Álvaro Martín Barreal (born 17 August 2000) is an Argentine 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 lea ...

who plays primarily as a

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for Brazilian club Santos, on loan from

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was first announced on August 12, 2015 as a United Soccer Leag ...

Club career

Vélez Sarsfield

Barreal began his career with Vélez Sarsfield. Gabriel Heinze promoted the midfielder into the club's first-team squad at the beginning of 2018–19, selecting him for his professional debut on 2 September at

La Bombonera La Bombonera (; , named after its resemblance to a chocolate box, per Viktor Sulčič), officially known as Alberto José Armando Stadium (, ; named after Alberto Armando), is an association football stadium located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. ...

against

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

; he was substituted on for Lucas Robertone with thirty-two minutes remaining. He netted his first goal on 3 February 2019 against River Plate.

FC Cincinnati

On 2 September 2020, Barreal signed for

side

. He signed a three-year contract with a club option for a fourth year. Reports out of Argentina listed the transfer fee in the range of $1.5 to 1.7 million for 75 percent of the player's rights, with Vélez Sarsfield retaining 25 percent of any future sale. Also noted was the potential of $250,000 additional for a set number of appearances. Barreal made his debut on October 7 in a 3–0 defeat away to the

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the Union began ...

Subaru Park Subaru Park is a soccer-specific stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania, located next to Commodore Barry Bridge on the waterfront along the Delaware River. The venue is home to the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer. Subaru Park was designed ...

, having replaced Frankie Amaya early in the second half. Four further appearances, all as a starter, arrived in his first season with the American club. In September 2023, Barreal was nominated for the prestigious

FIFA Puskás Award The FIFA Puskás Award is an award established on 20 October 2009 by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), at the behest of then-president Sepp Blatter, to be awarded to the player judged to have scored the most ae ...

for his 71st-minute goal scored against

Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1998 and beginning play in 1999, the club plays in the Eastern Conference (USL), Eastern Conferenc ...

in the U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals. Barreal joined 10 other players on the shortlist for the world's "most beautiful goal" of the year. He was the fourth active

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

player to be nominated for the award, and the first since a 2018 goal by

Zlatan Ibrahimović Zlatan Ibrahimović (born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Ibrahimović is known for his acrobatic strikes and Volley (association footba ...

for

LA Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

Loan to Cruzeiro

On 1 March 2024, FC Cincinnati announced a loan with purchase option on an undisclosed fee to Cruzeiro through December 2024. He was regularly used for the club during his spell, scoring twice in 42 appearances before departing in December.

Loan to Santos

On 6 February 2025, Santos announced the signing of Barreal on a one-year loan deal, with a buyout clause. After nursing an injury, he made his club debut seventeen days later, replacing

Yeferson Soteldo Yeferson Julio Soteldo Martínez (; born 30 June 1997) is a Venezuelan professional association football, footballer who plays for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Fluminense FC, Fluminense and the Venezuela national football team, Venezuela ...

late into a 3–0 away win over

Inter de Limeira Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * Inter Playa del Carmen, a Mexican club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, a F ...

International career

Barreal represented the Argentina U20s at the 2018 COTIF Tournament in Spain. He scored two goals in five games, as Argentina won the tournament. Scouts from the

Argentina national football team The Argentina national football team (), nicknamed ''La Albiceleste'' (), represents Argentina in men's international Association football, football and is administered by the Argentine Football Association, Asociación del Fútbol Argentino ( ...

visited two

games in 2023 to assess him for a potential call up to the senior team.

Career statistics

Honours

Argentina U20 *

L'Alcúdia International Football Tournament The Torneo Internacional de Fútbol Sub-20 de L'Alcúdia (''L'Alcúdia International Under-20 Football Tournament''), better known as COTIF, is an annual international invitational football competition for youth teams, open to both clubs and natio ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

FC Cincinnati *

Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 199 ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Individual *

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual Association football, soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from another league. MLS initially ado ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barreal, Alvaro 2000 births Living people Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentine men's footballers Argentina men's youth international footballers Argentina men's under-20 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States Argentine Primera División players Major League Soccer players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers FC Cincinnati players Major League Soccer All-Stars Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players Santos FC players Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Brazil 21st-century Argentine sportsmen