Ruben Sosa Ardaiz (born 25 April 1966) is a Uruguayan former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

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 ...

. He was a member of the Uruguay national team and a plethora of

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

around the world.

Club career

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 ...

, Sosa started his career in

Danubio Danubio Fútbol Club is a Uruguayan football club based in Jardines del Hipódromo, Montevideo that currently plays in the Uruguayan Primera División. Founded in 1932, the club's home stadium is Jardines del Hipódromo, which has a capacity o ...

at the age of 15, being one of the youngest footballers to play in the Uruguayan First Division. He played for Danubio from 1982 to 1985, when he was transferred to Spain's

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at La ...

. With this club, Ruben Sosa won the

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 footbal ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

, scoring in the final against

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

. After playing for Zaragoza, Ruben Sosa was transferred to Italy's

S.S. Lazio Società Sportiva Lazio (; ; ''Lazio Sport Club''), commonly referred to as Lazio, is an Italian professional sports club based in Rome, most known for its football activity. The society, founded in 1900, plays in the Serie A and have spent ...

, staying for four years before being sold to

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

, where he reached his greatest form as a football player. He was Inter's leading goal scorer in the 1992–93 and 1993–94 seasons, winning the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

. However, the arrival of

Dennis Bergkamp Dennis Nicolaas Maria Bergkamp (; born 10 May 1969) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. Originally a wide midfielder, Bergkamp was moved to main striker and then to second striker, where he remained throughout his playing ...

in the Summer of 1993, led to splits within the Inter camp, and as a result Sosa left Serie A in the summer of 1995. After years of success in Uruguay, Spain and Italy, Ruben Sosa played for Germany's

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...

, winning the Bundesliga title in 1995–96. When he left Borussia Dortmund, he returned to Spain to play for

CD Logroñés Club Deportivo Logroñés, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja. Founded in 1940, it last played in ''Regional Preferente de La Rioja''. Due to financial problems, since 2009 the club has ...

. After a couple of months playing for the team, Ruben Sosa decided to leave in order to make his dream come true: he wanted to play for his favourite team in Uruguay, famous

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 ...

. At Nacional, Sosa won the Uruguayan League in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

and

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, becoming one of the fans' heroes. In 2002, he left Nacional to play in China's

Shanghai Shenhua Shanghai Shenhua F.C. () is a Chinese professional football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under license from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The term ''shen hua'' literally translates as "the Flower of Shanghai" in ...

. In 2003, Shanghai won the

Chinese Jia-A League The National Football Jia A League (simplified Chinese, commonly known as Jia-A, was the highest tier of professional football in the People's Republic of China, during 1994 through 2003, operating under the auspices of the Chinese Football Associ ...

title, but the club was stripped of the title in 2013 for

match fixing In organized sports, match fixing is the act of playing or officiating a match with the intention of achieving a pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. There are many reasons why match fixing might take place, ...

. In 2004, he returned to Nacional, this time as assistant coach, winning the 2005 league title.

International career

With the Uruguay national team, Sosa won the

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 ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

and

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, and he played at the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...

in Italy; he also managed a runners-up medal at the

1989 Copa América The Copa América 1989 football tournament was hosted by Brazil, from 1 to 16 July. All ten CONMEBOL member nations participated. Brazil won their fourth Copa América, and first since 1949, by beating Uruguay 1–0 in the final match at the ...

, where he was named the tournament's best player, and later took part at the

1993 Copa América The 1993 Copa América was the 36th Copa América, CONMEBOL's football tournament for national teams. It was held in Ecuador between 15 June and 4 July. All 10 CONMEBOL members took part, but for the first time two nations from outside CONMEBOL w ...

Style of play

Nicknamed ''El Principito'' (The Little Prince) by Uruguayan fans, Sosa was a quick, creative, talented, agile, and powerful left-footed forward, with good skills, control, and explosive acceleration. A diminutive footballer with a stocky physique, he was usually deployed as a

second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, although he was also capable of playing as a main striker or even as a winger, as he was capable of both scoring and creating goals. He was known in particular for his spectacular efforts and thunderous free kicks. A complete forward, who could shoot, volley, dribble, pass with precision, and hold up the ball to create chances for teammates, his attributes made him one of the best strikers in Europe during his prime. He is considered by many to be one of the best Uruguayan forwards of the last thirty years, alongside

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 ...

Enzo Francescoli Enzo Francescoli Uriarte (; born 12 November 1961), nicknamed "El Príncipe" ("The Prince"), is a Uruguayan former footballer who played as a attacking midfielder. He is regarded as one of the best playmakers of his generation and as one of Uru ...

, Carlos Aguilera,

Álvaro Recoba Álvaro Alexánder Recoba Rivero (; born 17 March 1976; nickname "El Chino"

Daniel Fonseca Daniel Fonseca Garis (born 13 September 1969) is a Uruguayan former footballer and a current football agent. A former forward, throughout his playing career, he played for Uruguayan side Nacional, as well as Italian clubs Cagliari, Napoli, ...

Diego Forlán Diego Martín Forlán Corazo (born 19 May 1979) is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former player who played as a forward. Regarded as one of the best forwards of his generation, Forlán is a two-time winner of both the Pichichi T ...

, and

Rubén Paz Ruben Wálter Paz Márquez (born 8 August 1959) is a Uruguayan former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Paz played at two FIFA World Cups for Uruguay and was also South American Footballer of the Year in 1988. He retired in 20 ...

Post-retirement

Nowadays, Ruben Sosa works for

as assistant coach, but he also played for a

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

team in Uruguay,

Racing Club de Montevideo Racing Club de Montevideo is a football club from Montevideo in Uruguay. It currently participates in the Uruguayan Segunda División Profesional following their relegation at the end of the 2019 season. Racing CM is known as "La Escuelita" (Th ...

in 2006.

Career statistics

Honours

Danubio *Liguilla Pre-Libertadores de América: 1983 Real Zaragoza *

: 1985–86 Inter *

: 1993–94 Borussia Dortmund *

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 ...

: 1995–96 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, ...

Uruguay *

Individual *

CONMEBOL The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL, , or CSF; es, Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol; pt, Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol) is the continental governing body of football in South America (apart from Guyana, Suri ...

Most Valuable Player of the Tournament:

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

*Pirata d'Oro (Internazionale Player Of The Year): 1993 *

Top scorer:

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 ...

Top scorer:

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 shootin ...

References

External links

TD.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sosa, Ruben 1966 births Living people Footballers from Montevideo Uruguayan footballers Uruguayan people of Spanish descent Association football forwards Uruguayan Primera División players La Liga players Bundesliga players Serie A players Danubio F.C. players Real Zaragoza players CD Logroñés footballers S.S. Lazio players Inter Milan players Borussia Dortmund players Club Nacional de Football players Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players Racing Club de Montevideo players Uruguay international footballers Uruguay under-20 international footballers Uruguayan expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Germany 1990 FIFA World Cup players 1987 Copa América players 1989 Copa América players 1993 Copa América players Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in China 1995 Copa América players Expatriate footballers in China UEFA Cup winning players