Nicolás Gabriel Sánchez (born 4 February 1986) is an Argentine 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 a

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

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He is the current assistant manager of

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

club

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

Career

Born in the

Mataderos Mataderos (Spanish for "slaughterhouses") is a ''barrio'' (neighbourhood) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is one of the three ''barrios'' that make up the Comuna 9, alongside Liniers and Parque Avellaneda. Located in the south-west end of the cit ...

neighborhood of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, Sánchez began playing football as a midfielder in

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

' youth system. He became a professional with Nueva Chicago, with whom he made his debut in the 2003–04

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 ...

, on 26 June 2004 against Independente. Nueva Chicago was relegated soon after, and Sánchez continued to be part of the club's first team during the next two seasons in the

Primera B Nacional Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, (English "National B Division"), and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 38 team ...

. In early 2006, Nueva Chicago's manager Rodolfo Motta converted Sánchez to a centre back following an injury to the club's regular defender, and within six months the club was promoted to the Primera División for the 2006–07 season. After Nueva Chicago was relegated again at the end of the 2006–07 season, Sánchez joined rivals River Plate for the 2007–08 season. River Plate would win the Clausura 2008 during his tenure with the club. However, Sánchez struggled with injuries, missing almost a year with a broken bone in his foot, and in 2010, after River Plate re-appointed manager, Ángel Cappa, and Sánchez left the club for Godoy Cruz on a free transfer. Sánchez spent the next four seasons with Godoy Cruz. The club achieved mid-table finishes, and Sánchez participated in 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 ...

twice. Racing Club's manager

Diego Cocca Diego Martín Cocca (born 11 February 1972) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a right-back. He is the current manager of Talleres. Playing career Club Cocca started his career with River Plate in 1 ...

signed Sánchez on 1 July 2014. Racing had narrowly avoided relegation in the prior season, and Sánchez would become a key part of Racing's defense as the club bounced back to win the Primera División title.

Honours

River Plate *

: 2008 Clausura Racing Club *

: 2014 Primera Monterrey *

: Apertura 2019 *

Copa MX Copa MX, also known as Copa Corona MX for sponsorship reasons, was an association football competition in Mexico and the domestic cup tournament for clubs at the highest and second levels of Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Copa ...

: Apertura 2017, 2019–20 *

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Individual *

Best XI: Apertura 2017, Apertura 2019 *

Golden Ball:

Team of the Tournament:

References

External links

* at Fútbol XXI {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Nicolas Footballers from Buenos Aires 1986 births Living people Argentine men's footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Club Atlético Nueva Chicago footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba footballers Racing Club de Avellaneda footballers C.F. Monterrey players Argentine Primera División players Primera Nacional players Liga MX players Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico CONCACAF Champions Cup–winning players 21st-century Argentine sportsmen