Mathías Adalberto Villasanti Rolón (born 24 January 1997) is a Paraguayan 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 as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...

club Grêmio and the Paraguay national team.

Club career

Early years

Villasanti made 36 league appearances including 31 starts in the 2019 season. In the same season he also featured in the Copa Libertadores on ten occasions. “The Copa taught me some great lessons and made me a better player. The game against Mineiro, in truth, was one of the most beautiful things in the tournament because with the push of our fans we added goals in the blink of an eye.”

Grêmio

On 12 August 2021 Grêmio officially announced the signing of Villasanti from

Cerro Porteño Club Cerro Porteño is a professional Paraguayan Association football, football club, based in the neighbourhood of Obrero (Asunción), Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1912, Cerro has won 34 Paraguayan Primera División, Primera División titles ...

for a

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3.3m transfer fee, with the contract running until December 2024.

International career

Villasanti made his senior national team debut on 10 October 2019 in a friendly against Serbia.

Player profile

Mathías Villasanti primarily plays as a

defensive 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. ...

, although he has also taken on offensive roles within the midfield. He is right-footed, and his playing style has been praised by various specialized media. According to the sports website ''

Versus Versus (Latin, 'against') may refer to: Film and television * ''Versus'' (2000 film), a Japanese zombie film * ''Versus'' (2016 film), a Russian sports drama film * ''Versus'' (2019 film), a French thriller film * Versus (TV channel), form ...

'', Villasanti is a "dynamic and versatile" player. On June 20, 2023, Víctor Martín J., a journalist specializing in tactical analysis for the newspaper '' As'', described him as a player with "a highly technical and virtuosic playing style" and "a remarkable ability to set the offensive rhythm in the final third," referring to him as "the brain of the albirroja." In 2023, Villasanti was awarded the Bola de Prata as the best midfielder in

Brazilian football Football is the most popular sport in Brazil and a prominent part of the country's national identity. The Brazil national football team has won the FIFA World Cup five times, the most of any team, in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. Brazil an ...

, alongside other accolades. That same year, he was also named

Paraguayan Footballer of the Year The Paraguayan Footballer of the Year is an award given to the best Paraguayan professional Association football, football player every year. The award began officially in 1997 and it is presented by Paraguayan newspaper ''ABC Color''. Players tha ...

by ''

ABC Color ''ABC Color'' is a Paraguayan daily newspaper that is part of Editorial Azeta S.A., a subsidiary of Grupo Azeta. It was established in 1967 by Aldo Zuccolillo. Founded in August 1967, it is often regarded as Paraguay's newspaper of record. Histor ...

''. Additionally, the Mexican newspaper '' Vanguardia'' stated that " Grêmio has the most talented player in the midfielder position" and described him as a "box-to-box midfielder." After the first four rounds of the 2026 South American World Cup Qualifiers, Mathías Villasanti was recognized as the "highest-rated" Paraguayan player by the football data platform

Sofascore Sofascore is an application for following sports statistics and results. The app is owned and developed by SofaIT from Zagreb, Croatia. In 2020, the app had 20 million users. It covers 20 different sports and around 11,000 different leagues and ...

, with an average score of 7.5. According to this site, Villasanti achieved an 88% pass accuracy, 86% long pass success rate, 80% successful

dribble In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

s, 64% duels won, along with 20 recoveries and 17 tackles. He was also included in the Team of the Matchday for the first round of the qualifiers by

CONMEBOL CONMEBOL ( ) or CSF (; ; ), is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Parag ...

Personal life

Villasanti's mother has worked for 10 years in a pharmacy in

Malabo Malabo ( , ; formerly ) is the capital of Equatorial Guinea in the province of Bioko Norte. It is located on the north coast of the island of Bioko (, and as ''Fernando Pó'' by the Europeans). In 2018, the city had a population of approxim ...

, Equatorial Guinea to send him money for his well-being. Once he became a well-paid footballer, he brought his mother back to Paraguay.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Grêmio *

Campeonato Gaúcho The Campeonato Gaúcho (English: Gaúcho Championship), officially named as Campeonato Gaúcho de Futebol Série A and commonly known as the Gauchão or the Gauchão Ipiranga (company), Ipiranga for sponsorship reasons, is the top-flight profess ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

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 ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Recopa Gaúcha The Recopa Gaúcha (), is a super cup tournament organized by the Rio Grande do Sul Football Federation (FGF), disputed between the winners of Campeonato Gaúcho The Campeonato Gaúcho (English: Gaúcho Championship), officially named as Cam ...

Individual

* People's Player, by APF: 2020 *Team of the Matchday 1 in the 2026 South American Qualifiers, by

: 2023 *

: 2023 * Best Central Midfielder in Brazil:

* Bola de Prata: 2023 * Team of the Tournament of the

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil () is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and it is the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de Portugal, ...

: 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Villasanti, Mathias 1997 births Living people Paraguayan men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Paraguay men's under-20 international footballers Paraguay men's international footballers 2021 Copa América players 2024 Copa América players Paraguayan Primera División players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Cerro Porteño players Grêmio FBPA players Paraguayan expatriate men's footballers Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil People from Caacupé Footballers from Cordillera Department 21st-century Paraguayan sportsmen