...

. After starting out at

Miramar Misiones Club Sportivo Miramar Misiones, usually known simply as Miramar Misiones is a Uruguayan football club based in Montevideo. The club was formed from the merger of two clubs: Miramar (founded on October 17, 1915) and Misiones (founded on March 26 ...

he went on to play for a host of clubs in several countries, mainly

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

and

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 Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

, winning eight major titles with the former while appearing in 118 competitive matches (three goals). A Uruguay international since 2008, Pereira represented his country in two

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

and three

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

s, earning 83

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

and winning the 2011 edition of the latter tournament.

Club career

Early years

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 ...

, Pereira began his career with

in 2003, moving to Argentina with

Quilmes Atlético Club Quilmes Atlético Club () is an Argentine sports club based in the Quilmes district of Greater Buenos Aires. Established in 1887 (although the date of foundation is still under dispute), Quilmes is the oldest club of Argentina still competing i ...

two years later. After the latter's relegation from the Primera División at the end of the 2006–07 season he joined

Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was recognized as one of the ...

, finishing as the team's top goalscorer in the 2007 Apertura. In the middle of 2008, Pereira signed with Romania's

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ), is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, which competes in the Liga I. It was founded in 1907 as ''Kolozsvári Vas ...

for a

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

2.5 million fee. He started in all the club's matches in its debut campaign in 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 competit ...

Porto

Pereira joined

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

on 4 June 2009 for a reported €4.5 million, with the Portuguese acquiring 80% of the player's rights. In his first year he mostly operated as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, as the northerners finished third and won the

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seaso ...

. He scored his first goal for the club on 21 February 2010, netting the second in a 5–1 home thrashing of

S.C. Braga Sporting Clube de Braga () (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese ...

. In Pereira's second season at the

Estádio do Dragão The Estádio do Dragão (; English: Dragon Stadium) is an all-seater football stadium in Porto, Portugal, and the home ground of FC Porto since 2003. It has a seating capacity of 50,033, making it the third largest football stadium in Portugal ...

, he featured in 21

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

games (all starts), adding 12

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

appearances as Porto won

the treble A treble in association football is achieved when a club team wins three trophies in a single season. A ''continental treble'' involves winning the club's national league competition, main national cup competition, and main continental trophy. A ...

. He also started in the campaign's Portuguese Cup final against

Vitória de Guimarães Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória ...

on 22 May 2011, scoring an

own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...

in the 21st minute to bring the sides level, in an eventual 6–2 triumph. After Porto rejected an offer from

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

in the summer for Pereira, he signed a new contract on 3 October 2011 running until 2016, with his release clause remaining at £25.7 million. In late December, he heavily criticised

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Patrice Evra Patrice Latyr Evra (; born 15 May 1981) is a French football coach and former professional player. Originally a forward, he primarily played as a left-back. Evra served as captain for both Manchester United and the France national team. His ...

for reporting alleged racist abuse from Pereira's national team colleague

Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Uruguayan Primera División club Nacional and the Uruguay national team. Nicknamed ''El Pistolero'' ('The Gunman'), he is ...

– including a claim from Evra that Suárez "doesn't speak to black players" – saying that "what happens on the pitch stays on the pitch", adding that the Frenchman would have to "wear body armour" if the players' future international friendly was to take place immediately instead of in late 2012.

Inter Milan

Pereira signed for

in late August 2012 for €10 million on a four-year contract, reuniting with former Porto teammate

Fredy Guarín Fredy Alejandro Guarín Vásquez (born 30 June 1986) is a Colombian former professional footballer. A versatile player, he was comfortable as a central, defensive or right midfielder. He started his career with Envigado, then had a short spell ...

. He made his

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 Coppa ...

debut on 2 September in a 1–3 home loss against

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

, and finished his first season with 40 appearances all competitions comprised, scoring his only goal in a 2–0 league victory at

A.C. ChievoVerona Associazione Calcio ChievoVerona, commonly referred to as ChievoVerona or simply Chievo , is a former professional Italian football club named after and based in Chievo, a suburb of 4,500 inhabitants in Verona, Veneto, and owned by Paluani, ...

. On 17 January 2014,

São Paulo FC São Paulo Futebol Clube (), commonly referred to as São Paulo, is a professional football club in the Morumbi district of São Paulo, Brazil, founded in 1930. It plays in the Campeonato Paulista (the State of São Paulo's premier state leag ...

signed Pereira on loan for one and a half years, with an option to make the move permanent. He played his first match with his new club nine days later, a 2–1 win against

Oeste Futebol Clube Oeste Futebol Clube, commonly referred to as simply Oeste, is a Brazilian association football club based in Barueri, São Paulo. They currently play in the Campeonato Paulista Série A2, the second division of the São Paulo state football le ...

for that year's

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional association football, football league in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo. Run b ...

, assisting Antônio Carlos in the second goal; after the match, he stated he "...liked the team's intensity", further adding he still needed to "...improve a lot."

Estudiantes

In January 2015, Pereira returned to Argentina to join

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 ...

in a temporary deal, with an obligation to sign for €2.752 million. He appeared in 36 matches across all competitions in his first year, scoring three goals – including one in a 1–1 draw with

San Martín de San Juan Club Atlético San Martín, mostly known as San Martín de San Juan, is an Argentine football club from the city of San Juan. The team currently plays in the Argentine Primera B Nacional, the second division of the Argentine football league sy ...

in the

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 ...

which Estudiantes won after a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. However, in his last appearance, an exhibition game against neighbouring

Club de 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 Gimnasi ...

which eventually turned into a massive brawl, he assaulted opponent Facundo Oreja with a kick to the face which saw him

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

; he was eventually handed an eight-match ban, which he served at his following club

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol (), or simply Getafe, is a professional football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. The team competes in La Liga, the highest tier of the Spanish football system. The club's home stadium (owned and op ...

