Nicolas Otamendi

Nicolas Hernan Gonzalo Otamendi (born 12 February 1988) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Portuguese Primeira Liga club Benfica and the Argentina national team.

Otamendi played for Velez Sarsfield and Porto in his early career, winning eight major titles with Porto, including three Primeira Liga championships and the 2011 Europa League. He signed for Valencia in 2014 and spent four months on loan to Atletico Mineiro of Brazil. In 2015 he moved to Manchester City and won the Premier League in 2017–18 and 2018–19, as well as four League Cups and an FA Cup.

An Argentina international since 2009, Otamendi represented his country at two World Cups and four Copas America, in which he contributed to consecutive runner-up finishes before winning the latter honour at the fourth attempt in 2021.

Club Career

Velez

Born in Buenos Aires, Otamendi made his Primera Division debut for Club Atletico Velez Sarsfield on 10 May 2008, in a 2–1 home win against Rosario Central for the Clausura tournament. During manager Hugo Tocalli's spell he was only fifth-choice stopper, behind Waldo Ponce, Fernando Tobio, Marco Torsiglieri and Mariano Uglessich. However, his role in the first team changed during Ricardo Gareca's first season as head coach, the 2009 Clausura: he replaced Ponce for the third game after the Chilean was injured while playing for his national team, and eventually won a starting position alongside Sebastian Dominguez, playing 17 of the 19 games in Velez's winning campaign.

Otamendi scored his first professional goal during the 2009 Apertura, in a 3–1 victory over Arsenal de Sarandi. During that season he also made his debuts in an international club competition, appearing in the Copa Sudamericana; in recognition of his performances throughout the year he was chosen for the South American Team of the Year, in a traditional continent-wide journalists' poll conducted by the newspaper El Pais.

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This page also has a version in other languages :  Николас Отаменди (russian)