After all, who would dare attempt a Panenka penalty in a game-deciding shootout in the quarterfinals of the World Cup? And who would convert said penalty, as Abreu did on that glorious night in Johannesburg as Uruguay reached the semifinals for the first time in 40 years?
Said international teammate Diego Forlan, "We're used to his crazy things. It's not the first time he's done that. It is quality but he's as mad as he is intelligent. He studies opponents and goalkeepers. He's brave and smart."
And undoubtedly mental.
Washington Sebastian Abreu Gallo was born Oct. 17, 1976 in the town of Minas in the Lavelleja department in Uruguay. As a youngster, he idolized basketball stars such as Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan and was so good at hoops that he was chosen to represent his country at the South American under-17 championships. But he eventually chose soccer, signing his first professional contract with Uruguayan club Defensor in 1994.
That season, the lanky youngster averaged nearly a goal every other game as he scored 13 in 24 appearances. But he was on the move next season to Argentine side San Lorenzo beginning a journeyman career that would eventually encompass 20 teams in seven different countries. In fact, only once in his career has Abreu been at a club longer than two years without going on loan. This occurred at Brazil's Botafogo, where he scored 63 goals in 107 games from 2010-2012.
After providing San Lorenzo with 23 goals in 46 matches, Abreu made the move to Spain's Deportivo la Coruna in January of 1998. He paid an immediate dividend, scoring in the Galician side's 3-1 victory over Barcelona on Jan. 25 but never really settled in and was loaned out on more than occasion.
He was at Tecos in Mexico in 1999 and 2000, scoring an astonishing 27 goals in 33 games. From there it was a different team almost every year: back to San Lorenzo, then back to Nacional (16 goals in 18 appearances), then on to Mexico's Cruz Azul (34 in 39), Club America, back to Tecos, a third trip to Nacional, then Sinaloa, Monterrey, San Luis and Tigres.
While at Tigres, he became the only foreigner to score for both sides in the Classico Regio after previously scoring when he played for Monterrey. In 2007, Abreu was able to rescind his contract and sign with Argentine giants River Plate. But a disagreement between the two teams effectively canceled the transfer, although he did make 17 appearances for Los Millionarios while on loan. Then in 2008, he inked a deal with Beitar Jerusalem. He played for the Israelis in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League but was ineligible for domestic competition.
Abreu then re-signed with River in 2008 on a nine-month contract. He wasn't registered in time for domestic competition but represented the team in both the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana. In January of 2009, he returned to Spain after a 10-year absence as he was loaned to second-division Real Sociedad after starter Inigo Diaz de Cerio was sidelined with a serious leg injury. He scored 11 times in 18 matches--including a hat trick in a 3-1 victory over Xerez on March 25--but his contributions weren't enough to La Real return to the top flight.
Bags packed once more, Abreu decamped to Greek side Aris Thessaloniki in June of 2009. But he only lasted until January, when the now 33-year-old signed a two-year deal with Brazil's Botafogo.
He was at his raving best in Brazil, scoring the winning goal on April 18, 2010 that gave Botafogo the Carioca state championship with a 2-1 victory over Flamengo. And then there was the match against Fluminense on Feb. 6, 2011. With his team trailing 2-1 in the second half, El Loco stepped up to take a penalty but Panenka-ed right into the arms of Diego Cavalleri, who didn't have to move to make the save. Five minutes later though, Botafogo won another penalty and the great man went Panenka once again, this time beating Cavalleri to the right-hand corner.
On Jul 5, 2012, Abreu was loaned to struggling first-division side Figureirense. But the club were relegated and his contract was terminated via Twitter on Nov. 24. He signed with Uruguay's Nacional in 2013 and made 11 appearances, along with another 38 while on loan at Argentina's Rosario Central. At the time of writing the 38-year-old was turning out for Ecudorian second-division side Aucas.
Despite his peripatetic nature, Abreu could always find the back of the net. Using his 6-4 frame to great advantage, he was top scorer in Mexico in 2000, 2002, 2005 and 2006 and led Uruguay in 2001. All told, he's made 567 senior appearances with 325 goals.
And such prowess never kept him far from the national team reckoning either. El Loco made his debut for La Guerra Charrua in a friendly against China on July 17, 1996 and earned his last cap 16 years later in a 1-1 tie with Venezuela in the CONMEBOL qualifiers. A favorite with the coaches--in particular Oscar Washington Tabarez--the 6-4 Abreu used his fantastic heading ability, strength and canniness to score 26 goals in 70 games, a total that put him just five short of Hector Scarone's all-time record.
Abreu was part of the historic Copa America winning side in 2011. And then of course there was the unforgettable run in South Africa in 2010, highlighted by the Panenka heard round the world.
Off the field, the man called El Loco seems surprisingly normal. He shot a video during Uruguay's World Cup run and has stated an interest in one day becoming a documentary filmmaker. The interest in film perhaps extends from his stint as a trainee journalist while in high school. As the story goes, young Abreu was sent to cover a basketball game and write a story on the star player. Somehow, he ended up playing in the game himself and dominated the contest, so he decided to interview himself for the piece. Needless to see, his editors weren't impressed.
There are other things that make Abreu interesting: the many tattoos, his friendship with Pep Guardiola which dates back over two decades and the photo collage t-shirts he wears under his jersey. And although this hasn't been verified, my money is that he's the first player to pull a mask out while celebrating a goal. In typical Loco style though, it wasn't a superhero mask but one honoring the Tero Tero bird, the national bird of Uruguay.
Saludos El Loco. Never change.
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