Abreu withAucas in 2015 | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Washington Sebastián Abreu Gallo[1] | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1976-10-17)17 October 1976 (age 49)[2] | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Minas, Uruguay[1] | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)[2] | |||||||||||||
| Position | Striker | |||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||
Current team | Tijuana (head coach) | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| Olimpia de Minas | ||||||||||||||
| Nacional de Minas | ||||||||||||||
| 1993–1995 | Defensor | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 1995–1996 | Defensor | 34 | (15) | |||||||||||
| 1996–1998 | San Lorenzo | 43 | (26) | |||||||||||
| 1998–2004 | Deportivo La Coruña | 15 | (3) | |||||||||||
| 1998 | →Grêmio (loan) | 7 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 1999–2000 | →Tecos (loan) | 33 | (27) | |||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | →San Lorenzo (loan) | 25 | (10) | |||||||||||
| 2001 | →Nacional (loan) | 18 | (16) | |||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | →Cruz Azul (loan) | 39 | (34) | |||||||||||
| 2003 | →América (loan) | 16 | (3) | |||||||||||
| 2004 | →Tecos (loan) | 17 | (5) | |||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | Nacional | 31 | (16) | |||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Dorados de Sinaloa | 34 | (22) | |||||||||||
| 2006 | Monterrey | 16 | (7) | |||||||||||
| 2007 | San Luis | 14 | (6) | |||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | UANL | 15 | (7) | |||||||||||
| 2008 | →River Plate (loan) | 17 | (2) | |||||||||||
| 2008 | Beitar Jerusalem | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | River Plate | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2009 | →Real Sociedad (loan) | 18 | (11) | |||||||||||
| 2009–2010 | Aris | 8 | (3) | |||||||||||
| 2010–2012 | Botafogo | 93 | (55) | |||||||||||
| 2012 | →Figueirense (loan) | 5 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2013–2015 | Nacional | 18 | (5) | |||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | →Rosario Central (loan) | 38 | (8) | |||||||||||
| 2015 | →Aucas (loan) | 10 | (4) | |||||||||||
| 2016 | Sol de América | 10 | (2) | |||||||||||
| 2016 | Santa Tecla | 21 | (13) | |||||||||||
| 2017 | Bangu | 10 | (3) | |||||||||||
| 2017 | Central Español | 8 | (6) | |||||||||||
| 2017 | Puerto Montt | 13 | (11) | |||||||||||
| 2018 | Audax Italiano | 10 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2018 | Magallanes | 9 | (3) | |||||||||||
| 2019 | Rio Branco | 8 | (6) | |||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Boston River | 33 | (4) | |||||||||||
| 2021 | Athletic-MG | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2021 | Sud América | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2021 | Olimpia de Minas | 6 | (4) | |||||||||||
| Total | 700 | (338) | ||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||
| 1996–2012 | Uruguay | 70 | (26) | |||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Santa Tecla (caretaker) | |||||||||||||
| 2020 | Boston River (player–coach) | |||||||||||||
| 2022 | Always Ready | |||||||||||||
| 2022 | Paysandú | |||||||||||||
| 2023 | Universidad César Vallejo | |||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | Dorados | |||||||||||||
| 2025– | Tijuana | |||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||
Washington Sebastián Abreu Gallo (Spanish pronunciation:[seβasˈtjanaˈβɾew]; born 17 October 1976), nicknamedEl Loco (The Madman), is a Uruguayanfootballmanager and former footballer who played as astriker. He is the head coach of Mexican clubTijuana.
Throughout a career spanning 26 years, Abreu achieved distinction by setting the record of representing 32 different clubs in 11 countries.[3]
On the international stage, Abreu made 70 appearances for the national team. He representedUruguay at theFIFA World Cup in 2002 and 2010, and at theCopa América in 1997, 2007 and 2011, becoming a champion in the latter.
Born inMinas,Lavalleja Department,[1] Abreu played in numerous clubs throughout theAmericas (Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico and Brazil). He also had an unsuccessful stint with Spain'sDeportivo de La Coruña, which loaned him several times for the duration of his contract.[4]
In hissole season inLa Liga, which started in January 1998, having been signed fromSan Lorenzo, Abreu scored for theGalicians in a 3–1 home defeat ofBarcelona on 25 January.[5]
After having joined Mexico'sUANL in 2007, Abreu was able to rescind his contract with them in order to joinRiver Plate – theMexican Football Federation stalled on recognising the transfer because of an imposedmoratorium between the clubs. He became the only foreigner to score in theClásico Regiomontano (Tigres vs.Monterrey, which he represented the previous year) against each team.[6]
In the middle of 2008, after exhausting negotiations, Abreu signed a deal withIsraeli League championsBeitar Jerusalem.[7] He appeared inthe qualifying rounds of theUEFA Champions League, but his team was quickly eliminated. Additionally, he could not play in the domestic front due to lack of payment.
