Andrés Nicolás "Nico" Olivera Olivera (born 30 May 1978) is a Uruguayan former

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 ...

who played as a forward. He started and finished his 20-year professional career with Defensor, going on to collect 500 league appearances mainly in the top divisions in Uruguay, Spain and Mexico. This included a spell with

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) 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 Peninsul ...

, for whom he signed in 1998. Olivera won 28

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for the Uruguay national team, being part of the squads at the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea ...

as well as the 1997 Confederations Cup.

Club career

After excelling as a youngster at his first professional club, Defensor Sporting Club,

Montevideo Montevideo () is the capital and largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . Montevideo is situated on the southern ...

-born Olivera moved to Spain and signed for

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the S ...

, in January 1998. He was rarely used by the ''Che'' during his five-month spell, but went on to spend the vast majority of the following seven years in the country, starting off with

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA Eu ...

with which he achieved two

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

promotions, in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

and

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

, scoring 21 goals in 56 games in those seasons combined; on 19 November 2000, during a

Seville derby The Seville derby (''Derbi Sevillano''), also known as The Great Derby (''El Gran Derbi''), is the name of a local city derby located in Seville, Spain contested between Real Betis and Sevilla. Sevilla FC were founded in 1890. This was foll ...

where his team was reduced to ten men with the score at 1–1 and 15 minutes remaining, he netted twice for the eventual 3–1 win. In 2002, Olivera left

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

and joined fellow league side

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club colo ...

. After one single

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

he returned to Segunda División and signed with

Córdoba CF Córdoba Club de Fútbol (), (from the 2020–21 season onwards competing under the umbrella of Unión Futbolística Cordobesa, S.A.D.) is a Spanish football club based in Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1951 as ...

, returning to Defensor afterwards. Olivera then played five months with another Spanish team

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 2 August 1940, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish football, holding home matches a ...

(only four games, top division relegation), returning subsequently to his previous club. In 2006 the 28-year-old moved to

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

, going on to represent five sides in the country, including Puebla F.C. twice. On 1 August 2010, in a Primera División match against Club San Luis, Olivera opened the scoring within a few seconds, after knocking in a rebound from Mario Ortiz's speculative shot in an eventual 2–1 home win.

International career

Olivera played all the games for

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del 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 ...

at the

1997 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship, known as the 1997 FIFA/Coca-Cola World Youth Championship for sponsorship purposes, was the 11th staging of the FIFA World Youth Championship. It was held from 16 June to 5 July 1997 in Malaysia. It was t ...

held in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, scoring two goals in an eventual second-place finish and being named the competition's best player. Also that year, on 13 December, he made his full side debut, during the

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships (AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL ...

, against

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at ...

, and scored in a 2–0 group stage win. Olivera was selected for the squad that appeared at the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea ...

in Japan and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, being an unused squad member.

Personal life

In December 1999, Olivera and compatriot Sevilla teammates

Marcelo Zalayeta Marcelo Danubio Zalayeta (; born 5 December 1978) is a Uruguayan former footballer who played as a striker. Zalayeta began his club career with Danubio before moving to Peñarol for a season in 1997, where he won the Uruguayan Primera Divisió ...

and

Marcelo Otero Marcelo Alejandro Otero Larzábal (born 14 April 1971) is an Uruguayan retired footballer who played as a striker. He was nicknamed "Marujo" during his career, and is the younger brother of former midfielder Raul Otero. Otero played in Uruguay ...

were charged for assaulting a man. Having struck a

plea bargain A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or '' nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defend ...

, they paid €3,600 fines in March 2002 instead of facing a maximum eight-year sentence.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Olivera, Nicolas 1978 births Living people Afro-Uruguayan Uruguayan people of Spanish descent Footballers from Montevideo Uruguayan footballers Association football forwards Uruguayan Primera División players Defensor Sporting players La Liga players Segunda División players Valencia CF players Sevilla FC players Real Valladolid players Córdoba CF players Albacete Balompié players Liga MX players Club Necaxa footballers Atlas F.C. footballers Club Puebla players C.D. Veracruz footballers Club América footballers Correcaminos UAT footballers Uruguay under-20 international footballers Uruguay international footballers 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players Uruguayan expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Mexico Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Mexico