Daniel Alejandro Lembo Betancor (born 15 February 1978) 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 played mainly as a

central defender 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 ...

Club career

Born in the capital Montevideo, Lembo started his career with

C.A. Bella Vista Club Atlético Bella Vista, usually known simply as Bella Vista is a Uruguayan football club based in Montevideo. The club plays its home games at Estadio José Nasazzi, which can hold 10,000 spectators. History Club Atlético Bella Vista was ...

, playing three years with the team. In July 2000 he signed 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 ...

's Parma AC, but left without playing a single game, returning to his country and 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 ...

, for which he scored nine goals in the Primera División ''en route'' to winning three consecutive national championships. Lembo moved to Spain's

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

for the 2003–04 season, and went on to play in 59 official matches netting once, in a 1–0

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' ...

home win over

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues ...

on 31 January 2004. Although playing a major role in the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...

club's

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 footb ...

run in the 2004–05 campaign, he was dropped for the final, and would only appear in four league matches in the next two years combined, mainly due to injuries. Lembo returned to his homeland and hometown in 2007–08, signing with Danubio F.C. but, the following season, on 26 June 2008, he penned a two-year contract with Aris F.C. from Greece.

International career

Lembo gained 39

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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 ...

, making his debut on 17 June 1999 in a 3–2 friendly win with

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

Ciudad del Este Ciudad del Este (, Spanish for Eastern City; often shortered as CDE) is the second-largest city in Paraguay and capital of the Alto Paraná Department, situated on the Paraná River. It is located 327 km from Asunción, the capital, and is ...

, and took part in that year's Copa América as the nation finished second to

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 ...

, scoring one of his two international goals in the 1–1 semifinal match against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

(

penalty shootout 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 ...

win). Lembo was part of Uruguay's squad at the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

, playing the full 90 minutes in the draws against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

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 ...

: 2001, 2002,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

Betis *

: 2004–05 Uruguay * Copa América: runner-up

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

References

External links

*
National team data
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lembo, Alejandro 1978 births Living people Footballers from Montevideo Uruguayan men's footballers Men's association football defenders Uruguayan Primera División players C.A. Bella Vista players Club Nacional de Football players Danubio F.C. players Parma Calcio 1913 players La Liga players Real Betis players Super League Greece players Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players Argentine Primera División players Club Atlético Belgrano footballers Uruguay men's under-20 international footballers Uruguay men's international footballers 2002 FIFA World Cup players 1999 Copa América players Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina