Matías Viña #17

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Resilience is one of his biggest strengths. When on the verge of signing his first pro contract with Nacional, the defender broke his collarbone. The club paused the deal but waited for him to complete his recovery. He competed for the left-back place during his academy days with Mathías Olivera, his competition in the Uruguay squad now. He struggled to establish himself in the Nacional first team as a result, sometimes playing at centre-back but often not at all, and didn’t become a regular until the age of 22. “It got me down at times because I wasn’t playing but my family and friends helped me a lot. They kept telling me my time would come,” he said. In 2019 he made his international debut and kickstarted his club career. He’s a three-time Copa Libertadores winner and was signed by José Mourinho at Roma, where he had a loan spell at Bournemouth.

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