Néstor Fabián Canobbio Bentaberry (born 8 March 1980) 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 an

attacking midfielder 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. ...

. A skilled midfielder with netting ability, he spent most of his career in Spain, having played 225 competitive matches for three clubs.

Club career

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 ...

, Canobbio began his career with Progreso in 1997. In three seasons there, he was impressive enough to be signed by country giants

Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (), more commonly referred to as Peñarol, is a Uruguayan professional football club based in Montevideo. The club currently competes in the Uruguayan Primera División, the highest tier in Uruguayan football. The nam ...

in 2001, where he spent two campaigns scoring more than 30 official goals while helping the capital side to the Primera División title in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

. Canobbio was acquired by

Rafael Benítez Rafael Benítez Maudes (born 16 April 1960) is a Spanish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. He was most recently the manager of La Liga club RC Celta de Vigo, Celta Vigo. Beníte ...

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

in late July 2003, where he featured mainly as a substitute; the manager had not asked for the player to be signed, and famously commented that he had been waiting for a sofa and had been brought a lamp instead. Having scored just once throughout the season, in a 2–2 home draw with

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, 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), the club was fou ...

, he nonetheless managed to make ten appearances in the team's

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

conquest Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or Coercion (international relations), coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or ...

, netting once in the 3–2 win against

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

. For 2004–05, Canobbio joined recently relegated Celta on loan, with the Galician club having the option to buy at the end of the season, which was activated as he finished as the team's joint-top scorer at 12 (with Jandro) and a

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

promotion befell. After three additional campaigns as an important attacking player, scoring seven goals in 2007–08 as Celta failed to return to the top flight, Canobbio was released in July 2008, subsequently joining

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

. In November, he netted in home victories over

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

(3–2, two goals) and

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 ...

(1–0), and appeared regularly in his two-year spell, being relegated in

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 ...

. On 26 July 2010, the 30-year-old Canobbio moved to Greece, signing a one-year contract with Athlitiki Enosi Larissa. Having retired in 2015, he became Progreso's chairman two years later; under his tenure, the club returned to the top tier in the 2018 season, qualifying for the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

and putting an end to a 30-year absence in the competition.

International career

A Uruguayan international since 7 October 2001, in a

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

qualifier against

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, Canobbio went on to represent the nation at the

2007 Copa América The 2007 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, known simply as the 2007 Copa América or 2007 Copa América Venezuela, was the 42nd edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The c ...

, playing two matches for the semi-finalists. Previously, he appeared with the under-20s at the

1999 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Nigeria between 3 and 24 April 1999. This was the 12th edition of the tournament. Qualification The following 24 teams qualified for the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship. :1.Teams tha ...

, a fourth-place finish in Nigeria.

Personal life

Canobbio's younger brother, Carlos, was also a footballer. A defender, he also played in Spain but only in amateur football, and they shared teams at Progreso.

Honours

Peñarol *

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 ...

Valencia *

: 2003–04 *

: 2003–04 Danubio *Uruguayan Primera División: 2013–14

References

External links

*
National team data
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Canobbio, Fabian 1980 births Living people Uruguayan sportspeople of Italian descent Uruguayan men's footballers Footballers from Montevideo Men's association football midfielders Uruguayan Primera División players Uruguayan Segunda División players C.A. Progreso players Peñarol players Centro Atlético Fénix players Danubio F.C. players La Liga players Segunda División players Valencia CF players RC Celta de Vigo players Real Valladolid players Super League Greece players Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C. players UEFA Europa League–winning players Uruguay men's under-20 international footballers Uruguay men's international footballers 2007 Copa América players Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Greece