Andrés Scotti Ponce de León (born 14 December 1975) 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 lea ...

who played as

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

and rarely as

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. Between 2006 and 2013, he made 40 appearances and scored one goal for the Uruguay national team.

Club career

Early career

Scotti was born in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, but grew up in

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

, capital of

Flores Department Flores () is a Departments of Uruguay, department of Uruguay, positioned in the southwest of the central part of the country. Its capital is Trinidad, Uruguay, Trinidad. It borders Durazno Department to the north and east, Florida Department to th ...

. He started his career playing football for the local village team Independiente in 1993, when he was between 17 and 18 years old. Scotti won the regional tournament title in his second season with Independiente in 1994. After three seasons in Independiente, in 1997 he joined to

Central Español Central Español Fútbol Club, usually known simply as Central Español is a Uruguayan football club based in Montevideo. History The F.U.F era Together with Peñarol, Central founded FUF (Uruguayan football federation) in 1923 after being expel ...

on trial. He spent only three months there before leaving for Montevideo Wanderers. In that club, Scotti played 12 games and scored one goal for the club during the Uruguayan first division tournament of that year. In 1998, Scotti played for his first international club, the

Chilean Primera División The Chilean Primera División () is a professional association football league in Chile and the highest level of the Chilean football league system. Founded in 1933, it is organized by the Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (ANFP). The l ...

team Huachipato, where Scotti had a good spell, for example, having much continuity, scoring goals and being elected the best player of the tournament in his position. He remained until the next season, when he was transferred to the Mexican club

Necaxa Impulsora del Deportivo Necaxa S.A. de C.V. (); often simply known as Club Necaxa, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Aguascalientes (city), Aguascalientes. It competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican ...

. There, he achieved third place FIFA Club World Championship 2000, after winning 4–3 on penalties against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. In 2001, he returned to Uruguay to play again for Montevideo Wanderers. In 2002, he was transferred to

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 ...

, winning the Torneo Apertura and the Campeonato Uruguayo, scoring a goal in the second final game.

Russia and Argentina

He then moved to Russia in 2003 where he played for

FC Rubin Kazan FC Rubin Kazan (; ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in the city of Kazan. They play in the Russian Premier League. Founded 1958 in Russia, in 1958, Rubin played its first-ever top flight season in 2003 Russia ...

in the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

until December 2006. In January 2007, Scotti joined

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

side

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

, on request of the team's coach Ricardo Caruso Lombardi.

Colo-Colo

On 31 December 2009, it was announced that Scotti had come to verbal agreements with

Colo-Colo Colo-Colo (), officially Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo, is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano, it competes in the Chilean Primera División, from which the club has never been ...

for an undisclosed fee. He put pen to paper on a one-year deal and joined

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

club before New Year's Day alongside Argentinian Matías Quiroga. After overcoming medical examinations and training he made his debut on 15 January 2010, in a friendly against Olimpia which Colo-Colo drew 3–3. His league debut came on 23 January, in a 3–2 loss against

Unión San Felipe Unión San Felipe is a Chilean football club, their hometown is San Felipe in the V Región of Valparaíso. They play in the second level of the Chilean football league, the Primera B. The club was founded on October 16, 1956 with the merger ...

and his first goal for the club was in a 3–0 home victory over

Palestino The term ''Palestino'' is the Spanish word for "Palestinian". The word "''Palestino''" is used in Cuba as a disparaging nickname for illegal migrants within the country. The nickname is used as a rhetorical device, that compares illegal migrants ...

after an excellent free kick. Then, on 8 May, Scotti scored his second league goal in a 5–2 win to Cobresal, his goal being voted the week's best according to CDF's top five weekly summary of goals. After the

World Cup 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 name is ...

held at South Africa (which Scotti played with Uruguay national team) he began to lose his shape, so that Diego Cagna (the club's coach) relegate him some games to the detriment of

Miguel Riffo Miguel Augusto Riffo Garay (born 21 June 1981) is a former Chilean professional association football, football player and the current Manager (association football), manager of Curicó Unido's youth categories. Club career Product of Colo-Colo ...

