Vicente Martín Sánchez Bragunde (; born 7 December 1979) is a Uruguayan

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

who most recently managed

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

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V., commonly referred to as Cruz Azul, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football league system, Mexican footba ...

Club career

Sánchez was 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 ...

. He played for

Sud América Institución Atlética Sud América, usually known as Sud América or just IASA, is a football club from Montevideo. They currently play in the Uruguayan Segunda Division. History Sud América was formed from the team formerly known as the "Mo ...

Tacuarembó Tacuarembó ( Guaraní language, Guarani: ''Takuarembo'', literally: "Bamboo shoot") is the capital city of the Tacuarembó Department in north-central Uruguay. History On 24 October 1831, a presidential decree by Fructuoso Rivera ordered the cr ...

Deportivo Toluca Deportivo Toluca Fútbol Club S.A. de C.V. is a Mexican professional football club based in Toluca, State of Mexico. The club plays in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football, from which they have never been relegated. The club was f ...

FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, ...

, América and

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

. On 18 January 2008, he joined German club

Schalke Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a Professionalism in association football, professional sports club from the Gelsenkirchen-Schalke, Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, N ...

, where he remained for two seasons. He played in Mexico again for Club América. On 1 August 2010, he scored his first goal for Club América in a match versus

Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...

. Sánchez made the move to

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

on 6 August 2013 when he signed for

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 14 September 2013, he scored his first goal for Colorado and forced an own goal in a 2–1 win over

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

. Even with his playing time being carefully managed and his appearances limited to substitutions in the last half of most games, Sánchez was a bright spot in an otherwise lackluster 2015 season. Despite being a crowd favorite with the

fans and the #2 scorer for the team, Sánchez's 2016 contract option was declined as the

front office set out to acquire new talent in the form of players such as

Marco Pappa Marco Pablo Pappa Ponce (born 15 November 1987) is a Guatemalan professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder. Club career Born in Guatemala City, Pappa, who plays as a Midfielder (football)#Winger, winger, joined his ...

Shkëlzen Gashi Shkëlzen Taib Gashi (born 15 July 1988) is a retired professional footballer who played as a midfielder and forward. He is best known for his time with Grasshopper Club Zürich and FC Basel. With Grasshopper he won the 2012–13 Swiss Cup and h ...

Jermaine Jones Jermaine Junior Jones (born November 3, 1981) is a former professional soccer player who played as a defensive midfielder. Jones was last the head coach of Central Valley Fuego FC in USL League One. Born in Germany to an American father an ...

and

Tim Howard Timothy Matthew Howard (born March 6, 1979) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. He is the part-owner of club Dagenham & Redbridge as well as an international ambassador in the United States for Premie ...

. Sánchez went through the MLS Re-Entry Draft but was not selected by any other team. He joined his hometown club

Defensor Sporting Defensor Sporting Club is a sports club based in Montevideo, Uruguay. Founded in 1913, Defensor has several sports sections, with football and basketball being the most important and the ones in which the club has achieved significant achievement ...

for the 2016 Primera Division Clausura season and helped his team finish fourth, qualifying for the

2017 Copa Sudamericana The 2017 Copa CONMEBOL Sudamericana was the 16th edition of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana (also referred to as the ''Copa Sudamericana'', or ), South America's secondary club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. Argentinian club Independiente ...

. Sánchez returned to MLS and joined the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

for the 2017 season. He helped the Dynamo reach the playoff and got the game winning assist in their opening game versus

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The ad ...

. On 2 April 2021, it was announced that Sánchez would come out of retirement to play and coach for

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

side

Rio Grande Valley FC Rio Grande Valley FC, also known as RGVFC or Rio Grande Valley FC Toros, was an American professional soccer team based in Edinburg, Texas operated by Lone Star, LLC. They joined the USL Championship in the 2016 season. The team served as a hy ...

Managerial career

On 25 January 2025,

appointed Sánchez as interim head coach following the departure of

Martín Anselmi Martín Rodrigo Anselmi (born 11 July 1985) is an Argentine professional football manager. He is the current head coach of Portuguese club FC Porto. Early life Born in Rosario, Santa Fe, Anselmi played youth football for Ferro Carril Oeste. He al ...

. After eight matches, the club announced that he would remain in charge for the rest of the Clausura 2025 tournament. During his tenure, Sánchez also led Cruz Azul to their seventh

CONCACAF Champions Cup 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, a ...

trophy, defeating

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, ...

5–0 in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. On 6 June 2025, Cruz Azul announced Sánchez's departure by mutual agreement, reportedly due to the club's assessment that his project lacked long-term viability based on internal performance evaluations.

International career

He played for

Uruguay national football team The Uruguay national football team (), nicknamed ''La Celeste'' ("The Sky Blue") and ''Los Charrúas'' ("The Charrúa, Charrúas"), have represented Uruguay in international men's Association football, football since their first international m ...

in 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 ...

and has won 31 caps for the national side, scoring five goals.

International goals

, - , 1, , 13 July 2004, , Estadio Miguel Grau,

Piura Piura is a city in northwestern Peru, located north of the Sechura Desert along the Piura River. It is the capital of the Piura Region and the Piura Province. Its population was 484,475 as of 2017 and it is the 7th most populous city in Peru. ...

, , , , 2–2, , 2–4 (L), ,

2004 Copa América The 2004 Copa América was the 41st edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body, and was held in P ...

, - , 2, , 24 July 2004, ,

Estadio Garcilaso de la Vega Estadio Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, commonly known as Estadio Garcilaso, is Cusco's principal stadium and the home venue of the local football team Cienciano. The stadium was named after the Peruvian mestizo Inca Garcilaso de la Vega and inaugurat ...

Cuzco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous province and department. The city was the capital of the Inca Empire unti ...

, , , , 1–2, , 1–2 (W), ,

, - , 3, , 18 October 2006, ,

Estadio Centenario Centenario Stadium (, ; , named after the Constitution of Uruguay of 1830, centenary of Constitution of Uruguay, Uruguay's Constitution) is an association football stadium in Montevideo, Uruguay. Located in the Parque Batlle, Parque Battle neig ...

, , , , 1–0, , 4–0 (W), , Friendly , - , 4, , 30 June 2007, , Estadio Polideportivo, San Cristóbal, , , , 0–1, , 0–1 (W), ,

, - , 5, , 13 October 2007, ,

, , , , 4–0, , 5–0 (W), ,

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oc ...

Personal life

Sánchez holds a U.S. green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Toluca *

Primera División de México 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 Divi ...

: Apertura 2002, Apertura 2005 *

CONCACAF Champions' Cup 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, a ...

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 ...

Uruguay *

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

third place:

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 ...

Manager

Cruz Azul *CONCACAF Champions Cup:

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

Individual

Mexican Primera División 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 Divi ...

Golden Ball: Apertura 2006

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Vicente 1979 births Living people Men's association football forwards Colorado Rapids players Club Nacional de Football players Houston Dynamo FC players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Uruguayan Primera División players Bundesliga players Liga MX players Major League Soccer players Sud América players Footballers from Montevideo FC Schalke 04 players Tacuarembó F.C. players Deportivo Toluca F.C. players Club América footballers 2004 Copa América players 2007 Copa América players Uruguay men's international footballers Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Uruguayan men's footballers Rio Grande Valley FC Toros players Cruz Azul managers CONCACAF Champions Cup–winning players