Matías Alejandro Laba (born 11 December 1991) is an Argentine

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

Barracas Central Club Atlético Barracas Central is an Argentine professional association football, football club from the district of Barracas, Buenos Aires. Established in 1904, Barracas Central returned to the Argentine Primera División, Primera División, th ...

Club career

Laba started his professional career playing for

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 ...

in the 2011 Clausura, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 1–1 draw with Vélez Sársfield. During his first season with the first team, he played a total 14 league games, plus another 4 in the

2011 Copa Libertadores The 2011 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2011 Copa Santander Libertadores de América for sponsorship reasons) was the 52nd edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier international club football tournamen ...

. After weeks of speculation, it was officially announced on 26 April 2013 that Laba had signed with

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

as a young designated player, the transfer fee was undisclosed but believed to be in the range of $1.5 million. Laba made his debut for Toronto in a 1–0 away loss to

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

on 4 May 2013. Laba scored his first goal with Toronto on 4 August 2013, in the second minute of the match against

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

, the match ended in a 1–0 away victory. After the signings of Designated Players

Jermain Defoe Jermain Colin Defoe (born 7 October 1982) is an English football coach and former professional player. He was most recently the under-18s coach at Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. Defoe was a striker and began his career with Charlto ...

, Michael Bradley, and Gilberto, Toronto was above the league limit of three DPs, and were forced to move Laba. On 25 February 2014, Laba was traded by Toronto to the

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The MLS ite ...

for future considerations. Laba scored his first goal for Vancouver in a Voyageurs Cup match vs. FC Edmonton, tucking away the loose ball after a goal mouth scramble. His first MLS goal with Vancouver came against

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

on 18 July 2015. Collecting the ball from midfield, the defense applied no pressure to Laba, allowing him to fire a shot into the bottom corner from 25 yards. He also led MLS in successful tackles in the 2014 season. In April 2017, Laba gave Vancouver Whitecaps a 4–2 victory over

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 ...

after scoring the last two goals of the match. On 26 January 2018, Laba signed with

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 Estudiantes. In 2019, he joined

Unión La Calera Unión La Calera is a Chilean football club based in La Calera, Chile. The club competes in the Primera División de Chile. It was founded as Club de Deportes La Calera on 26 January 1954, after the merger of three teams from the city: ''Condor' ...

in 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 ...

, making a total of 26 appearances, including four matches in the

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...

. In January 2020, he returned to the Argentine top tier, signing with

Defensa y Justicia Club Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia, commonly known as Defensa y Justicia, is an Argentine football club from Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires, established in 1935.

. In November 2020, he returned to Unión La Calera. He left the club at the end of January 2022, after signing with Argentine club Central Córdoba SdE.

International career

In July 2011, Laba was selected to represent the

Argentina national under-20 football team The Argentina national under-20 Association football, football team is the representative of Argentina in FIFA-sponsored tournaments that pertain to that age level. Argentina is the most successful nation in the FIFA U-20 World Cup, winning the c ...

at the

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

Honours

Argentinos Juniors *

: Clausura 2010 Argentina *

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

Runner-up:

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 ...

Vancouver Whitecaps FC *

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship () is an annual soccer tournament contested by Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and a berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. It is contested by Major League Soccer sides Toronto FC, Va ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Laba, Matias 1991 births Living people Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentine men's footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentina men's under-20 international footballers Argentina men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders Pan American Games silver medalists in football Pan American Games silver medalists for Argentina Pan American Games footballers for Argentina Footballers at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Designated Players (MLS) Argentinos Juniors footballers Toronto FC players Vancouver Whitecaps FC players Estudiantes de La Plata footballers Unión La Calera footballers Defensa y Justicia footballers Central Córdoba de Santiago del Estero footballers Barracas Central players Chilean Primera División players Argentine Primera División players Major League Soccer players Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Chile Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's footballers in Chile Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada 21st-century Argentine sportsmen