, where he arrived in February 2016 on loan until June. Pereira played his first match for the Spaniards on 1 March 2016, being ejected after two bookable offences midway through the second half of a 0–4 defeat at

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Las Palmas, on the island of Gran Canaria in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded on 22 August 1949, it plays in Segunda División, holding home games at the ...

Late career

On 3 July 2016, Pereira signed a one-year loan contract with

Cerro Porteño Club Cerro Porteño is a professional Paraguayan football club, based in the neighbourhood of Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1912, Cerro has won 34 Primera División titles and is one of the most popular football clubs in Paraguay. Its presi ...

of the

Paraguayan Primera División The División Profesional de la Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol (; "Professional Division of the Paraguayan Football Association"), also known as the Primera División (; "first division"), or due to sponsorship reasons Copa de Primera TIGO-Vis ...

. During his spell in Barrio Obrero, he dealt with several injury problems. Pereira returned to his country's and its Primera División in late January 2019, with the 33-year-old joining

Club Nacional de Football Club Nacional de Football (, ''National Football Club'' or simply as Nacional) is a Uruguayan professional sports club based in Montevideo. The club was founded on 14 May 1899 as a result of the merger between ''Uruguay Athletic Club'' and ''Mon ...

still on loan from Estudiantes. On his debut on 4 February, he was sent off for a second

yellow card Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative conce ...

at the end of

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

as the club won the Supercopa Uruguaya on penalties against rivals

Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (; English: ''Peñarol Athletic Club'') —also known as ''Carboneros'', ''Aurinegros,'' and (familiarly) ''Manyas''— is a Uruguayan sports club from Montevideo. The name "Peñarol" comes from the Peñarol neigh ...

. Having played only eight competitive games during his tenure, Pereira became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

and returned to Paraguay, signing for Club Atlético River Plate (Asunción) in January 2020. On 7 October that year he came back to Europe, by joining

ŠKF Sereď ŠKF Sereď () is a Slovak football team, based in the town of Sereď, that plays in the Slovak Super Liga. It was founded as Sereďský športový klub in 1914. The club won the Slovak 2. Liga in 2017–18, thereby gaining promotion to Slovaki ...

in the

Slovak Super Liga The Slovak Super Liga is the top level football league in Slovakia, currently known as the Fortuna Liga due to a sponsorship arrangement. It was formed in 1993 following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The record for most titles is eleven, he ...

. He only completed some seven minutes for Sereď against

FC ViOn Zlaté Moravce FC ViOn Zlaté Moravce – Vráble is a Slovak football team, based in the town of Zlaté Moravce. The club was founded on 22 January 1995. History From the club's establishment in 1995 until 2004, they played in various regional competitions ...

, before contracting

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He departed from the club in December after some two months.

International career

Pereira made his debut for

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 ...

against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, on 19 November 2008. He scored his first international goal in his next match, another friendly, with

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

(3–2 win). Pereira was an undisputed starter for the nation during the second half of the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

qualifiers, also starting in both legs of the successful playoffs against

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

as the ''Charrúas'' returned to the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

. In the finals in South Africa he played in all the matches except two, scoring through a rare header in a 3–0 group stage victory over the hosts. Pereira was selected to the

2011 Copa América The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, better known as the 2011 Copa América or the Copa América 2011 Argentina, was the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South Americ ...

in Argentina, being first-choice and scoring two goals in the group stage, including the game's only against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

as Uruguay won its 15th continental tournament. In 2013, he represented ''La Celeste'' at the

2013 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup was the ninth FIFA Confederations Cup, which was held in Brazil from 15 to 30 June 2013 as a prelude to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The most recent winners of the six continental championships appeared in the tourna ...

as the nation reached the semi-finals, and also participated in the team's successful World Cup qualifying campaign. On 2 June 2014, Pereira was named in Uruguay's squad for the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

finals. On 19 June, in the second group game against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, he was struck unconscious after being kneed in the head by

Raheem Sterling Raheem Shaquille Sterling (born 8 December 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger and attacking midfielder for club Chelsea. Born in Jamaica, he represents the England national team. Born in Jamaica to Jamaican parents, St ...

, but refused to be replaced after recovering and went on to feature the full 90 minutes in the 2–1 win. At the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

in Chile, Pereira was suspended for the quarter-final against the hosts, and his team lost by a single goal. The following year, at the next edition in the United States, he only played the first group game, in which he scored an

in a 3–1 loss to

. On 17 November 2015 Pereira scored 2 goals to make the 4–0 win to Uruguay in the qualifiers

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

Honours

CFR Cluj *

Cupa României The Cupa României ( en, Romanian Cup) is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. I ...

: 2008–09 Porto *

: 2010–11, 2011–12 *

: 2009–10, 2010–11 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese football match played since 1979 between the winners of the Portuguese League (Primeira Liga) and Portuguese ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

: 2010–11 *

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual football club competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the Primeira Liga and LigaPro, the top two tier ...

runner-up: 2009–10 Cerro Porteño *

: 2017 Clausura Nacional * Supercopa Uruguaya:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Uruguay *

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

References

External links