This article is part of the Guardian’s 2018 World Cup Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 32 countries who have qualified for Russia. theguardian.com is running previews from two countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 14 June.
Matías Vecino was 14 when he lost his father, the man who taught him the secrets of football. With the support of his family he has recovered to conquer Italy and grab the attention of Óscar Tabárez.
It had been a long and difficult journey, from the trips from his childhood home in San Jacinto to train with his first club, Central Español, 50km away in Montevideo, to his debut in their senior side, his transfer to Nacional, and eventually to Italy and international recognition. Along the way he has been inspired by memories of his father, whose signature is tattooed on his right hand. On 1 August 2017 he opened a new chapter of a remarkable story by moving to one of Europe’s great clubs. On the day he was introduced as Internazionale’s latest signing he turned to his mother and asked: “What would Dad say if he saw me here?”
Mario Vecino was also a footballer, whose career peaked with a spell in the Uruguayan top flight with Liverpool. When he died, killed in a car crash on his way to work, Vida Nueva, the local club in San Jacinto, renamed their ground the Estadio Municipal Mario Vecino in his honour. “That night I gathered the family around the table and told them what had happened,” says his mother, Dolly. “But we all got on with our lives, because the family was strong and we did not just sit down to cry or look for pity.” At one point Dolly, an English teacher, was doing three jobs in an effort to support her family.
Dolly still lives in San Jacinto with her younger son, Nicolas. Her daughter, two years older than Matías is a lawyer. “Nicolas was the one most affected by the death of his father,” she says. “For months he was looking for him. He thought it was his dad every time someone knocked on the door or the phone rang. He was two and a half years old.”
Matías had taken his first steps into the world of football as a four-year-old, when he joined his local kids’ team, with his father as coach. “Mario spent hours teaching him,” says Dolly. “He didn’t want Matías to win, he wanted his kid to learn.”
He was taken on by Central Español and travelled every day to train in Montevideo. When he returned home he would give his grandmother Esther his white football boots and she would clean them for the next day. “They were the only boots he had and they are something that reminds him of how far he has travelled to get where he is today,” his mother says.
“There were days when I would see him heading out with his little backpack on, walking in heavy rain, and I’d ask him: ‘Are you sure training’s going to be on?’” his uncle Raul Falero remembers. “And he’d say to me: ‘We’ll find a way.’”
Daniel Sánchez was the manager at Central Español when Vecino made his debut in 2010. “When I first joined the club to work with the under-15s, he was already there,” he says. “Then I was head of youth and finally first-team coach. When Matías was in the under-20s his coach told me he was the best player he had.”
Eventually he was promoted alongside Diego Riolfo, the other star of the club’s youth system, a striker who plays in the Argentinian top flight for Godoy Cruz. It was a difficult time for the Palermitanos, who were fighting relegation. On 6 March 2010 Vecino made his debut, playing the final half-hour of a 4-1 win over Tacuarembó.
“In his first few games we played him in a more attacking role, to free him of responsibilities,” Sánchez says. “But game by game he was becoming more integral to our tactics, and he kept his place in the team.”
He was called up to represent his country at junior level, and played in the 2011 South American under-20 championship in Peru, where he scored the goal that earned his country a place at the 2012 Olympics. “He told me that he didn’t want to be remembered for that goal,” his mother says. “He wanted to continue writing his story.”
His performances in Peru earned him a move to Nacional, and after 18 months there he was bought by Fiorentina. In Italy he had loan spells at Cagliari and Empoli and it was at Empoli, under the guidance of Maurizio Sarri, that he flourished, playing as one of two defensive midfielders. His performances were so impressive that Antonio Conte, then the manager of Italy, tried to convince him to take citizenship of his adoptive country. “He told me that it didn’t feel right, and he wanted to wait for the chance to play for Uruguay,” says his mother.
In March 2016 that opportunity arrived. He was in the starting lineup as Uruguay went 2-0 down to Brazil in Recife before fighting back to draw 2-2. “I couldn’t have been more nervous,” says his mother. “There’s no way I would have missed it. I’ve seen every one of his debuts.” Unless injured or suspended, he has played for his country in every game since.
His final appearance of the season for Inter came at Lazio on the last day, a match in effect a winner-takes-all Champions League qualifier. The Nerazzurri twice came from behind, and in the 81st minute Vecino headed the winner to take his club into Europe’s premier club competition for the first time since 2012. “I haven’t scored that many goals,” he said, “but this is the most important of my career.”
His story, however, has a few chapters still to be written.
Pablo Benítez writes for El Observador.
Follow him on Twitter here.
Click here for our Uruguay team guide.