. On 7 November, Scotti played in the 2–2 Chilean derby draw with

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile () is a public research university in Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the co ...

where was sent off after double yellow card following a challenge with adversary team striker Carlos Bueno. However Colo-Colo lost the race for the title with Universidad Católica in the penultimate matchday after a seven-point lead over San Carlos team, which finished when Scotti's side lost 2–1 with O'Higgins and Católica won simultaneously 3–2 over Cobreloa at Calama.

International career

Scotti played for

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of 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 the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

in Copa América 2007 and in the FIFA World Cup 2010 where he scored a penalty in the shoot-out against

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

. In 2011, he won the

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

, tournament where he scored a penalty in the shoot-out against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in quarterfinals. On 27 July 2010, he was reserved to play a friendly match against

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

. On 23 June 2013, Scotti played against

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

in the 2013 Confederations Cup and missed a penalty at the 49th minute. Two minutes later he was red carded when he was shown a second yellow card. Uruguay went on to win the match 8–0. He was standby player to Uruguay in FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil.

AUF normalisation committee

On 21 August 2018, FIFA appointed a normalisation committee for the

Uruguayan Football Association The Uruguayan Football Association ( — ) is the governing body of association football, football in Uruguay. It was founded in 1900, as The Uruguayan Association Football League, and affiliated to FIFA in 1923. It is a founding member of CONMEB ...

(AUF). Three persons were put in charge: politicians

Pedro Bordaberry Juan Pedro Bordaberry Herrán (born 28 April 1960) is a Uruguayan attorney, lecturer, and politician, serving as Senate of Uruguay, Senator of the Republic since 2025. He previously served in the same position from 2010 to 2020, as Ministry of To ...

(son of former dictator

Juan María Bordaberry Juan María Bordaberry Arocena (; 17 June 1928 – 17 July 2011), was an Uruguayan politician and cattle rancher who served as the 34th President of Uruguay from 1972 until his resignation in 1976 and the 1st President of the Civic-Military Dic ...

) and Armando Castaingdebat, and Scotti.

Personal life

Andrés was raised in

, the capital of

, he is the oldest son of María Cecilia Ponce de León and Carlos Scotti. He has one younger brother, Diego, that is also a footballer and plays

Unión Española Club Unión Española S.A.D.P. is a professional football club based in the Independencia neighborhood, commune of Santiago, Chile currently participating in the Primera División de Chile. History Foundation, Amateur Era and First seasons ...

. He has other two sisters, one lives in

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

and the other in

Career statistics

International

:Source:

International goals

, - bgcolor=#DFE7FF , 1. , , 9 September 2009 , ,

Estadio Centenario Centenario Stadium (, ; , named after the Constitution of Uruguay of 1830, centenary of Constitution of Uruguay, Uruguay's Constitution) is an association football stadium in Montevideo, Uruguay. Located in the Parque Batlle, Parque Battle neig ...

, Montevideo, Uruguay , , , , 2–1 , , 3–1 , ,

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oc ...

Honours

Club

Necaxa *

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

: third place

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Nacional *

Uruguayan Primera División The Liga Profesional de Primera División (American Spanish , , local: , ''First Division''), named "Torneo Uruguayo Copa Coca-Cola" for sponsorship reasons, is the highest professional Association football, football league in Uruguay organized b ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, 2011–12

International

Uruguay *

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

(fourth place)

References

External links

* * * at Fútbol XXI {{DEFAULTSORT:Scotti, Andres 1975 births Living people Uruguayan sportspeople of Italian descent Argentinos Juniors footballers Central Español players Club Nacional de Football players FC Rubin Kazan players Russian Premier League players Men's association football defenders Montevideo Wanderers F.C. players Footballers from Montevideo Huachipato FC footballers Colo-Colo footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Chile Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Uruguay men's international footballers 2007 Copa América players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2011 Copa América players Uruguayan men's footballers Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Chile Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Uruguayan Primera División players Liga MX players Chilean Primera División players Argentine Primera División players 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup players Copa América–winning players