Abreu re-signed with River Plate in September 2008 after terminating his link with Beitar, with a deal lasting until June 2009. Due to being a late addition, he was not able to play for the side in thePrimera División, only featuring in theCopa Sudamericana. The next year, he was eligible for both the domestic andCopa Libertadores fronts.
In early January 2009, Abreu returned to Spain after a ten-year absence, being loaned by River toSegunda División sideReal Sociedad, which had lost habitual first choiceIñigo Díaz de Cerio forthe season due to a serious leg injury.[8]
On 14 March 2009, he scored ahat-trick in a 3–1 away win against league leadersXerez.[9] His team, however, ultimately failed in returning to the top flight.
On 13 June 2009,Aris in Greece signed Abreu from River Plate.[10] However, in January of the following year, the 33-year-old changed club and country again, agreeing on a two-year contract with Brazil'sBotafogo.[11]
Abreu scored the second goal in the 2–1 victory overFlamengo on 18 April 2010, which gave the team theCampeonato Carioca title.[12] In July, he had his link extended until 31 December 2012 with a release clause ofUS$11.3 million, with the player declaring he had previously held talks withUniversidad de Chile andTrabzonspor of Turkey.[13]
On 6 February 2011, Abreu was involved in a dramatic match againstFluminense: his team won apenalty kick as they were losing 2–1, and he shot it inPanenka-style, withDiego Cavalieri saving the shot by simply standing still. Another penalty was awarded just five minutes later, and he shot it in the same fashion, this time into the right-hand corner of the goal, as the goalkeeper dived the other way; a few minutes later, Botafogo scored again and won the game.[14]
Abreu was loaned to fellowSérie A sideFigueirense on 5 July 2012. However, asthe season went on to end in relegation, his contract was ended viaTwitter on 24 November, one day before the last game againstGrêmio.[15]
From January 2013 to December 2015, Abreu was under contract toNacional, also being loaned toRosario Central andAucas during this timeframe. On 28 December 2015, Paraguayan newspaper D10 reported that he had met in Uruguay withSol de América chairman Miguel Figueredo.[16] He had already received a more lucrative offer from Mexico, but declined in order to be closer to his country,[17] and was officially confirmed on 6 January 2016.[18][19][20]
On 12 November 2016, 40-year-old Abreu joined Brazil'sBangu fromSanta Tecla, with the deal being made effective the following January.[21] After ten appearances in the Rio de Janeiro State League, he left.[22]
On 4 April 2017, Abreu signed with Montevideo-based teamCentral Español of theUruguayan Segunda División.[23] In late December of the same year, he joinedChilean Primera División'sAudax Italiano fromPuerto Montt, in the same country butone level below; this transfer broke a world record, as it marked him as the first player to have played for 26 professional clubs.[24]
Abreu returned to Brazil in December 2018 at age 42, agreeing to a contract atSérie D'sRio Branco.[25] He returned to his homeland the following July, signing withBoston River[26] and making hisPrimera División debut in a 0–0 draw againstRiver Plate where he donned jersey number 113.[27]
On 8 February 2021, Abreu signed forAthletic Club in Brazil.[28][29] After four matches in theCampeonato Mineiro, he terminated his contract on 21 March due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[30]
On 30 March 2021, Abreu joined newly promoted Uruguayan top-tier clubSud América.[31] On 10 June, he announced his decision to retire from professional football, and it was reported on news the game againstLiverpool the following day would be his last.[32]
Abreu's hometown side Olimpia de Minas announced on 29 August 2021 that he would briefly come out of retirement to play for them in the localCampeonato Minuano.[33] He finished as champion of the+40 category tournament of ADIC (Asociación Deportiva de Integración Colegial), and also top scorer with 17 goals in 11 matches for the amateur (college) teamColegio Jesús María 2019, being the second championship won in the year after theApertura, where he also ranked first in the scoring charts.[34]

Abreu played forUruguay at the2002 FIFA World Cup – three matches – and the1997,2007 and2011Copa América editions, netting twice in the latter.[35] He made his debut for the national side on 17 July 1996 in afriendly withChina, going on to earn 70caps.[36]
