Gustavo Antonio Varela Rodríguez (born 14 May 1978) 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 ...

. He was a versatile right sided player who also could "be played as a lone striker, behind the front two" or at the heart of midfield.

Career

Varela started his career in

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 ...

in Uruguay, and played between 2002 and 2008 for FC Schalke 04 in Germany. After his contract with Schalke 04 expired in January 2009, Varela returned to

. Varela transferred to Argentina to play for recently promoted

Quilmes Quilmes () is a city on the coast of the Rio de la Plata, in the , on the south east of the Greater Buenos Aires. The city was founded in 1666 and it is the seat of the eponymous county. With a population of 230,810, it is located south of the ...

in the

2010–11 Argentine Primera División season The 2010–11 Primera División season was the 120th season of top-flight professional football in Argentina. A total of 20 teams competed in two championships —the Apertura and Clausura— over the course of the season, which starte ...

International career

Varela made 24 appearances for the

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 ...

, and was a participant 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 ...

Honours

Schalke 04 * UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2003 *

DFB-Ligapokal The DFL-Ligapokal (, officially Premiere Ligapokal , previously DFB-Ligapokal ) or the ''German League Cup'' was a German football competition that took place before the start of the Bundesliga season, featuring the top five teams of the previous ...

: 2005

References

External links

* * * Living people 1978 births Association football midfielders Uruguayan footballers Club Nacional de Football players FC Schalke 04 players Quilmes Atlético Club footballers C.A. Cerro players Uruguay international footballers 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2004 Copa América players Uruguayan Primera División players Bundesliga players Argentine Primera División players Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Argentina Uruguayan expatriate footballers {{Uruguay-footy-midfielder-1970s-stub