Vicente Matías Vuoso

Matías Vuoso

Personal information
Full name	Vicente José Matías Vuoso
Date of birth	3 November 1981 (1981-11-03) (age 30)
Place of birth	Mar Del Plata, Argentina
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	América
Number	30
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2000–2002	Independiente	65	(14)
2002–2003	Manchester City	0	(0)
2003–2006	Santos Laguna	102	(57)
2006	América	20	(5)
2007–2010	Santos Laguna	124	(37)
2010–	América	46	(19)
National team
2008–	Mexico	9	(4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 5 September 2009. † Appearances (Goals).

Vicente José Matías Vuoso (born November 3, 1981) is a Mexican football striker, who currently plays for América.

Playing career

Matías Vuoso began his career in Argentina with Independiente. Playing alongside Diego Forlán, Vicente scored seven goals in 29 games for Independiente in 2000-01 and another seven in 35 games in 2001-02. He left the Argentenian club in June 2002 to sign with English club Manchester City, joining for £3.5 million. However, Vuoso did not appear in a single game for Manchester City, and was subsequently loaned out to Santos Laguna for the 2003-04 season.

Despite moving from the Premier League to the Primera Division Mexicana, in the beginning of his stay in Mexico, Vuoso experienced the same problems at Santos Laguna that he faced at Manchester City. Coming to a club that already boasted an attack that featured Chilean playmaker Rodrigo Ruiz and Mexican striker Jared Borgetti, Vuoso was exclusively played as a substitute during the first part of the Apertura 2003 season. As fate would have it however, Vuoso was thrown into the starting mix when Borgetti suffered a minor injury that required a two week absence from the pitch. Vuoso scored in both of the games he started in place of Borgetti and subsequently convinced Santos manager Luis Fernando Tena, who awarded Vuoso a starting spot.

After Jared Borgetti's exit from Santos Laguna following the Clausura 2004 season, Vuoso became Santos Laguna's main goalscoring threat and teammate Rodrigo Ruiz's primary target for his passes. Vuoso exploded with 11 goals in 17 games for Santos in the Apertura 2004 campaign and then followed that up with 16 goals in 19 games the following season. All in all, Vuoso's stay at Santos produced 57 goals in 102 games for the "Warriors of the Santos Laguna" before his move to Club América FC in May 2010.

Vuoso was bought by Santos Laguna again after Clausura 2007 for an undisclosed amount of money. Upon his return, a loss of form kept Vuoso on the bench. However, Vuoso was later a key player in Santos Laguna's 2008 Clausura championship.

Vuoso has become a natuarlized Mexican citizen. Upon receiving his citizenship in Mexico, Vuoso clearly stated that if Hugo Sánchez, former coach of the Mexico national football team, ever needed a striker, Vuoso would be more than honored to wear the famous green jersey and help win for the country that has given him a home. On 3 August 2008 Mexico coach and former Manchester City manager Sven Goran Eriksson made Matias Vuoso his second naturalized striker on the Mexico squad to replace Omar Arellano who injured himself days before.[1]

Victim of bank theft

Whilst he was with Manchester City, he, along with players Daniel Van Buyten and Djamel Belmadi, were the victim of a theft by two bankers. In total, workers at the Co-operative Bank stole more than £350,000 from the accounts of the three players.

In January 2006,^[1][2] the bank workers, Paul Sherwood, a cashier, and Paul Hanley, his supervisor, were jailed for 32 months and 12 months respectively.

International career

On 3 August 2008 Mexico coach Sven Goran Eriksson made Vuoso his second naturalized striker in the Mexico squad to replace Omar Arellano who injured himself days before. His debut came when he came on as a substitute in a 3-0 win over Jamaica at the Azteca stadium.

On October 15, 2008, Vuoso scored his first goal with the team against Canada with a header. The game was a World Cup Qualifier Match. On November 12, 2008, Vuoso scores a last minute goal for Mexico to win over Ecuador 2-1. On March 11, 2009, he scored again twice against Bolivia, in a game that ended 5-1.

International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	October 15, 2008	Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Canada	Canada	2–2	2–2	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.	November 12, 2008	Chase Field, Phoenix, United States	Ecuador	2–1	2–1	Friendly
3.	March 11, 2009	Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, United States	Bolivia	2–0	5–1	Friendly
4.	March 11, 2009	Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, United States	Bolivia	4–0	5–1	Friendly

Honours

Santos Laguna

• Primera División de México

• Winner: Clausura 2008

Personal

• Primera División de México Top Scorer: Clausura 2005, Apertura 2005

References

1. ^ "Two bankers admit theft from City players". news.lifestyle.co.uk. http://news.lifestyle.co.uk/uknews/83907-uknews.htm. Retrieved May 25, 2007. 
2. ^ "Jail after thefts from football stars". thescotsman.com. http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=154092006. Retrieved May 25, 2007. 

External links

• Guardian statistics
• (Spanish)Argentine Primera Statistics
• Vicente Matías Vuoso stats at Medio Tiempo.com (Spanish)
• Article on Vuoso's stay at Man City
• Vicente Matías Vuoso at National-Football-Teams.com

Persondata
Name	Vuoso, Vicente Jose Matias
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	November 3, 1981
Place of birth	Mar Del Plata, Argentina
Date of death
Place of death