On 27 May 2010, Abreu stood only five goals short of Uruguayan all-time goalscoring record, held byHéctor Scarone for 79 years.[37] He was selected for the2010 World Cup in South Africa, where he appeared three times as asubstitute; in the quarter-finals againstGhana he scored the decisivepenalty shootout attempt (1–1 after 120 minutes), aPanenka to send his team to the semi-finals for the first time in40 years.[38][39]
On 26 April 2019, Abreu was announced as theinterim manager of Santa Tecla on an initial one-and-a-half month spell, with the parties holding the option open of keeping him as aplayer-coach or just as a player afterwards.[40] Hewon theCopa El Salvador four days later, defeatingAudaz 1–0 in the final.[41]
In December 2019, Abreu was appointedplayer-coach at Boston River ahead of theupcoming campaign in theUruguayan Primera División.[42] He resigned from the last-placed club the following 9 November.[43]
Abreu was named manager ofBolivian Primera División sideAlways Ready on 30 January 2022.[44] On 1 March, he left by mutual consent.[45]
On 25 May 2022, Abreu was appointed atPaysandú in theUruguayan Primera División Amateur.[46]
On 30 May 2024, Abreu became the head coach ofDorados.[47]
On 30 April 2025, Liga MX clubTijuana announced Abreu as their new head coach.[48]
Abreu's son,Diego, played forMexico atunder-16 level.[49]
From October 2019 to August 2020 he hostedTrato Hecho, the Uruguayan version ofDeal or No Deal, being replaced byMaximiliano de la Cruz.[50]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uruguay | 1996 | 2 | 1 |
| 1997 | 5 | 2 | |
| 2000 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2002 | 7 | 6 | |
| 2003 | 2 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 7 | 2 | |
| 2007 | 10 | 7 | |
| 2008 | 8 | 3 | |
| 2009 | 10 | 1 | |
| 2010 | 8 | 2 | |
| 2011 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2012 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 70 | 27 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 August 1996 | Nagai Stadium,Osaka, Japan | 2–4 | 3–5 | Friendly | [52] | |
| 2 | 16 November 1997 | Estadio Domingo Burgueño,Maldonado, Uruguay | 3–1 | 5–3 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification | [53] | |
| 3 | 4–1 | ||||||
| 4 | 13 February 2002 | Estadio Centenario,Montevideo, Uruguay | 1–0 | 2–1 | Friendly | [54] | |
| 5 | 2–1 | ||||||
| 6 | 17 April 2002 | San Siro,Milan, Italy | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly | [55] | |
| 7 | 12 May 2002 | Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium,Washington D.C., United States | 1–2 | 1–2 | Friendly | [56] | |
| 8 | 16 May 2002 | Wulihe Stadium,Shenyang, China | 1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly | [57] | |
| 9 | 2–0 | ||||||
| 10 | 8 June 2003 | Seoul World Cup Stadium,Seoul, South Korea | 2–0 | 2–0 | Friendly | [58] | |
| 11 | 20 August 2003 | Stadio Artemio Franchi,Florence, Italy | 2–1 | 2–3 | Friendly | [59] | |
| 12 | 26 October 2006 | Estadio Jalisco,Guadalajara, Mexico | 1–1 | 1–3 | Friendly | [60] | |
| 13 | 30 May 2006 | 7 November Stadium,Radès, Tunisia | 2–0 | 2–1 | Friendly | [61] | |
| 14 | 18 October 2006 | Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay | 3–0 | 4–0 | Friendly | [62] | |
| 15 | 7 February 2007 | Estadio General Santander,Cúcuta, Colombia | 1–0 | 3–1 | Friendly | [63] | |
| 16 | 2–0 | ||||||
| 17 | 10 July 2007 | Estadio José Pachencho Romero,Maracaibo, Venezuela | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2007 Copa América | [64] | |
| 18 | 14 July 2007 | Olympic Stadium,Caracas, Venezuela | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2007 Copa América | [65] | |
| 19 | 13 October 2007 | Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay | 3–0 | 5–0 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification | [66] | |
| 20 | 18 November 2007 | Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification | [67] | |
| 21 | 22 November 2007 | Estádio do Morumbi,São Paulo, Brazil | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification | [68] | |
| 22 | 17 June 2008 | Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay | 6–0 | 6–0 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification | [69] | |
| 23 | 20 August 2008 | Sapporo Dome,Sapporo, Japan | 3–1 | 3–1 | Friendly | [70] | |
| 24 | 14 October 2008 | Estadio Hernando Siles,La Paz, Bolivia | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification | [71] | |
| 25 | 18 November 2009 | Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification | [72] | |
| 26 | 26 May 2010 | Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay | 3–1 | 4–1 | Friendly | [73] | |
| 27 | 4–1 |
San Lorenzo
Nacional
River Plate
Botafogo
Santa Tecla
Uruguay
Individual
Santa Tecla