Nicolás Olivera (footballer, born 1978) explained

Nico Olivera
Fullname:Andrés Nicolás Olivera Olivera
Birth Date:30 May 1978
Birth Place:Montevideo, Uruguay
Position:Forward
Years1:1996–1997
Years2:1998
Years3:1998–2002
Years4:2002–2003
Years5:2003–2004
Years6:2004
Years7:2005
Years8:2005–2006
Years9:2006
Years10:2007
Years11:2008–2010
Years12:2008–2009
Years13:2011
Years14:2011–2016
Years15:2012
Clubs1:Defensor
Clubs2:Valencia
Clubs3:Sevilla
Clubs4:Valladolid
Clubs5:Córdoba
Clubs6:Defensor
Clubs7:Albacete
Clubs8:Defensor
Clubs9:Necaxa
Clubs10:Atlas
Clubs11:Puebla
Clubs12:Veracruz (loan)
Clubs13:América
Clubs14:Defensor
Clubs15:Correcaminos (loan)
Caps1:44
Caps2:2
Caps3:100
Caps4:20
Caps5:38
Caps6:4
Caps7:4
Caps8:23
Caps9:16
Caps10:28
Caps11:63
Caps12:29
Caps13:11
Caps14:104
Caps15:14
Totalcaps:500
Goals1:16
Goals2:0
Goals3:31
Goals4:4
Goals5:9
Goals6:0
Goals7:0
Goals8:10
Goals9:3
Goals10:6
Goals11:10
Goals12:14
Goals13:1
Goals14:32
Goals15:3
Totalgoals:139
Nationalyears1:1997
Nationalyears2:1997–2006
Nationalteam1:Uruguay U20
Nationalteam2:Uruguay
Nationalcaps1:7
Nationalcaps2:28
Nationalgoals1:2
Nationalgoals2:8

Andrés Nicolás "Nico" Olivera Olivera (born 30 May 1978) is a Uruguayan former footballer 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, for whom he signed in 1998.

Olivera won 28 caps for the Uruguay national team, being part of the squads at the 2002 World Cup as well as the 1997 Confederations Cup.

Club career

After excelling as a youngster at his first professional club, Defensor Sporting Club, Montevideo-born Olivera moved to Spain and signed for Valencia CF, 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 with which he achieved two La Liga promotions, in 1999 and 2001, scoring 21 goals in 56 games in those seasons combined; on 19 November 2000, during a Seville derby 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.[1]

In 2002, Olivera left Andalusia and joined fellow league side Real Valladolid.[2] After one single season he returned to Segunda División and signed with Córdoba CF, returning to Defensor afterwards.

Olivera then played five months with another Spanish team Albacete Balompié (only four games, top division relegation), returning subsequently to his previous club. In 2006 the 28-year-old moved to Mexico, 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.[3]

International career

Olivera played all the games for Uruguay at the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship held in Malaysia, scoring two goals in an eventual second-place finish and being named the competition's best player.[4] Also that year, on 13 December, he made his full side debut, during the FIFA Confederations Cup, against United Arab Emirates, and scored in a 2–0 group stage win.

Olivera was selected for the squad that appeared at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan and South Korea, being an unused squad member.

Personal life

In December 1999, Olivera and compatriot Sevilla teammates Marcelo Zalayeta and Marcelo Otero were charged for assaulting a man. Having struck a plea bargain, they paid €3,600 fines in March 2002 instead of facing a maximum eight-year sentence.[5]

Notes and References

  1. http://archivo.marca.com/futbol/trayectoria_segunda01/cronicas_sevilla/bet_sev.html El Sevilla volvió a sacar tajada de su visita al campo del Betis (Sevilla fished again in trip to Betis' ground)
  2. http://www.elmundo.es/elmundodeporte/2002/09/28/liga/1033249601.html El Real Madrid se atasca en Pucela (Real Madrid get stuck in Pucela)
  3. https://web.archive.org/web/20100808032843/http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/futbol/report?id=300531&league=MEX.1 Puebla se llevó tres puntos ante San Luis (Puebla got three points against San Luis)
  4. https://web.archive.org/web/20120925014009/http://www.fifa.com/tournaments/archive/u20worldcup/egypt2009/news/newsid=1044947.html Golden boys' glittering legacy
  5. News: Mellado . Sergio . Tres jugadores del Sevilla, condenados por agresión a 3.600 euros de multa. Three Sevilla players, convicted of assault with 3,600 euro fine. 6 February 2022 . El País. 19 March 2002 . Spanish.